Aug 4, 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
New Democrat Leader Jagmeet Singh says his party faces resistance to including countries other than China in the terms of reference for a public inquiry on foreign interference. [Global]
An Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News found 56 per cent of Canadians view the Armed Forces as 'old and antiquated,' with 75 per cent saying it needs more investment. [Global]
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada is was voting yesterday and will continue voting today to decide whether to ratify the agreement. [Global]
It's unclear how much the department will save by closing down its library, but it did say that the closure would allow managers to re-allocate resources to meet the growing demand for digital information management services. Librarians and researchers, meanwhile, have expressed concern that senior managers looking to cut costs would use pandemic shutdowns as a first step towards permanently closing various federal libraries. [Hill Times]
From the provinces
Alberta announces pause on renewable energy, citing rural concerns
Alberta's United Conservative government is announcing a pause on all approvals of large renewable energy projects. [Calgary Herald]

Halting renewable energy will increase electricity rates while costing jobs and revenue for municipalities and landowners [Pembina Institute]
Alberta, which generates the third-most electricity among the provinces, produced half of Canada's emissions from generation in 2020. [Global]
The utility's latest strategic report says there may be other more efficient and cost-effective ways of greening the province's grid. [Global]
The Manitoba government is planning to continue to run advertisements promoting rebate cheques and some other programs in the lead-up to the Oct. 3 provincial election, despite accusations from the Opposition that it's an unfair use of taxpayer dollars. [CP]

Funding for a sobering centre, transitional housing and affordable housing in Brandon were all part of a pre-election blackout announcement blitz from the provincial government on Thursday. [Brandon Sun]

Quebec's English-speaking community is relieved a Quebec Superior Court judge ruled that parts of Bill 40, the province's education reform bill, is unconstitutional. [Global]
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Elsewhere
The share of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who believe that President Joe Biden’s 2020 election win was not legitimate has ticked back up, according to a new CNN poll fielded throughout July. [CNN]
Since the filing of new charges against the ex-President, many G.O.P. politicians—including some of Trump’s rivals in the primary—have already adopted his framing of the Justice Department’s case. [New Yorker]
Media
A global anti-corruption investigation has claimed that a Solomon Islands newspaper accepted funding from Chinese authorities, allegedly in exchange for the publication of content favourable to China. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) expresses grave concerns at foreign interference in Pacific media outlets’ editorial independence and calls for stronger efforts to protect and sustain media integrity in the Solomon Islands media industry. [Intl Federation of Journalists]
Agence France-Presse (AFP) has expressed its concerns over the clear refusal from Twitter (recently rebranded as ‘X’) to enter into discussions regarding the implementation of neighbouring rights for the press. These rights were established to enable news agencies and publishers to be remunerated by digital platforms which retain most of the monetary value generated by the distribution of news content. [AFP Press release]
Tech
If you need to share something from within MacOS to an app that isn't part of the default list, Apple has made it easy for you to add apps to the sharing menu. [ZDNet]
The Nearby Share tool debuted earlier this year, but many users weren't aware of this ability. [ZDNet]
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Issued this day ...
... in 1977: Scott # 737: Peace Bridge. Design: Rolf P. Harder. 
Issued to mark the 50th anniversary of the opening of the bridge connecting Fort Erie, ON and Buffalo, NY. This was a joint issued wi the United States (US Scott #1721).