Mayors of five communities on the north shore of Lake Superior say their affordable energy plan to roll out a regional liquefied natural gas project has suddenly been thrown into disarray by the province. The municipal leaders of Marathon, Schreiber, Manitouwadge, Terrace Bay and Wawa were responding to the province’s Jan. 30 launch of its new Natural Gas Grant Program , designed to extend natural access to rural, Northern and First Nation communities who aren’t connected by pipeline.

New Democrat MP Nathan Cullen says that if the Liberals push through a ranked ballot system, they would essentially be declaring “nuclear war in politics.” The NDP critic for democratic reform is dropping this bombastic warning a day after the Liberal government released the results of a controversial online survey about electoral reform.

An American city is defending its plan to draw water from the Great Lakes, saying Canadian and U.S. mayors trying to block the move should be ignored. The Wisconsin city of Waukesha argues a decision last year that gave it permission to pipe water from Lake Michigan was error-free, protects the environment and does not need to be revisited in any way.

The abrupt turnaround in Canada-U.S. relations is dominating discussions as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the federal cabinet hold a retreat in Calgary. Today, the final day of the retreat, is also expected to feature a panel discussion with Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi, Calgary police Chief Roger Chaffin and representatives from local community organizations, followed by a town hall later at the University of Calgary.

The pageantry of the Donald Trump inauguration absorbed most of the political oxygen in Ottawa this week, mainly because the subtext was a growing realization that so many facets of Canadian politics have been turned on their head. The Jenga tower of assumptions that have allowed the Canadian, and global, political economy to function on a relatively stable basis is being disassembled from the bottom, threatening to wobble before policy makers understand how to react.

The suspension of the military’s second-highest-ranking officer has cast a pall over the federal government’s multibillion-dollar plan to build new warships, which the Liberals had hoped was finally back on course after listing for years. Government and military officials remained tight-lipped Wednesday over why Vice-Admiral Mark Norman was abruptly stripped of his responsibilities last week by his boss, Gen.