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Mar 14 2024

Auditors fired. Quebec deficit. Curbing China: The Roundup

Mar 14, 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
'My job is not to be popular,' Trudeau says after pressed to ditch carbon price hike
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pushed back Wednesday on growing demands from premiers to dump the planned April 1 hike to the consumer carbon levy, saying leaders must tackle both affordability and climate change. [CP]
Smith said she told Trudeau she believes Alberta's relationship with Ottawa could be "greatly improved" if he removed Guilbeault from his ministerial post. [Global]

Canada’s carbon price is set to increase next month despite provincial leaders like Newfoundland Premier Andrew Furey calling for a halt. Here's what you need to know. [Global]
Jason Markusoff: When the prime minister and Alberta's premier say their one-on-one meeting was constructive, they might actually be telling the beneath-the-drama truth. [CBC]

A partner at GCStrategies – the IT firm at the center of the ArriveCan scandal – says his reputation has been damaged by 'false information.' [Global]
"amid all the focus on record household debt, what’s often lost is that many households are also very well armed … household financial assets (i.e., not including real estate) have risen to a record high of nearly $10 trillion.
"Canada’s household debt-to-income ratio improved for the third straight quarter  … mortgage demand looks to ramp back up when rates begin to fall in the middle of this year."  [BMO Capital Markets]
“The reason we haven't nominated someone yet is because we have a contested nomination,” said Martin. With a half dozen interested people the process is moving forward and an open call-out for nominations will be sent out in the next two weeks. A candidate will be selected by local party members at the annual general meeting May 16. This seat, Liberal since Mulroney's last win, is vacant with the current incumbent Lloyd Longfield set to retire at the next election. [Guelph Today]
Graeme Young reviews Seeking Social Democracy: Seven Decades in the Fight for Equality by Ed Broadbent, with Frances Abele, Jonathan Sas, and Luke Savage. Young has several interesting observations about the NDP today. "A lot of work needs to be done if the NDP wants to show what the good society might look like in practice, but surely Broadbent’s belief in decentralized decision making, worker empowerment, and expanding the scope of democracy from political to economic life provides a basis from which to think about an alternative to the status quo. Times may change, but some ideas never go out of fashion." - DA [Literary Review of Canada]
From the Provinces
The province said the agency will be independent from the government, like all of Alberta's police services. [Global]
Alberta commission finds renewables pose little threat to agriculture, environment
 Alberta's utilities regulator has released a report saying the province's booming renewables industry poses little threat to its agriculture or the environment. [CP]

A B.C. MP in the Fraser Valley said federal help for the region regarding funds for emergency disasters is taking too long. [Global]
Carson Binda: A scathing new report from B.C.’s information and privacy commissioner has found that the provincial government “is systematically failing to abide by the law.” When politicians break the law, it’s something we should all pay attention to. It’s also something the government must fix. [Victoria Times Colonist]
Elsewhere
India is providing a fast-track to citizenship for religious minorities seeking refuge in the country — except, that is, for Muslims.  [CBC]
It will apply to, but not criminalise, groups that promote an ideology based on "violence, hatred or intolerance". 
Communities Secretary Michael Gove said a surge in extremism since the Israel-Gaza war posed "a real risk" to the UK.  Civil liberties advocates, community groups and MPs have criticised recent government rhetoric on extremism. [BBC]
More campaigns are turning to influencers to build trust and persuade voters — particularly in diverse communities ... Biden campaign has already announced a social media war room. [Campaigns and Elections]
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Media

A Nova Scotia judge approved an application Wednesday to protect Atlantic Canada's largest newspaper company from its creditors. [Global]
Science and Tech
There are plenty of things you can do to declutter your iPhone or iPad, free up some space and otherwise make your gear feel a bit more like new again. This guide will take you through how to reclaim your notifications and your device’s storage. [Endgadget]

As the popular chatbot gets access to up-to-date information, we asked it questions about different news stories to see how it fared. [Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism]
The Calendar
  • 0900 ET: Oromocto, NB - Veterans Affairs Min Ginette Petitpas Taylor and LPC MP Jenica Atwin  make an infrastructure funding announcement.
  • 0900 ET: Dartmouth, NS - LPC MP Darren Fisher makes a funding announcement. 
  • 0900 ET: Stratford, PE - Agriculture Min Lawrence MacAulay makes a funding announcement. 
  • 0930 ET: Bridgewater, NS - Environment Min Steven Guilbeault makes a funding announcement. 
  • 1000 ET: Saskatoon - PrairiesCAN Min Dan Vandal makes a funding announcement. 
  • 1100 ET: 025B West Block - Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates (OGGO) | Meeting  109 - ArriveCAN Application
  • 1105 ET: Southwestern Ontario - PM Trudeau meets with union workers.
  • 1130 ET: Edmonton - Employment Min Randy Boissonnault makes a funding announcement. 
  • 1200 ET: Vancouver - International Trade Min Mary Ng makes a funding announcement. 
  • 1230 ET: Vancouver - PACIFICCan Min Harjit Sajjan makes a funding announcement. 
  • 1230 ET: Ottawa - LPC MP Yasir Naqvi makes a funding announcement. 
  • 1230 ET: Southwestern Ontario - PM Trudeau speaks to reporters.
  • 1400 ET: Shelburne, NS - Environment Min Steven Guilbeault speaks to reporters following a roundtable discussion about environmental racism.
  • 1400 ET: Montreal - Heritage Min Pascale St-Onge meets with members of the Indigenous audiovisual sector.
  • 1430 ET: Gibsons, BC - LPC MP Patrick Weiler makes a funding announcement. 
  • 1530 ET: Southwestern Ontario - PM Trudeau meets with seniors.
Issued this day ...
… in 1975. Scott # 656: Olympic Sculptures. Design: Allan Robb Fleming.
The bronze sculpture The Sprinter (1902) by Robert Tait Tait McKenzie (1867-1938). appears on this stamp. McKenzie, an anatomy lecturer at McGill University had members of the McGill track team pose for this piece.

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