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Mar 27 2023

Budget banter. Bibi’s freeze. Bill’s intelligence.

Mar 26, 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.
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Canada
Inflation, taxes top of mind for Canadians ahead of budget 2023: poll
The 2023 federal budget will be released on Tuesday. Here are the main priorities for Canadians, according to a new Ipsos poll. [Global]
Canada's 2023 federal budget will see the Liberals attempt to respond to pressures from inflation, the United States and an uncertain economy. [Global]
Tyler Meredith spent most of the last seven years as a top advisor to finance ministers Bill Morneau and Chrystia Freeland. On budget eve, he sets out some thoughts on what his old boss might be doing tomorrow. [AirQuotes Media]
‘There is no light between the two countries as to the importance of taking on China,’ said U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Cohen. [Global]
The military announced last week that about 7,700 Armed Forces members will no longer receive the top-up starting in July. [Global]

NORAD modernization is a long-term project and these multiple areas of investment will support NORAD and the Canadian Armed Forces’ ability to protect Canadians against new and emerging military threats to Canada and North America more broadly. [Govt of Canada Fact Sheet]
From the Provinces
Eighty-five percent of Saskatchewan Liberal Party constituents voted in favour of a motion to change the party’s name at its Annual General Meeting on Saturday. The political party hopes to have its new name at some point this summer. Party got just 355 votes in the last provincial election.  [CBC]
Elsewhere
Histadrut head announces general strike • No flights from Ben-Gurion Airport until further notice. [Jerusalem Post]
Israeli PM Netanyahu fires defence minister who opposed judicial overhaul
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired Yoav Gallant, a day after he called for a halt to the planned overhaul of Israel's judiciary that has fiercely divided the country. [Global]
 [Analsyis of ] the adult age at death of 115,650 European nobles from 800 to 1800. Longevity began increasing long before 1800 and the Industrial Revolution, with marked increases around 1400 and again around 1650. Declines in violent deaths from battle contributed to some of this increase, but the majority must reflect other changes in individual behavior. There are historic spatial contours to European elite mortality; Northwest Europe achieved greater adult lifespans than the rest of Europe even by 1000 AD. Fascinating study. [Journal of Economic History]
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COVID and Vaccines

The company has said it plans to increase the cost of the vaccine to consumers to $130 a dose from the current price of about $26. [NBC]
A new exhibit in downtown Winnipeg is comparing the city's response to the COVID-19 virus in 2020 to the Spanish Flu that spread across the world in 1918. [Global]
Media
The suit contends Oliver, who pleaded guilty to criminal harassment on March 10, caused Vance and one of her talk show guests Jesse Miller to fear for their safety. [Vancouver Sun]
"In interviews for this story, the harshest position against Fox News among journalism deans seemed to be a sort of double-secret probation." [Nieman]

Justin Hendrix: TikTok is not a product of Chinese communism, it is a product of American surveillance capitalism. If Congress wants to address the app’s underlying harms, it should ban surveillance advertising, not TikTok. [Tech Policy Press]
Tech
The Age of AI has begun
Bill Gates: Why AI is as revolutionary as personal computers, mobile phones, and the Internet. Three principles for how to think about it. [GatesNotes]
Need to visualize a process? Here's how to do it in less than ten minutes using Apple Freeform. [ZDNet]
Issued this day ...
... in 2019: Sc 3173: Canadians in Flight - William George Barker. Design: Ivan Novotny. 
From Canada Post at the time of release: "Born in a log cabin near Dauphin, Manitoba, William [Billy] George Barker, VC (1894-1930), was a First World War pilot with the Royal Air Force who became (and remains) the most decorated member of the military in the history of Canada and the British Empire. For his wartime deeds and bravery, including 50 aerial victories in more than 900 hours of combat, Barker received the Distinguished Service Order (twice), the Military Cross (three times), the Croix de Guerre and the Medaglia d’Argento al Valor Militare (twice). He was awarded the Victoria Cross for downing four German planes during his final fight over France in October 1918, despite being vastly outnumbered and falling in and out of consciousness from his wounds.

Back in Canada after the war, Barker and fellow flying ace Billy Bishop formed Bishop-Barker Aeroplanes Limited, one of Canada’s first commercial air services. In a round-trip aerial race from Toronto to New York in 1919, Barker became the first Canadian pilot to carry international airmail. In 1921, he became the first to fly commercial cargo between the United States and Canada. Barker was appointed the first president of the Toronto Maple Leafs by the hockey team’s founder (and fellow Flying Corps member) Conn Smythe. His last, solo dogfight became an instant legend inspiring writers for decades to come.  He is a named character in Ernest Hemingway’s 1936 short story The Snows of Kilimanjaro."
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