Politics
The loonie is up amid Trump’s Fed probe. Who that will help — and hurt? – National TenX News
The Canadian dollar rose on Monday as the U.S. dollar fell after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the Department of Justice (DOJ) has served the central bank with subpoenas and threatened it with a criminal indictment.
Powell said in a video statement that the U.S. DOJ’s allegations related to testimony given in the summer of 2025 about renovations to some of the Federal Reserve’s office buildings.
He added that he believes the allegations were a pretext for the Trump administration to have more control over monetary policy and interest rates in the United States.
That warning by Powell has triggered a global shockwave from economists fearing the independence of the world’s most powerful central bank is openly on the line.
“I haven’t always agreed with Powell’s judgement — including the aftermath of the pandemic — but I’d be vastly more concerned about a scenario in which the administration of the day is calling the shots on monetary policy,” said Derek Holt, vice-president and head of Capital Markets Economics at Bank of Nova Scotia in a written note.
Why is this making the loonie soar?
On Jan. 9 at the end of the day, the Canadian dollar was worth about USD 71.90 cents, and as of publication just before 4 p.m. Eastern on Jan. 12, it’s worth about 72.10.
The Canadian dollar, like most other currencies worldwide, is priced in relation to the U.S. dollar because the latter is considered the most widely-used currency in the world.
A stronger loonie compared to the U.S. dollar means Canadian consumers may see some benefits — such as on the price of gasoline, imports from the U.S., and potentially some food prices — but could also see challenges for exporters.
Commodities like crude oil are priced almost everywhere in the world in U.S. dollars.
“If the U.S. dollar were to suddenly tank because of what is happening with the Fed Reserve chair, that could push Canadian gas prices slightly lower,” says Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.
“Oil prices globally are denominated in U.S. dollars, so a weakening dollar would mean lower gas prices for Canadians and a strengthening U.S. dollar would mean increased prices.”
De Haan adds that Canadians may start to see somewhat cheaper gas prices this week, but geopolitical risks may offset some of those discounts if they continue to be a concern for global oil markets.
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These risks include in Venezuela after the U.S. attacks and capture of Nicolás Maduro, protests in Iran and the potential for the U.S. to step in, as well as ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
A stronger Canadian dollar may also help local businesses that want to import products if they are priced in U.S. dollars.
“There are some potential short-term benefits for Canadian consumers and Canadian retailers to the extent of the Canadian dollar buys more foreign goods, and bear in mind that a lot of contracts are U.S. dollar-denominated — even when they’re not with U. S. vendors,” says Karl Littler, senior vice-president of public affairs at the Retail Council of Canada.
When it comes to exporting Canadian goods, Littler says a higher loonie compared to the U.S. dollar can actually have drawbacks because Canadian goods may cost more to some international customers.
“As an export nation, the implications of a struggling export industry for the broader economy and for jobs and economic growth and so forth are such that retailers may benefit, consumers may benefit from the stronger dollar, but if Canadian exporters are getting hammered, then there may be broader economic malaise that could offset that,” he says.
“It’s maybe a silver lining in what is a pretty cloudy economic environment.”
A stronger loonie may mean some costs for consumers will come down for food products that are shipped in from other nations like the United States, but it may also hurt Canadian farmers.
“In the short term, it might actually mean food prices go down because we’re importing a lot of fruit and vegetables over the course of the winter and paying for that in U.S. dollars as our dollar gets stronger,” says Mike von Massow, a food economist at the University of Guelph.
“On the flip side of that, though, we are a significant exporter of food products and this will hurt farmers who are selling their products into the export market because it’ll be more expensive for those importers to buy.”
What are the longer term risks?
Central banks like the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of Canada are expected to operate independently, and make their decisions based on expert assessments and data rather than political policy or partisan interests.
That includes how they make decisions about interest rates.
The U.S. President has been vocal in the past about his displeasure with Powell for not cutting interest rates more to boost the economy.
Most central banks like the Fed and the Bank of Canada have a mandate to keep their national economies stable by adjusting interest rates as needed to maintain price stability while encourage economic growth.
Dropping interest rates prematurely risks raising inflation to levels that could make goods and services too expensive, while raising rates too quickly could make borrowing less affordable for businesses and consumers and cause a recession.
This is why many economists believe central banks like the Fed need to stay independent in order to do what is best for the economy, and not for political agendas.
“We need to hold that independence paramount because inflation expectations really do drive future inflation, they drive wages, they drive all sorts of things. That feedback loop between interest rates and inflation expectations — that matters in having stable and predictable inflation,” says Andrew DiCapua, principal economist at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.
DiCapua says the targeting of the Federal Reserve by Trump will mean more economic uncertainty.
“I have still a little bit of faith that other institutions will hold this administration accountable. But that being said, this is the starting of the sort of Fed independence risk premium that we’re going to be facing this year.”
Karl Schamotta, chief market strategist at Corpay in Toronto pointed to “unintended consequences” of leaning on the Fed in comments to Reuters.
“By trying to influence the central bank through aggressive legal threats against individual officials, the administration could drive inflation expectations higher, erode the dollar’s safe-haven role, and trigger a sharp rise in long-term bond yields that raises borrowing costs across the American economy.
“Pouring gasoline everywhere and then playing with matches tends not to work out well,” he said.
How will that uncertainty impact you?
Along with the U.S. dollar taking a hit, the news of the DOJ honing its sights on the Federal Reserve rattled stock markets like Wall Street early on Monday, although there was a recovery by midday.
For those with retirement or investment portfolios, those ups and downs can be worrisome.
“The initial negative reaction wasn’t surprising. I think the surprising thing for myself is how quickly markets kind of recovered,” says Craig Ellis, chief investment officer of Bellwether Investment Management.
“I think over the last year and a bit, we’ve seen numerous, I’ll say surprise announcements that by and large haven’t rattled investors and even the ones that have, markets have recovered relatively quickly — this investigation just sort of adds to that uncertainty.”
Ellis says that Canadians who hold investment portfolios, including for their retirements, should ensure they’re diversified.
This means not having too much money tied up in one or a few investment products like a stock or bond or bar of gold for instance, but instead to spread things out to better absorb any negative shocks.
“If the market senses that the Fed is becoming less independent and more influenced by politics, you could actually see longer-term bond yields rise, and that’s not what the U.S. needs right now,” Ellis said.
“I think it’s one of the interesting factors is President Trump feels that he can influence short-term interest rates, but he really has very little control over what happens at the longer end of the yield curve.”
Politics
Sick astronaut returns to Earth with crew in NASA’s 1st medical evacuation – National TenX News
An ailing astronaut returned to Earth with three others on Thursday, ending their space station mission more than a month early in NASA’s first medical evacuation.
SpaceX guided the capsule to a middle-of-the-night splashdown in the Pacific near San Diego, less than 11 hours after the astronauts exited the International Space Station. Their first stop was a hospital for an overnight stay.
“Obviously, we took this action (early return) because it was a serious medical condition,” NASA’s new administrator Jared Isaacman said following splashdown. “The astronaut in question is fine right now, in good spirits and going through the proper medical checks.”
It was an unexpected finish to a mission that began in August and left the orbiting lab with only one American and two Russians on board. NASA and SpaceX said they would try to move up the launch of a fresh crew of four; liftoff is currently targeted for mid-February.
NASA’s Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke were joined on the return by Japan’s Kimiya Yui and Russia’s Oleg Platonov. Officials have refused to identify the astronaut who developed the health problem last week or explain what happened, citing medical privacy.
Support teams onboard the SpaceX recovery ship SHANNON work around the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft shortly after it landed off the coast of Long Beach, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026.
NASA via AP
While the astronaut was stable in orbit, NASA wanted them back on Earth as soon as possible to receive proper care and diagnostic testing. The entry and splashdown required no special changes or accommodations, officials said, and the recovery ship had its usual allotment of medical experts on board.
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The astronauts emerged from the capsule, one by one, within an hour of splashdown. They were helped onto reclining cots and then whisked away for standard medical checks, waving to the cameras. Isaacman monitored the action from Mission Control in Houston, along with the crew’s families.
NASA decided a few days ago to take the entire crew straight to a San Diego-area hospital following splashdown and even practiced helicopter runs there from the recovery ship. The astronaut in question will receive in-depth medical checks before flying with the rest of the crew back to Houston on Friday, assuming everyone is well enough. Platonov’s return to Moscow was unclear.
NASA stressed repeatedly over the past week that this was not an emergency. The astronaut fell sick or was injured on Jan. 7, prompting NASA to call off the next day’s spacewalk by Cardman and Fincke, and ultimately resulting in the early return. It was the first time NASA cut short a spaceflight for medical reasons. The Russians had done so decades ago.
Spacewalk preparations did not lead to the medical situation, Isaacman noted, but for anything else, “it would be very premature to draw any conclusions or close any doors at this point.” It’s unknown whether the same thing could have happened on Earth, he added.
The space station has gotten by with three astronauts before, sometimes even with just two. NASA said it will be unable to perform a spacewalk, even for an emergency, until the arrival of the next crew, which has two Americans, one French and one Russian astronaut.
This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows NASA astronaut Mike Fincke getting helped out of the SpaceX Crew-11 capsule.
NASA via AP
Isaacman said it’s too soon to know whether the launch of station reinforcements will take priority over the agency’s first moonshot with astronauts in more than a half-century. The moon rocket moves to the pad this weekend at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, with a fueling test to be conducted by early next month. Until all that is completed, a launch date cannot be confirmed; the earliest the moon flyaround could take off is Feb. 6.
For now, NASA is working in parallel on both missions, with limited overlap of personnel, according to Isaacman.
“If it comes down to a point in time to where we have to deconflict between two human spaceflight missions, that is a very good problem to have at NASA,” he told reporters.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
Troops from several European countries, including France, Germany, the UK, Norway and Sweden, are arriving in Greenland in a show of support for Denmark as talks between representatives of Denmark, Greenland and the U.S. on Wednesday highlighted “fundamental disagreement” between the Trump administration and European allies on the future of the Arctic island.
Denmark announced it would increase its military presence in Greenland on Wednesday and several European partners started sending symbolic numbers of troops on that day, just as the Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers were preparing to meet with White House representatives in Washington.
The troop movements were intended to portray unity among Europeans and send a signal to U.S. President Donald Trump that an American takeover of Greenland is not necessary as NATO together can safeguard the security of the Arctic region amid rising Russian and Chinese interest.
“The first French military elements are already en route” and “others will follow,” French President Emmanuel Macron announced Wednesday, as French authorities said about 15 soldiers from the mountain infantry unit were already in Nuuk for a military exercise.
Germany will deploy a reconnaissance team of 13 personnel to Greenland on Thursday, its Defence Ministry said.
On Thursday, Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said the intention was “to establish a more permanent military presence with a larger Danish contribution,” according to Danish broadcaster DR. He said soldiers from several NATO countries will be in Greenland on a rotation system.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, flanked by his Greenlandic counterpart Vivian Motzfeldt, said Wednesday that a “fundamental disagreement” over Greenland remains with Trump after they held highly anticipated talks at the White House with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Rasmussen added that it remains “clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland” but that dialogue with the U.S. would continue at a high level over the following weeks.
Inhabitants of Greenland and Denmark reacted with anxiety but also some relief that negotiations with the U.S. would go on and European support was becoming visible.
In Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, local residents told The Associated Press they were glad the first meeting between Greenlandic, Danish and American officials had taken place but suggested it left more questions than answers.
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Several people said they viewed Denmark’s decision to send more troops, and promises of support from other NATO allies, as protection against possible U.S. military action. But European military officials have not suggested the goal is to deter a U.S. move against the island.
Maya Martinsen, 21, agreed and said it was “comforting to know that the Nordic countries are sending reinforcements” because Greenland is a part of Denmark and NATO.
The dispute, she said, is not about “national security” but rather about “the oils and minerals that we have that are untouched.”
On Wednesday, Poulsen had announced a stepped-up military presence in the Arctic “in close cooperation with our allies,” calling it a necessity in a security environment in which “no one can predict what will happen tomorrow.”
“This means that from today and in the coming time there will be an increased military presence in and around Greenland of aircraft, ships and soldiers, including from other NATO allies,” Poulsen said.
Asked whether the European troop movements were coordinated with NATO or what role the U.S.-led military alliance might play in the exercises, NATO referred all questions to the Danish authorities. However, NATO is currently studying ways to bolster security in the Arctic.
Rasmussen, the Danish foreign minister, announced the creation of a working group with the Americans to discuss ways to work through differences.
“The group, in our view, should focus on how to address the American security concerns, while at the same time respecting the red lines of the Kingdom of Denmark,” he said.
Commenting on the outcome of the Washington meeting on Thursday, Poulsen said the working group was “better than no working group” and “a step in the right direction.” He added nevertheless that the dialogue with the U.S. did not mean “the danger has passed.”
“We are really happy that action is being taken to make sure that this discussion is not just ended with that meeting alone,” Greenlandic MP Aki-Matilda Høegh-Dam said on Thursday during a news conference in Copenhagen.
She said Greenlandic people understood they were a “pivotal point” in a broader transformation of the international rules-based order and that they felt responsible not just for themselves but also for the whole world to get it right.
Høegh-Dam said the military operations should not happen “right next to our schools and right next to our kindergartens.”
Line McGee, a 38-year-old from Copenhagen, told AP that she was glad to see some diplomatic progress. “I don’t think the threat has gone away,” she said. “But I feel slightly better than I did yesterday.”
Speaking to FOX News Channel’s Special Report on Wednesday after the White House talks, Rasmussen rejected both a military takeover and the potential purchase of the island by the U.S. Asked whether he thinks the U.S. will invade, he replied: “No, at least I do not hope so, because, I mean, that would be the end of NATO.”
Rasmussen said Greenlanders were unlikely to vote for U.S. rule even if financial incentives were offered, “because I think there’s no way that U.S. will pay for a Scandinavian welfare system in Greenland, honestly speaking.”
“You haven’t introduced a Scandinavian welfare system in your own country,” he added.
Trump, in his Oval Office meeting with reporters, said: “We’ll see how it all works out. I think something will work out.”
© 2026 The Canadian Press
Politics
A Canadian citizen has died in Iran, Ottawa says as protests intensify – National TenX News
A Canadian citizen has died in Iran, Global Affairs Canada told Global News as the protests against the Iranian regime have intensified over the last few days.
“Global Affairs Canada is aware of a Canadian citizen who died in Iran. We express our condolences to the family and loved ones during this difficult time,” a spokesperson for GAC said.
As of Wednesday, there were 3,054 Canadian citizens and permanent residents registered in Iran, the spokesperson said.
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However, they added that since registration with GAC is voluntary, the actual number may be outdated.
Canada does not have diplomatic relations with Iran.
More to come
Sick astronaut returns to Earth with crew in NASA’s 1st medical evacuation – National TenX News
European troops arrive in Greenland after ‘disagreement’ with U.S. – National TenX News
A Canadian citizen has died in Iran, Ottawa says as protests intensify – National TenX News
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