Past issues Subscribe

May 19 2023

Alberta debate. G7 pressure. Crooks bet.

May 19, 2023
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
WestJet said Friday morning it was re-starting operations as quickly and efficiently as possible, however the full resumption of flights will take time.  [Global]

Nine-in-ten Canadians feel that people are quitting the country’s workforce due to stress and burnout, according to the latest Canadian Household Perspectives survey conducted by Pollara Strategic Insights for The Prosperity Project. [Pollara]

Experts say the funding may have helped 'legitimize' the Montreal charity suspected of backing efforts to silence critics of China’s regime. [National Post]
The government bill passed 207 to 113 with the support of Liberal, NDP, Bloc Québécois and Green members of Parliament.  [Global]
David Johnston has until May 23 to decide whether a public inquiry or another independent process is needed to examine allegations of Chinese interference in Canada. [Global]
From the provinces
Alberta's ethics commissioner says Premier Danielle Smith contravened the Conflicts of Interest Act in her interaction with the province's justice minister.

Leader Danielle Smith said Jennifer Johnson 'used offensive language and a vile analogy when speaking about the 2SLGBTQIA+ community for which she has apologized.' [Global]
United Conservative Party Leader Danielle Smith stuck to her party’s messaging on lower taxes and tough-on crime policy while attempting to fend off attacks on her record and judgment from New Democratic Party Leader Rachel Notely at Thursday night’s Alberta leaders debate. [Edmonton Journal]
Lisa Young: When tonight’s Alberta leader’s debate ended, the feed cut out and the station I was watching switched to an ad for the circus. Given the past 48 hours in Alberta politics, it was on point. Here’s what struck me about the debate: In the... 
Rachel Notley is ahead of Danielle Smith when Albertans are asked who would make the best head of government. [Research Co]

Premier Heather Stefanson delivered a state of the province address to the Brandon Chamber of Commerce on Thursday that seemed both a defence of her government’s tenure and a soft launch for her re-election campaign. [Brandon Sun]
Click to donate $3 a month to support this newsletter!
Elsewhere
The G7 nations are expected to announce more sanctions against Russia and military aid for Ukraine at a three-day summit in Japan. [Global]
Meloni's far-right-led government has moved to limit recognition of parental rights to the biological parent only in families with same-sex parents, sparking protests. 
Click and donate $5 a month to support this newsletter!
Media
When It Rains, It Amanpours
Notes on the ongoing fallout from a cable news makeover. [Puck News]

More style changes from the trendsetter -- The New York Times. - DA [NYT]
Tech
Crooks’ Mistaken Bet on Encrypted Phones
Drug syndicates and other criminal groups bought into the idea that a new kind of phone network couldn’t be infiltrated by cops. They were wrong—big time. Great long read with some Canadian connections. [New Yorker]
Issued this day ...
... in 1960: Scott #390. Battle of the Long Sault. Ephrum Philip Weiss. 
This is yet another example of the kind of stamp that could never be issued in this day and age of reconciliation. It marks the 300th anniversary of the Battle of Long Sault which took place over a 5-day period in May, 1660. The combatants were French colonial militia, led by 24-year-old Adam Dollard des Ormeaux, their Huron and Alongquin allies set against a numerically superior group of warriors from the Iroquois Confederacy. Just about everyone on the French side was killed, including Dollard, but official church history would chronicle that the sacrifice Dollard made "saved" what would become Montreal from further attack by the Iroquois. 
But the Canadian Encyclopedia notes, "Since the 1930s, historical research has called into question the heroic representation of both the man and the battle. It has been emphasized that neither Adam Dollard des Ormeaux nor his allies were aware that a sizeable group of Haudenosaunee warriors were in the vicinity of Ville-Marie. Rather, they were planning to attack much smaller groups of Haudenosaunee hunters to steal their beaver pelts and trade them with the members of the Odawa nation."

Previous Issues

Load More