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May 18 2023

Russian laundry. Doug dance. Poop cookies.

May 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
Russians could evade Canada sanctions by laundering money, agency warns
Canada has sanctioned hundreds of Russian individuals and organizations over Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, prohibiting financial dealings linked to Canada. [Global]
This year's summit will focus on seven main agenda items, including geopolitical and global security issues, economic resilience and climate change and energy. [Global]
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in Seoul for his first official visit to South Korea and as Canada vies to strengthen ties between the two countries. [Global]
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has declined to meet with the government's special rapporteur on foreign interference, citing an inability to find a mutually convenient time, a spokesperson for Poilievre said Wednesday. [CBC]
According to the Provincial Employment Roundtable, Anglophones earn on average $5,200 less than French-speaking Quebecers and their unemployment level is four per cent higher. [Global]
Ron Graham reviews Bill Morneau's Where to from Here: A Path to Canadian Prosperity. Graham is not impressed. - DA [Literary Review of Canada]
Alexis von Hoensbroech called WestJet's most recent offer to the strike-poised pilots' union 'very reasonable but also very generous,' but said the two sides remain very far apart. [Global]
From the provinces
Doug Ford dances to 'Electric Avenue'
As a former 1980s DJ, I heartily approve of Ontario Premier Doug Ford's new theme song: Eddie Grant's Electric Avenue. And the premier, in this video, looks like he can bust a move - DA. [YouTube]
A United Conservative Party candidate who compared transgender children in schools to having feces in food says she is sorry, plans to learn from it and is staying on to run in the May 29 election. [CP]
Don Braid: Candidate Jennifer Johnson's comment about trans people are not excusable. Danielle Smith should bar her from caucus. [Calgary Herald]
United Conservative Leader Danielle Smith said it's time to depoliticize LGBTQ rights on the same day her party came under fire for a candidate's comments on transgender children. [CP]
Sparring on health care and government finances, candidates in the Brooks-Medicine Hat riding took the stage for the second and final time on Wednesday night. Danielle Smith, the incumbent and premier on a re-election campaign, said her government is on the right track and is making needed changes in health. Two days in a row, two local all-candidates debates for this major party leader in a riding where there cannot be any doubt of victory. You'd think leaders, even while they're in debate prep, would be deployed in ridings at the margin. Unique decision in my experience.  [Medicine Hat News]
Alberta's NDP is promising to increase funding for emergency medical services if it wins the election on May 29. [Global

Both party leaders take to the podium at 6 p.m. on May 18 to answer questions submitted by Albertans ahead of the live broadcast. [Global]
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Elsewhere
China's loans pushing world’s poorest countries to brink of collapse
A dozen poor countries are facing economic instability and even collapse under the weight of hundreds of billions of dollars in foreign loans, much of them from the world’s biggest and most unforgiving government lender, China. [AP]

President Joe Biden ’s reelection campaign is vowing to hold the states that won him the White House in 2020 but also compete in places it lost like North Carolina and increasingly Republican-dominated Florida, providing what it says are “a number of viable pathways to the 270 electoral votes” needed to clinch four more years. [AP]
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Media

After a year-and-a-half-long beta, The New York Times launched a standalone app on Wednesday that it hopes will serve as its "audio front page." The app — for now, iOS only — is "currently an exclusive benefit for New York Times news subscribers." [Nieman Lab]
Tech
Large language models like ChatGPT use a complicated series of equations to understand and respond to your prompts. Here’s a look inside the system. [NBC]
Issued this day ...
...  in 2018: Scott #3101: Memorial Cup. Design: Paprika. 
Issued to mark the 100th presentation of the Memorial Cup. At the time of issue, the permanent rate — the ‘P’ value — was 85¢.

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