Joanna Smith joins The Logic’s Ottawa bureau as a reporter. Read more in this note to staff from deputy managing editor Charlie Gillis.

Donald Trump’s return to the White House reintroduces fresh uncertainty to the cross-border commerce on which so many Canadian businesses, and Canadian livelihoods, depend—especially with the looming renegotiation of our free trade agreement with the U.S. and Mexico. 

To better serve The Logic’s readers, we are launching a new beat that will focus on trade and the Canada-U.S. relationship.

We will cover the Trump administration’s moves, the response to them in Ottawa and their impact across the country. We will report on their effect on large and small Canadian enterprises, investors, workers and entrepreneurs, and explore how those businesses are reacting. As ever, our goal is to serve our readers in Canadian business and tech by separating signal from noise.

I’m thrilled to announce that to build this beat, Joanna Smith is joining The Logic’s Ottawa bureau as a reporter.

Joanna has been a political journalist on Parliament Hill since 2008, including as a reporter for the Toronto Star and as Ottawa news editor and then bureau chief for The Canadian Press. She was most recently editor-in-chief of Kathari News, an online journalism startup with a focus on the global energy transition. She has also taught journalism at Carleton University and is on the board of directors at World Press Freedom Canada.

Joanna will not just reinforce our already formidable Ottawa bureau, but will work with beat reporters across our newsroom on key cross-border business issues such as energy, the auto sector, critical minerals and AI.

She starts with us on Jan. 13 and will report to me. Please join me in welcoming her to the team.