Good morning. Today is budget day, and while our business reporters are in Ottawa waiting for the document to be released, we dive into other movement that the federal government is already making in attempts to put Canada on the global defence map. Partnership talks between Bombardier and Sweden’s Saab are in focus today, along with more prebudget reading.

Preview: Today’s federal budget will announce a $50-billion fund for local infrastructure, including housing, transportation and a specific stream for health infrastructure, a senior government official told The Globe and Mail.

Trade: Ontario’s Doug Ford will “never apologize” to Trump over anti-tariff ad, while B.C. government cancels plans to run its own campaign

Auto: Ottawa has launched a dispute-settlement proceeding over Stellantis NV’s Jeep production move to the U.S.

Streetwise: Investors balk at the $9.5-billion takeover of Canada’s New Gold as the American acquirer’s shares tumble 12 per cent

Hello from Rome. I’m Eric Reguly, The Globe’s European bureau chief. I cover pretty much everything, including, lately, the surge in defence spending among Europe’s NATO members as they rebuild their clapped-out armories.

Canada, too, is going big on defence after decades of neglect. We may get more information on the raw spending numbers later today, when the government of Prime Minister Mark Carney releases its debut budget.

What we won’t see in the fine print is the outlays for specific weapons, in good part because some of the biggest defence procurement programs are in flux.

Take the U.S.-built F-35 stealth fighter-jet. Canada has committed to buy 16 of them, with options for another 72. Carney in March ordered a review of the F-35 deal as he vowed to downgrade Canada’s overwhelming dependence on the United States for fighting equipment.

Since then, there has been ample speculation that Canada may add a second plane to its new fleet, with Sweden’s Saab Gripen single-engine, supersonic plane at the top of the list. The aircraft does not have stealth capabilities, but it is cheaper to buy and run than the F-35 and touted as better suited to the harsh conditions of the Far North that Canada and Sweden must contend with.

In my Saturday story, I confirmed that Saab and Bombardier of Montreal are in talks to form a joint venture that would see the aircraft built in Canada. But for whom?

Here’s where it gets interesting. On Oct. 22, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson signed a letter of intent for Ukraine’s purchase of 100 to 150 Gripens. Saab’s aerospace factory in Sweden doesn’t have the capacity to build that many, so Bombardier has offered to come to the rescue.

The creation of the joint venture would mark a revolution for Bombardier, adding an enormous military business to its largely civil program – business jets are its main products. When Éric Martel was appointed Bombardier CEO in 2020, he probably never imagined he would be running a weapons player.

There’s more. Canada could also become a client. The rumour in Ottawa is that a reluctant Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) is coming around to the idea of operating a dual fleet that is F-35s and Gripens.

Carney knows it would be foolish to cancel the F-35 order and suffer potential retaliation from U.S. President Donald Trump in the trade war. Since it makes little sense to buy only 16 F-35s, the word is Canada would perhaps boost the F-35 order to 36 or so and buy 60 or 70 Gripens.

The goal is not merely defence. Building the Gripens in Canada for both the RCAF and Ukraine would put Canada on the global defence map, creating thousands of manufacturing and research and development jobs. With the Trump tariffs battering the Canadian steel, aluminum and auto sectors, Carney and Industry Minister Mélanie Joly know that Canada needs a win and aerospace may be it.

It’s not known when the Bombardier-Saab JV might be formed. In the meantime, there is ample speculation, none of it denied by Ottawa, that Canada will soon place a firm order for half a dozen Saab GlobalEye surveillance jets, which can track enemy aircraft and missiles 450 kilometres away. The plane, based on the Bombardier 6000-Series business jet that is built at the new Bombardier factory at Toronto’s Pearson airport, is outfitted with radar and sensors at the Saab factory.

The speculation intensified yesterday when Sweden announced that its king and queen will be paying a three-day state visit to Canada on Nov. 18. The Swedish government said one of the aims of the visit is “to strengthen co-operation between Swedish and Canadian actors in defence and security.”

The GlobalEye has already made Bombardier and Saab partners. It appears that partnership could get broader and deeper.