Past issues Subscribe

Nov 18 2023

Mortgage math. Xi’s pivot. Disappearing newspapers. The Roundup

Nov 18, 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
Rosenberg sees 'terrifying' mortgage math bringing Canada rates down quickly
Canada’s central bank will have to cut interest rates faster and further than markets expect to get ahead of a wave of mortgage maturities that threaten a fifth of the country’s discretionary income, according to economist David Rosenberg. [BNN Bloomberg]

Lawyer for Spavor in confidential negotiations for multimillion-dollar settlement from Ottawa for nearly three-year ordeal. [Globe and Mail]
While the temporary pause applies across the country, the new data show how the move clearly favours Atlantic Canada over elsewhere. [National Post]
John ivison: Sources suggest the new price estimate would be a 357-per-cent increase on the original estimate, if confirmed. [National Post]
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre was hitting many familiar notes during his speech in London Thursday evening — including his campaign to axe the carbon tax, with a focus on the impacts on agriculture. [CTV]
From the provinces
British Columbia New Democrats gather in Victoria this weekend to debate policy and strategy at the party's convention ahead of next year's provincial election. [CP]
Premier Scott Moe says a Saskatchewan Party legislature member has been kicked out of caucus and stripped of his appointments after being charged with obtaining sexual services. [CP]
Manitoba Progressive Conservatives are considering changes to the way they choose a party leader, following complaints of missing ballots and a lawsuit after the last contest. [CP]
Voters will have from Nov. 19 until Nov. 24 to cast their ballot in advance of the election which will take place on Nov. 30 from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. [Global]
Click to donate $3 a month to support this newsletter!
Elsewhere
Chinese propaganda frames Xi's US pivot
What a difference eight months makes: In March, shortly after the U.S. shot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon, President Xi Jinping blamed it for challenges faced by China's economy, complaining of "all-round containment". [Reuters]
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, when asked directly twice about the Chinese president, said, 'I don't think anyone would call it a democracy.' [Global]
Chinese President Xi Jinping is signaling that China will send new pandas to the United States. Xi calls pandas “envoys of friendship" between the Chinese and American people. [AP News]
Evan Solomon:  Justin Trudeau has terrible relations with China and is not meeting with Xi at the summit, which means his Indo-Pacific strategy is really in shambles. It's not entirely his fault. China has kidnapped Canadians and interfered with elections, according to the government. Not exactly a great incentive to warm things up. Still, Canada can't ignore China. [GZero} 
Media
 Over the past two years, newspapers continued to vanish at an average rate of more than two per week, leaving 204 U.S. counties, or 6.4%, without any local news outlet. [Axios]
Can u spare $5 a month for this newsletter? Click now!
Sci/Tech
The world's 280 million electric bikes and mopeds are cutting demand for oil far more than electric cars
Electric vehicles get all the press – but it’s the smaller unsung two wheelers cutting oil demand the most. [The Conversation]
In high-wage Finland, where clickworkers are rare, one company has discovered a novel labor force—prisoners. [Wired]
The Calendar
  • 1000 ET: Kitchener, ON - GPC MP Elizabeth  May and Mike Morrice participate in teh Santa Claus Parade.
  • 1130 ET: Vancouver, BC - NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh joins striking workers on a picket line.
  • 1215 ET: Kitchener, ON - GPC MP Elizabeth  May campaigns in an Ontario by-election.
  • 1600 ET: Victoria, BC - NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh attends the BC NDP convention.
  • 1900 ET: Kitchener, ON - GPC MP Elizabeth May and Mike Morrice attend the Kitchener Centre nomination meeting.
Issued this day ...
... ... in 1977: Sc 747a - se-tenant block of 4: Sailing Vessels. Design: Tom Bjarnson.

Previous Issues

Load More