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Jun 26 2023

Moncton’s tallest. Shoigu showing. Summer tech.

Jun 26, 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
Was Canada’s $20M armoured vehicle deal caught up in a UN sanctions breach?
Government memos reveal that Canada lost access to $13M worth of armoured vehicles for nearly a year, after a subcontractor involved in the deal allegedly breached UN sanctions. [Global]
Canada's cybersecurity agency is warning that Russian-aligned hackers may seek to disrupt Canada's oil and natural gas sector and other critical infrastructure. [Global]
The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre reported 465 active fires burning across the country, including 240 that are out of control. [Global]
From the provinces
As Nova Scotia continues to grapple with affordability and housing crises, experts question the government’s failure to build new public housing units in nearly three decades. [Global]
Through the Toronto mayoral election campaign, Global News interviewed the leading candidates at a locale of their choice; most stayed close to home. This is what we learned. [Global]

Icon Developments is proposing to build a 30-storey tower at the corner of Main and Harper streets in Moncton. [Telegraph-Journal]
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Elsewhere
How the West Can Secure Ukraine’s Future | Foreign Affairs
Kyiv needs a binding commitment before NATO membership. [Foreign Affairs]
Trudeau is scheduled to meet privately with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on the sidelines of the annual Nordic leaders' summit. [Global]

German voters elected a member of the far-right Alternative for Germany as district administrator for the first time, handing the party a victory in an eastern stronghold as its national support surges. A State official calls it an 'alert for all democratic forces.' [Bloomberg]
Uncertainty is swirling about the long-term impact on the Ukraine war of a brief armed rebellion in Russia led by Wagner mercenary group chief. [Global]
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda on June 25 warned that if Belarus is to host Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, then NATO must strengthen its eastern flank. [Radio Free Liberty]
A new national NBC News poll shows the party is split over whether Trump should remain the leader of the GOP. [NBC]
Michael Hiltzik: Robert F. Kennedy is getting a lot of press because of his name, but it's his anti-vaccine claims that need to be scrutinized. [LA Times]
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Media
Fox Host: Biden Admin ‘Drumming Up’ Russia Drama to Distract from Hunter
“As if [Russia and the Wagner group] matters to the U.S. right now,” Maria Bartiromo said. [Rolling Stone]
We (were) the dead
Twitter policy change ends online memorial to Canada's war dead. [A Few Tasteful Snaps]
Tech
Yes, the achievement hinges on better recycling tech for astronaut pee. [Space.com]
Take your vacation to the next level with these tech essentials. [ZDNet]
Issued this day ...
Issued this day in 2004: Sc #2044: French Settlement in Acadia. Design: Fugazi.
 joint issue with France (see France Scott #3032) which maks the 400th anniversary of the first French settlement in Acadia at St Croix Island. 

The stamp features a drawing, by Suzanne Duranceau, of Pierre Duga de Mon who lead a group which set sail from Havre-de-Grâce (now Le Havre), France in March 1604, and included explorer and cartographer Samuel de Champlain, as well as craftsmen, soldiers, a surgeon, a Roman Catholic priest and a Huguenot minister.

After reaching Canada the group split up, and Dugua and 78 of his men sailed into Passamaquoddy Bay and up the St. Croix River. There they found an island near what appeared to be the confluence of three rivers that resembled the arms of a cross, which led Dugua to name it St. Croix Island. The summer was spent clearing the island to build a kitchen, storehouse, smithy, chapel and a fortified stockade.

Unfortunately, once the long harsh winter set in, the settlers were cut off from the mainland and unable to hunt on the small island. Scurvy overtook the men and by winter's end, nearly half had died. The next summer, the settlement on St. Croix Island was dismantled and the group left the island to settle at Port Royal, as named by Champlain, an area near the Annapolis Basin in Nova Scotia.

This stamp was the first in a series “celebrating”, as Canada Post described it, early French settlements established between 1604 and 1608. Port Royal, for instance, would get its own stamp (Sc 2115) in 2005. 

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