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Feb 17 2024

Final offer. Conestoga crowding. Putin’s pick: The Roundup

Feb 17, 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
What’s driving New Democrats in the West away from Jagmeet Singh’s NDP
An Alberta NDP leadership hopeful argues it should no longer be automatic that buying members in a provincial party makes you a member of the federal NDP. Latest analysis from me .. [Global]
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he is close to giving the Liberals a final offer on pharmacare, which would include a push for universal coverage of contraception. [Global]
From the Provinces
Councillor calls out Ontario college after learning student lives with 13 people
Kitchener, Ont. regional councillor Michael Harris issued a series of social media posts -- at the president of Conestoga College --  after he spoke with a student who shares a house with 13 other people. [Global]
The Board of Governors of Conestoga College says that it is reviewing the colourful language used by school president John Tibbits earlier this week. [Global]

Both the Ford government and the Ontario NDP opposition will be looking to change the channel when the legislature returns after the Family Day long weekend with new policy ideas. [Global]
Elsewhere
Joe Biden or Donald Trump? Vladimir Putin says Russia has a preference
“Biden, he’s more experienced, more predictable, he’s a politician of the old formation,” Putin said, when asked which candidate would be better for Russia. “But we will work with any U.S. leader whom the American people trust.” Didn't see that coming ... [Global]
The Ukrainian president called for more arms and ammunition to help even the odds against Russia. [Politico]
Outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the frontrunner to be the next secretary-general of NATO, said on Saturday that Europe should stop whining about Donald Trump and focus instead on what it could do for Ukraine. [Reuters]
Media
As one U.S.-based news executive put it: “The strategic question is: With the limited amount of time and resources, how could we make the most use of our journalistic talent?” [Nieman Journalism Lab]

Drawing on 134 interviews with news workers at 35 news organizations in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany — including outlets such as The Guardian, Bayerischer Rundfunk, the Washington Post, The Sun, and the Financial Times — and 36 international experts from industry, academia, technology, and policy, this report examines the use of AI across editorial, commercial, and technological domains with an eye to the structural implications of AI in news organizations for the public arena. [Columbia Journalism Review]
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Sci/Tech
Want Gemini and ChatGPT to Write Political Campaigns? Just Gaslight Them
Google and OpenAI's chatbots have almost no safeguards against creating AI disinformation for the 2024 presidential election. [Gizmodo]
Not sure ChatGPT is going to win many elections here in Canada 👇

A report from McMaster University says school closures in Ontario did little to contain COVID-19's spread in the broader community. Vaccination and masking were stronger factors. [Global]
The Calendar
  • 1600 ET: Burnaby, BC - NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and NDP MP Peter Julian host a Lunar New Year celebration.
Issued this day ...
… in 2000: Scott # 1826. The Millennium Collection: 9 — Canada’s First Peoples. Design: Clockwise from top left: Rolf Harder, Sunil Bhandari and Georges Khayat; Jerry Evans and Steven Slipp; James Skipp
This is the ninth quartet of the 17 four-stamp blocks issued by Canada Post to mark the millennium. A million of these were printed up with the titles, going clockwise again from top left, “Chief Pontiac”, “Tom Longboat, runner”, “Healing From Within” and “The Power of the Inuit Shaman.”

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