Good morning. Today is the official start of the Winter Olympics, taking place across northern Italy. We’ve got everything you need to know about the Games below, along with solidarity in Greenland and division at CAAT. But first:

• The arrest of Toronto police officers in an organized crime and corruption investigation could upend the prosecution of other criminal cases
• PM Mark Carney unveiled Ottawa’s new plan to bolster the automotive sector and reduce greenhouse gas emissions
• Federal public servants will be required to be in office four days a week as of July

Buon giorno, I’m Jamie Ross, The Globe’s sports editor, writing to you from Milan, where the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics are set to officially kick off.

I’ll be supporting a team of five Globe reporters (plus one photographer), who are spreading out across the country to bring you the biggest news from these Winter Games.

When I wrote in this space two years ago, it was against a very different backdrop. There was heightened excitement for the first post-COVID Olympics, the Games were happening in Paris, and it was sunny and hot. That sentiment lasted a day, then all hell broke loose for the Canadian delegation; a sabotage on the country’s rail system caused transportation chaos; and the handling of a performance-enhancing drug scandal dominated conversation.

This time around, a calmness is enveloping the Games. There has yet to be any large transgressions, and most coverage has been sports-centric. It’s early, so expect the usual Olympic bugaboos (Russia, doping, gender issues) to become an issue at some point.

Team Canada

The Olympics are always, at a minimum, tinged with patriotic pride from all countries. It’s kind of the point. This year, however, the stakes feel higher for Canada, which comes into the Games during a period of deteriorating relations with the United States and threats to its autonomy from the American President.

The Winter Games always carry a higher medal count for the Canadians relative to the size of the competition. The country sat fourth overall in medals, with 26, at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. David Shoemaker, the Canadian Olympic Committee chief executive officer, said he hopes to exceed that in Italy, though he wouldn’t give an exact number.

Canadian moguls skier Mikaël Kingsbury enters his fourth and final Olympics here. He will be one of two athletes carrying the flag at Friday’s opening ceremony, and already has one Olympic gold to his name. Another would cement his reputation as the greatest of all time.

Other gold medal hopefuls include short track speedskater Will Dandjinou, who is a threat in multiple events; ski jumper Abigail Strate; and both the men’s and women’s curling and hockey squads.

The NHL’s return

The biggest, and highest-paid, stars at these games will be in the men’s hockey tournament, which will feature players from the NHL for the first time since the Sochi Games in 2014.

After Canada’s win over the United States at last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off, and given the political tension between the two countries, the possibility of a showdown in the gold-medal game has fans salivating. But Finland and Sweden also have formidable teams that will compete for spots atop the podium.

On the women’s side, hockey is more of a two-horse race, with Canada and the United States existing head and shoulders above the rest of the world.

No Russia

There will be no official Russian participation in Italy for the second consecutive Olympics. The country was banned in 2023 because of its war in Ukraine, though 13 individual athletes are permitted to compete here under a neutral banner. The Belarusian Olympic committee is subject to the same ban, and its country will see seven athletes at the Winter Games.

According to multiple reports, the Italian Foreign Ministry said Thursday it had thwarted a Russian cyberattack targeting websites linked to the Games, including those of hotels in Cortina d’Ampezzo.