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Feb 2 2024

1100 ET: Temagami, ON - LPC MP Anthony Rota makes a funding announcement. 1115 ET: Toronto - Deputy PM and Fin Min Chrystia Freeland , International Development Min Ahmed Hussen and Mayor Olivia Chow tour a settlement services agency. 1130 ET: Corner Brook, NL - ACOA Min Gudie Hutchings makes a funding announcement. 1200 ET: Edmonton - Employment Min Randy Boissonnault makes an infrastructure funding announcement. 1300 ET: Toronto - NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh speaks at The Metropolitan University's Democracy Forum. 1330 ET: Drummondville, QC - CEDQR Min Soraya Martinez Ferrada makes a funding announcement. 1330 ET: Hamilton, ON - FEDDEV Min Filomena Tassi and LPC MP Chad Collins make a funding announcement. 1445 ET: Drummondville, QC - CEDQR Min Soraya Martinez Ferrada makes a funding announcement. 2130 ET: Mayne Island, BC - GPC MP Elizabeth May holds a community meeting: The Roundup

Feb 2, 2024
David Akin's Roundup
Clippings of #cdnpoli, #media, and #tech content aimed at those with an interest in Canadian politics and policy. And sometimes Canadian postage stamps.
Canada
CSIS: China sought to influence 2 federal elections
According to a CSIS briefing obtained by Global News through the Access to Information Act, CSIS knew "that the People's Republic of China (PRC) sought to clandestinely and deceptively influence the 2019 and 2021 federal elections." David Akin digs into the details, and why the top secret report predicts Canada's foreign interference problem will get worse. [Global National]
A report obtained by Global News says 'foreign interference' is interfering with Canadian democracy. [Global]

Federal authorities noted a significant spike in threats to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other senior public figures during the lead-up to the 2021 election. [Global]
The Conservative Party of Canada has long dominated its rivals when it comes to fundraising but in the fourth quarter of 2023 it literally blew the lids off, raising a whopping and record-setting $11.9 million in the three months ending Dec. 31. As you'll see in the two charts below, that easily eclipses the previous record of $10.1-million it raised during the quarter in 2019, a quarter when there was a federal election. The 2023Q4 haul came from a record 66,245 donors.

Mind you, despite its fundraising dominance, the party is 0-3 where it really counts through this period: Winning elections. Indeed, look at the 2015Q3 data point: The Conservatives and NDP crushed it in fundraising -- and yet the Liberals romped to a majority win.

A reminder: Only individual Canadian citizens may donate to any entity registered with Elections Canada, such as political parties and this year, the maximum annual donation is $1,700. Donations from corporations, unions, and NGOs are prohibited as are donations from outside the country or non-Canadians.
- DA
"We are still in the early days, and we're in this weird period where there aren't rules about disclosure about AI, and there also aren't norms yet about disclosure around uses of generative AI," says University of Ottawa professor Elizabeth Dubois. "We don't necessarily know everything that's happening." [CP]
The Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters says Ontario has more than 18,900 vacancies and about 7,000 confirmed new manufacturing jobs opening up. [Global]
From the provinces
Quebec court upholds province's COVID-19 curfew after Charter challenge
A provincial court justice of the peace has upheld the Quebec government's imposition of curfews during the COVID-19 pandemic, finding several people guilty of breaking the health order during a protest. [CP]
A Nova Scotia court has fined a church in the Annapolis Valley $5,000 for violating provincial restrictions on faith gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic. [Global]
Alberta's premier stood behind her government's recently announced policies regarding transgender youth, gender-affirming care, sex education and parental notification. [Global]

James Smith Cree Nation and Indigenous leadership is focusing on self-administered policing in the wake of the provincial coroner's inquest. [Global]
The Supreme Court of Canada is set to release its ruling today on a bid by Ontario Premier Doug Ford's government to keep his marching orders to cabinet secret. [CP]
Elsewhere
Biden imposes sanctions on Israeli settlers accused of West Bank violence
The Biden administration on Thursday imposed sanctions on four Israeli men it accused of being involved in settler violence in the West Bank, signaling growing U.S. displeasure with the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. [Reuters]
The trade-war has not to date provided economic help to the US heartland: import tariffs on foreign goods neither raised nor lowered US employment in newly-protected sectors; retaliatory tariffs had clear negative employment impacts, primarily in agriculture; and these harms were only partly mitigated by compensatory US agricultural subsidies. Consistent with expressive views of politics, the tariff war appears nevertheless to have been a political success for the governing Republican party. Residents of regions more exposed to import tariffs became less likely to identify as Democrats, more likely to vote to reelect Donald Trump in 2020, and more likely to elect Republicans to Congress. Foreign retaliatory tariffs only modestly weakened that support. [National Bureau of Economic Research]
As Beijing struggles with a slumping stock market and a collapsing real estate sector, commentary and even financial analysis it deems negative are blocked. [NYT]
The general finding among all these studies was that it is hard to establish a reliable causal influence of fake news on voting. One reason was that who people say they vote for and how they actually vote can be vastly different. [The Conversation]
Media

“We highlight three main takeaways from our study that show how X-Twitter has fundamentally changed for users after the Musk purchase: On Elon Musk’s X, users are much less interested in fact-checker accounts, much less engaged with pro-science accounts, and much more engaged with extreme media outlets (and less engaged with the least-biased media outlets).” [Marketwatch]

in a joint statement with Conservative Deputy House Leader Luc Berthold, [Lethbridge MP Rachael] Thomas stated “as a direct result of Tait’s incompetence, the CBC’s viewership has been cut in half since she took over as CEO in 2018. They have failed to produce the content Canadians want to consume, forcing the broadcaster to fire 600 people in December and leave another 200 positions vacant. [Lethbridge Herald]
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Sci/Tech

The Apple CEO says his company is putting “tremendous time and effort” into integrating AI into its software platforms. [The Verge]
The Calendar
  • 1100 ET: Temagami, ON - LPC MP Anthony Rota makes a funding announcement. 
  • 1115 ET: Toronto -  Deputy PM and Fin Min Chrystia Freeland , International Development Min Ahmed Hussen and Mayor Olivia Chow tour a settlement services agency.
  • 1130 ET: Corner Brook, NL - ACOA Min Gudie Hutchings makes a funding announcement. 
  • 1200 ET: Edmonton -  Employment Min Randy Boissonnault  makes an infrastructure funding announcement.
  • 1300 ET: Toronto -  NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh speaks at The Metropolitan University's Democracy Forum.
  • 1330 ET: Drummondville, QC - CEDQR Min Soraya Martinez Ferrada makes a funding announcement. 
  • 1330 ET: Hamilton, ON - FEDDEV Min Filomena Tassi and LPC MP Chad Collins make a funding announcement. 
  • 1445 ET: Drummondville, QC - CEDQR Min Soraya Martinez Ferrada makes another funding announcement. 
  • 2130 ET: Mayne Island, BC - GPC MP Elizabeth  May holds a community meeting.
Issued this day ...
... in 1953: Scott# 321 with selvedge: Totem Pole. Design: Emanuel Otto Hahn.

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