Good morning. We’re diligently checking the origin of our groceries, but where’s the love for the sector that truly defines who we are? Below, a look at our cultural industries in the elbows-up era. Plus, more news on government contracting and a return of the HBC blanket. But first:

• The federal government will table new legislation next week to change the bail system
• A man has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of 14-year-old Samuel Bird
• A Palestinian woman struggles to leave to reunite with her freed brother in Egypt

Ever since March, you may have found yourself more closely inspecting the items in your grocery cart. Is that orange juice from Florida? Are those strawberries being shipped by way of California? And what is the origin of this ketchup?

In this elbows-up era of tariffs and trade disruptions, Canadians have banded together to an almost unprecedented degree to put this country’s interests first. But despite an initial blip of grassroots campaigns urging everyone to drop their Netflix subscriptions and any other entertainment service that might be funnelling Canadian dollars to Donald Trump’s America, the issue of culture – really, the one thing that makes Canadians, well, Canadian – has been a quieter talking point, if anyone is even whispering about it at all.

As a country, we tend to take immense pride in pointing out homegrown artists who have made it big. Well, big everywhere except Canada. Currently, movie screens around the world are dominated by the Ryans – Reynolds and Gosling. The charts are topped by Justin Bieber and Drake. Come from Away is being staged in the heart of the American South. And on and on.

Canadians themselves are increasingly tuned into Canadian content, with rising subscriptions across our local streaming platforms.

But what is the government doing inside this country to ensure that our storytellers are being supported, in this crucial moment of domestic pride? It turns out, not nearly enough. And if we continue to stand still, we’re not only blowing a prime opportunity to recognize the artists inside our borders, but we’re putting our very national identity at risk.

Duelling philosophies have become obvious in the lead up to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first budget, set to be tabled Nov. 4. Plus, Canadian cultural policies will be on the U.S. trade table again: It’s not just softwood lumber and dairy, but also the Online Streaming Act and the Online News Act.

The longer we ignore the tenuous state of homegrown culture, the more we risk losing any real sense of what this battle for the soul of Canada is even about. Who are we without the stories that we watch and listen to and read together?

In this Saturday’s special Arts & Books section, The Globe’s culture team takes a close look at what needs to be done to support our filmmakers, our authors, our musicians, our visual artists and our theatre stars as they stare down an existential threat like no other.

Here’s what to expect from the full package online and in the paper this weekend:

• Our television critic, J. Kelly Nestruck, surveys the cultural sector and finds that our future in film, television and even theatre might be found not only at home, but abroad.
• Visual art critic Kate Taylor looks at how history has a nasty habit of repeating itself when it comes to crucial Canadian media legislation.
• Josh O’Kane, who covers arts economics and policy, looks at how cultural nationalism supercharged the publishing industry five decades ago, and asks: Can it happen again?
• Brad Wheeler, who often reports on entertainment, talks with musician and writer Dave Bidini about how the music world can go beyond bumper-sticker nationalism.
• The Globe’s Quebec correspondent, Eric Andrew-Gee, finds that the fight for homegrown culture is a fight that’s long been settled for francophones – and they won, handily.
• And I attempt to bend Carney‘s ear as his Liberal Party figures out how to satisfy its campaign promises when it comes to culture while preparing the country for a new economic reality.

Take a big swig of Canadian OJ and settle in for the battle of our culture’s soul.

For Canadian Rangers in the Arctic, help is far away – and talk of a Golden Dome even more so. But asserting sovereignty in the Far North is as much a performance as a policy for Canada. For these reservists, the flex is very real.