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Apr 12 2024

Housing gap. Conservative lead. Book bans: The Roundup

Apr 12, 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
Canada needs another 1.3M homes by 2030 to solve supply and demand gap: PBO
The Parliamentary Budget Officer said in a report released Thursday that it will take building a total of about 3.1 million homes to solve Canada's housing gap. [Global]
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said foreign interference  is a "huge challenge" that requires countries to keep their citizens informed about the risks. [Global]
The Conservative Leader launched a full-fledged attack against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the “ivory tower elites” who support him. [National Post]
"different prime ministers get their briefings in different ways. Mr. Trump responded to “killer graphics” as his CIA director said. In 2006, civil servants had to get used to Mr. Harper reading a lot of long, detailed written notes. Mr. Chretien liked short notes, to the point. Mr. Harper liked more background material. He got so many notes about the 2007 equalization reform, they filled an entire drawer of a filing cabinet! I really looked forward to days when we only got ten briefing notes from PCO." . [The Hub]

Since our last survey, the Conservatives are up 3, the Liberals are up 1, while the NDP is down 2. This 20-point lead is the largest we have ever measured for the Conservatives and the first time the Conservative vote share has hit 44% nationally. [Abacus Data]

The only thing Pierre Poilievre and Jagmeet Singh had in common Thursday was their timing. Separately but simultaneously, Canada's federal Conservative and NDP leaders laid out their respective visions for how best to defeat Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. [CP]
iberals now contend the Conservatives came up with the myriad amendments using artificial intelligence, in order to gum up the government's agenda. The Tories deny that accusation. [CP]

However, majorities across political lines want more spending on health care, national defence. [Angus Reid Institute]

Report No. 63 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs. [House of Commons]
[From the Facebook Post by the NDP EDA in Fort Saskatchewan--Sherwood Park] "Congratulations to Chris Jones who has been nominated as our NDP candidate in the next Canadian election! "  CPC incumbent Garnett Genuis has not always been a winner in this suburban Edmonton riding. Running as the Wildrose candidate in the 2012 Alberta election, he lost to the PCs. But the switch to the federal arena worked for him in 2015, when he won with 64% of the vote. NDP finished second here in 2021 but well back. And the latest numbers in my model have Genuis winning by +40 points if an election were held today. - DA
From the Provinces
Quebec's elections agency has cancelled a pilot project to test internet voting during the 2025 municipal elections. [CP]
Unionized public school teachers in Nova Scotia have voted in favour of a strike mandate. [CP]
A dozen municipal political parties in British Columbia, including those that won council majorities in Vancouver and Burnaby in 2022, are under investigation by Elections BC. [CP]
Dr. John Dornan, the former head of Horizon Health Network, will seek the Liberal nomination for the riding of Portland-Simonds, in Saint John's north end. Dornan was publicly fired as president and CEO of Horizon by Progressive Conservative Premier Blaine Higgs in 2022 following the death of a patient in the waiting room of the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital's emergency department in Fredericton.He won a record-breaking $2-million arbitration award over his dismissal. [CBC]
"I am so honoured to be the candidate here in Canora-Pelly," expressed Fedorchuk during a nomination meeting in Norquay on March. 27. [SaskToday]

This study explores confidence levels in the public service in Alberta amid the COVID-19 pandemic, using data from the April 2022 Viewpoint Alberta survey. Our findings illuminate diverse attitudes towards public servants amidst significant social, economic, and political upheaval. [Canadian Public Administration]
Elsewhere
Ukraine parliament passes controversial law to boost army recruitment
The controversial law will govern how Ukraine recruits new soldiers to replenish depleted forces who are increasingly struggling to fend off Russian troops. [Global]
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Media
Bell Canada CEO defends job cuts to MPs, cites shift to online viewing
Bibic defended his company, blaming factors like productivity, inflation and delays in the implementation of the federal Online Streaming Act — a new law meant to level the playing field between traditional broadcasters and streaming companies, under which Bell is benefiting from significant regulatory relief. [Global]

The number of titles targeted for censorship surged 65 percent in 2023 compared to 2022, reaching the highest levels ever documented by the American Library Association (ALA). The new numbers released today show efforts to censor 4,240 unique book titles* in schools and libraries. This tops the previous high from 2022, when 2,571 unique titles were targeted for censorship. [American Library Association]
Science and Tech
Canada's federal government has used artificial intelligence in nearly 300 projects and initiatives, new research has found — including to help predict the outcome of tax cases.
The Calendar
  • 1115 ET: Toronto - PM Trudeau , Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland and Housing and Infrastructure Min Sean Fraser make a housing announcement.
  • 1300 ET: 025B West Block - Special Committee on the Canada–People’s Republic of China Relationship (CACN) | Meeting  37 - Canada-People's Republic of China Relations
  • 1330 ET: Edmonton - Employment Min Randy Boissonnault makes a housing announcement.
  • 1330 ET: London, ON - Small Business Min Rechie Valdez and LPC Arielle Kayabaga make a housing announcement.
  • 1400 ET: Granby, QC - Heritage Min Pascale St-Onge and Revenue Min Marie-Claude Bibeau make a housing announcement.
  • 1400 ET: Quebec City- Public Services and Procurement Min Jean-Yves Duclos makes a housing announcement.
  • 1430 ET: Burnaby, BC - PACIFICCan Min Harjit Sajjan makes an announcement.
Issued this day ...
… in 1956: Scott #361: Wildlife - Mountain Goat. Design: Emanuel Otto Hahn

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