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Dec 15 2023

Fergus stays. Hebron habitants. Trump proofing. The Roundup

Dec 15, 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
Pressure mounts to find a path forward after Canada’s grocer code stalls
The federal agriculture minister says he will look at the draft grocery code of conduct to see what could be done through federal or provincial legislation before next steps. [Global]

House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus must apologize once again for his controversial video tribute to an Ontario Liberal MPP, a committee probing the matter recommends. [Global]
Report No. 55 of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs. [House of Commons]
The committee has released a substantial report on immigration backlogs that includes 40 recommendations to ease the waits for potential newcomers. [Global]

Report No. 18 of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration. [House of Commons]
The parties have agreed to a new March 1 deadline for the government to introduce pharmacare legislation in the House of Commons, as part of their supply-and-confidence deal. [Global]
From the provinces
Changes “are far worse than those announced on Oct. 13 — worse for Quebec, worse for its universities, worse for Quebec businesses who need talent, and worse for McGill.” [Montreal Gazette]
Get ready to learn French. Quebec announced Thursday that 80 per cent of students from outside the province must learn conversational French by the time they complete their undergraduate studies. Tuition fees are also going up for those students, but not doubling. [CBC]

Key highlights of the report show that oil prices are expected to remain strong, demand will be robust, export capacity will increase, and investment and drilling activity are set to grow during the forecast period. [CBC]
Elsewhere
Life inside Hebron: The West Bank city where Palestinians live under Israeli control
An estimated 3.2 million people live in the West Bank, including more than 700,000 Jewish settlers. The divide is stark in Hebron, a city split in two, where thousands of Palestinians live under total control of the Israeli military. Daniele Hamamdjian visits Hebron to speak with some people about what life is like under that occupation. [Global National]

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan also said that while Israel had the intention of reducing civilian casualties, “we want to see the results match up to that.” [WaPo]

Trump-proofing NATO? The U.S. Congress is on it. American lawmakers have passed legislation aimed at protecting the alliance from Donald Trump. With Trump ahead in the polls, their bill could prevent him from leaving NATO if he's re-elected. [CBC]
The poll found that about half of U.S. adults, 51%, say democracy is working “not too well” or “not well at all.” [AP]
Media
Reflections on 40 years of journalism
Sean O’Shea BA’84, a graduate of the University of Regina School of Journalism, is an award-winning investigative and consumer reporter for Global News in Toronto. Great to see this profile of  Sean! [Degrees]
Elon Musk’s X, the social network formerly known as Twitter, is on track to bring in roughly $2.5 billion in advertising revenue in 2023 — a significant slump from prior years, according to people familiar with the matter. [Yahoo Finance]
Assessment by GroupM expects spending totals for presidential election year to be up 30% on 2020 election cycle. [The Guardian]
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Sci/Tech
Wrong answers for questions about German and Swiss elections suggest problems for U.S. election information in 2024. [WaPo]

A.I. tools like ChatGPT did not boost the frequency of cheating in high schools, Stanford researchers say. [NYT]
The Calendar
  • 0830 ET: Charlottetown - Families and Social Development Min Jenna Sudds and Agriculture Min Lawrence MacAulay speak about childcare funding.
  • 845 ET: Toronto - Deputy PM and Fin Min Chrystia Freeland meets with provincial and territorial counterparts.
  • #N/A
  • 1100 ET: Halifax - LPC MP Andy Fillmore  makes an infrastructure funding announcement.
  • 1300 ET: Toronto - Labour Min Seamus O'Regan and LPC MP Carolyn Bennett make an announcement.
  • 1315 ET: Vancouver - PM Trudeau and Housing and Infrastructure Min Sean Fraser make an announcement.
  • 1500 ET: Squamish, BC - LPC MP Patrick Weiler makes a funding announcement. 
  • 1530 ET: Toronto - Deputy PM and Fin Min Chrystia Freeland speaks to reporters.

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