Nasty Canuck Weekly — September 27, 2026
The stories worth your time, useful context from the week, and what we’re watching next.
From the Desk
If there was a common thread at Nasty Canuck this week, it was control — not in the abstract, but in the practical Canadian sense: what we build, what we can keep operating, and which partnerships give Canada more room to move rather than less.
That theme runs through our coverage of Canada’s first F-35, the larger Arctic defence build and a still-forming idea for a deeper Canada–EU relationship. It appears somewhere very different too: Hollywood North, where having lots of production in Canada is not the same thing as owning more of what gets made here.
Here are the pieces we think are worth your time.
The Big Read
Canada’s First F-35 Is Flying. The Bigger Build Is Everything Around It.
Canada’s first CF-35A is flying, but the fighter is only one piece of a much larger air-power system taking shape around it — surveillance, Arctic radar, satellites, drones, tankers and the networks needed to connect them.
The harder question is not simply which fighter Canada flies. It is whether all of those pieces can become a coherent Canadian capability.
Also Worth Your Time
Canada and the EU Have an ‘Associate Member’ Idea. Now They Need the Terms.
“Associate member” sounds consequential. Until the terms exist, though, the label tells us less than the details will.
We looked at what Canada and Europe appear to be exploring, what remains undefined, and why the substance of any new relationship will matter much more than the name attached to it.
Canada’s Submarine Decision Is Part of a Much Bigger Arctic Defence Build
Submarines get the headline, but Canada’s Arctic choices extend far beyond one procurement.
The larger issue is how ships, infrastructure, industry and allied relationships fit together — and what Canada will need to be able to sustain for itself.
A Change of Scenery
Canada Built Hollywood North. Now It Needs More Than Hollywood.
Canada has become very good at providing the crews, locations, studios and expertise that help other people make film and television here.
That is a real industry. But it raises a different question: how much Canadian ownership, financing, intellectual property and distribution can grow alongside it?
Worth Another Look
The Bank of Canada Can’t Fix a Trade War. It Still Has to Price One.
A central bank cannot remove tariffs, reopen a blocked market or settle a trade dispute.
It still has to deal with whatever those disruptions do to prices, growth and inflation.
If you missed this one earlier in the week, it is still worth a read.
What We’re Watching
Air-power sovereignty
The next question in our Building Canadian Air Power series is less about what Canada can buy and more about what it needs to control, sustain and keep operating.
Water security
Canada has plenty of water. The harder questions involve infrastructure, jurisdiction, access and who gets priority when interests collide.
Canadian capacity
We keep coming back to the gap between having good ideas or valuable resources and turning them into durable production at scale. Food processing, advanced manufacturing and defence are all on the radar.
Some of these will become stories. Some will not. That is what watching is for.
Until Next Week
That’s the week from Nasty Canuck.
Polite. Persistent. Proudly Canadian.