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May 15 2024

Fires spread. Foreign cyberthreats. Health revamp: The Roundup

May 15, 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
Early wildfire season keeps Western Canada evacuees on edge
Dozens of wildfires are raging from B.C. to Manitoba, with many communities under threat. Neetu Garcha reports on the rising anxiety among evacuees, the local states of emergency and the hope the weather could provide a much-needed reprieve. [Global National]

The next federal election could be more than a year away but political parties are already deep into planning their next campaigns — and recruiting new candidates. [CBC]
Poilievre made the announcement in Vancouver on Tuesday, saying the Conservatives will introduce a private member's bill in Parliament to end the federal health minister's power to grant exemptions that would allow the use of illicit drugs in a hospital setting. [CP]

The advisory warns cyber actors backed by Russia, China and other countries are increasingly targeting non-profit and advocacy groups, journalists and other civil society members. [Global]

The rule changes and move to limit debate created 'resentment,' but Senate government rep Marc Gold says he expects his relationship with the Tory caucus to get ‘back on track after the dust settles.’ [Hill Times]

Newly released documents show Correctional Service Canada instructed staff not to tell the public about Luka Magnotta's transfer to a medium security prison. [Global]

Free, full-day programming for four-year-old children in Nova Scotia from 2017/18 to 2020/21 .. led to a 21 percentage-point increase in the labour force participation of mothers with four-year-old children in Nova Scotia, via increased employment. Unsurprisingly, these impacts are significantly larger for women whose youngest child is four years old. [Cdn Journal of Economics]
From the Provinces
Alberta's government introduces bill to begin sweeping revamp of health-care services
A bill proposed Tuesday outlines how the many arms of Alberta Health Services will be dismantled and how four new provincial health agencies will fit together under Health Minister Adriana LaGrange. [Global]
A total of 21 of the 48 Sask. Party MLAs elected in 2020 will not be representing the party on the ballot in this year's election. [Regina Leader Post]
There will be no internet voting for Whitehorse council this year, after a concern of foreign interference prompted a 6-to-1 vote to remove the idea from the city's proposed election bylaw. [CP]
The Association of Yukon Communities held its 49th annual general meeting in Dawson City, Yukon this past weekend. The meeting saw some people walk out of the event over the weekend over what some called a political 'stump speech.' The offending speech was given by federal Conservative deputy leader Melissa Lantsman. [CBC]

Le chef du Parti conservateur du Québec (PCQ) Éric Duhaime veut profiter de la crise au sein de Québec solidaire (QS) pour attirer des électeurs de gauche dans son giron, rappelant que « capitalisme » rime avec « pragmatisme ». [La Presse]

Furey says he's covering the cost personally of recent trip to Dubai. [SaltWire]
Elsewhere
Fears of trade war escalate as Honda unveils home of new EV supply chain plant
Honda has selected Port Colborne, Ont., as the future site of a lithium ion separator plant, the first of its kind in Canada and a key part of the country's multibillion-dollar electric vehicle supply chain. The news coincides with the U.S. slapping heavy tariffs on Chinese electric cars, batteries, and minerals used to make those batteries. Mike Drolet explains what's behind the White House's decision, what it likely mean for Canada, and the broader ripple effects of a trade war. [Global National]

U.S. President Joe Biden's administration issued tailpipe pollution standards in April designed to drive the share of electric vehicles up from 8% last year to as much as 56% by 2032. Automakers have warned that hitting the EV targets will be challenging, in part because different Biden administration rules deny federal subsidies to EVs that get too much content from China.
Without access to lower-cost batteries and battery materials made in China, EVs will be too expensive for mainstream U.S. consumers, automakers have said. [Reuters]

China strongly opposed the United States' tariff hikes, its commerce ministry said on Tuesday, vowing it will take resolute measures to defend its rights and interests. [Reuters]

Ukraine’s forces are stretched thin and have minimal reserves to draw on, the chief of military intelligence said, in addition to shortages of weapons. [NYT]
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Media
An Israeli Newspaper Presents Truths Readers May Prefer to Avoid
David Remnick: how Haaretz consistently attempts to wrestle with the realities of what is going on in that nation and in Gaza and the West Bank. [New Yorker]
The 2024 AI Elections Tracker, launched by Rest of World on April 16, is an ongoing log of instances of AI being used in or around elections. [Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism]
Science and Tech
Google will now let you perform a “web” search. It filters out almost all the other blocks of content that Google crams into search, leaving you with links and text. [The Verge]

Google made several big announcements at I/O 2024, including a new way to have natural voice conversations with its Gemini model.[ZDNet]
The Calendar
  • 0930 ET: St John's - Families and Social Development Min Jenna Sudds , Labour Min Seamus O'Regan and ACOA Min Gudie Hutchings speak about federal child care subsidies.
  • 0930 ET: Quebec City - PM Trudeau , Public Services Min Jean-Yves Duclos and Transport Min Pablo Rodriguez make an announcement about the Quebec Bridge.
  • 1000 ET: Sherbrooke, QC - BQ Leader Yves-François Blanchet and BQ MP Martin Champoux visit a manufacturer.
  • 1100 ET: Nain, NL - LPC MP Yvonne Jones makes a funding announcement. 
  • 1100 ET: Cambridge, ON - Immigration Min Marc Miller participates in a citizenship ceremony.
  • 1110 ET: Quebec City - PM Trudeau and Public Services Min Jean-Yves Duclos speak about the federal dental care plan.
  • 1120 ET: Fredericton - Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Women and Gender Equality Min Marci Ien speak about federal child care subsidies.
  • 1300 ET: Montreal - Defence Min Bill Blair and Innovation, Science and Industry Min François-Philippe Champagne speak about defence policy
  • 1330 ET: North Vancouver, BC - Energy and Natural Resources Min Jonathan Wilkinson makes a funding announcement. 
  • 1330 ET: Vancouver - Energy and Natural Resources Min Jonathan Wilkinson makes a funding announcement. 
Issued this day ...
in 1992: Scott #1413 The Alaska Highway. Design: Jacques Charette.

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