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Mar 22 2023

Defence bill. Quebec tax cut. Hip politics.

Mar 22, 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
Han Dong says he hasn’t asked PMO to verify Chinese election interference allegations
Dong said Wednesday he has reached out to CSIS' director for more information on allegations he was part of a Chinese foreign interference network during the 2019 federal election.
National Defence Minister Anita Anand’s comments come ahead of the government budget for 2023, which will be tabled on March 28. [Global]
The first home savings account, a cornerstone of the federal Liberals' 2022 budget, will not be ready when it goes into effect on April 1. [Global]
From the Provinces
Quebec budget highlights: Income tax cuts, pension plan changes, more money for seniors
Quebec is moving ahead with what Finance Minister Eric Girard described as one of the largest tax cuts in the province’s history. [Montreal Gazette]
Ontario's fall economic update forecast a deficit of $8.1 billion for the upcoming fiscal year and a relatively small deficit of $700 million in 2024-25. [Global]

Vincent Ke resigned from the PC Party after a report of allegations by intelligence sources that he was involved in an election interference network. He denies the allegations. [Global]

The Saskatchewan government is delivering its budget today and expectations are high for more program funding. [CP]
Leaders field questions on taxation, housing, economic policy during debate. [Saltwire]
Area First Nations and the Northwest Territories government have said they should have been kept in the loop on the spills from Imperial's Kearl mine tailings ponds. [Global]
Calgary's Executive Committee is set to debate amendments to the city's temporary sign bylaw on Wednesday in an effort to reduce election sign clutter. [Global]
The New Brunswick government has tabled a $12.2-billion budget that forecasts a small surplus and promises a funding boost to help stabilize the ailing health-care sector. [Global]

Three more Toronto mayoral hopefuls have tossed their hats in the race for the city's top job this week. [CP24]

Elsewhere

President Joe Biden's administration is not dismissing out of hand the idea of renegotiating the bilateral 2004 treaty that governs the flow of asylum seekers across its northern border. [CP]

For U.S. foreign aid and assistance programs, we have developed a framework of leading practices to help protect against fraud, waste and abuse risks. For our international partners, we have also contributed to developing guidance on countering both fraud and corruption in the public sector. [US Government Accountability Office]
Media
Should a Tragically Hip song have been played at a Pierre Poilievre event?
Robbie MacKay and Lisa Macklem: There is a distinction between deliberate use of a song to support a particular political campaign, and incidental music in the background at a social function hosted by a political party. [The Conversation] 

A recent NICAR23 conference session was devoted to dynamic new tools for monitoring and 'scraping' social media — including Junkipedia. [Global Investigative Journalism Network]
Tech

Data recovery firm blames SMR and size, following limited analysis. [Ars Technica]
Issued this day ...
... in 2013: Sc 2628i: Canadian Photography — I: Hot Properties #1. Design: Stéphane Huot.
Between 2013 and 2017, Canada Post would issue 25 stamps featuring the work of Canadian photographer and this one is from the first five-stamp set issued this day in 2013. This series, incidentally replace the “Art Canada” series that had been going on for a number of years. On Monday in this newsletter, we featured one of those Art Canada issues: Jack Bush.

The photograph here on 2628i is Hot Properties #1 (1987) by Jim Breukelman (1941- ). Here’s a blurb published in the Toronto Star ahead of the release: “Based in Vancouver, Breukelman founded the fine art photography and program in worked in various capacities at the Vancouver School of Art, now known as the Emily Carr University of Art + Design, for 33 years. The Hot Properties was inspired by a house in San Antonio, Texas, tucked away in a “depressing” industrial area but that was “obviously cared for lovingly” by its owner, he wrote in a statement posted on the National Gallery of Canada’s website. That house changed the way he looked at Vancouver-area homes, giving rise to the series.”

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