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Feb 5 2024

Slow nominations. Super storm. Facebook birthday: The Roundup

Feb 5, 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
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said the federal government is extending its ban on foreign homebuyers for another two years as part of efforts to ease Canada's housing crisis. [Global]
Down in the polls and way behind the Conservatives in fundraising, the federal Liberal Party has given MPs until next month to fulfil the nomination conditions if they want to be candidates without going though the stressful nomination process, according to two Liberal sources. But the party also said if MPs need more time, it will be flexible. [Hill Times]
From the provinces
N.S. storm: Parts of Cape Breton under state of emergency, 100+ cm of snow possible
Parts of Nova Scotia are expected to see an additional 30 to 50 centimetres of snow by Monday, after already getting around 80 centimetres on the weekend. [Global]

The Halifax Regional Centre for Education announced Sunday that classes were cancelled for all students on Monday due to the major weekend snow storm for Nova Scotia. [Global]

Speaking on Saturday night to about 1,000 Progressive Conservatives at the party’s policy convention, the premier made it clear he views Crombie as his main opponent in the June 2026. [TorStar]

Representatives from more than a dozen British Columbia mosques and Islamic associations have sent a letter to Premier David Eby calling for the minister of post-secondary education to be removed from her role. [CP]

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is in Ottawa today where she is set to open a new provincial office. She is also scheduled to hold a press conference and deliver a speech to The Economic Club. [CP]

Employment Minister and Edmonton MP Randy Boissonault said that he has constituents that are “quite rightly terrified” by what Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is proposing. [Global]
Schulz is scheduled to meet with her federal counterpart, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, in Ottawa on Monday. [Edmonton Journal]
Quebec is moving forward with a plan to hike tuition for out-of-province Canadian students by about 30 per cent, despite a letter from a government-mandated advisory committee urging them to reconsider. [CP]

Political donations are "absolutely necessary" for new candidates on the municipal scene to make themselves known, they say. [Montreal Gazette]
Elsewhere
Ukraine's president told Italian RAI TV that he was thinking about it as part of a broader issue of setting the country’s path. [AP]
The Kremlin on Monday declined to say whether or not Russian President Vladimir Putin would grant an interview to U.S. journalist Tucker Carlson - or whether he was in Moscow. [Reuters]
Media
As Facebook turns 20, politics is out; impersonal video feeds are in
Social media are more popular than ever, but social networks are dying. How social is changing for advertisers -- and for politicians. [The Economist]

James McCarten, who has worked for The Canadian Press for nearly three decades in a number of different roles in both Canada and the United States, has taken over from former Ottawa bureau chief Joanna Smith “on an acting basis for the time being.” [Hill Times]
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Sci/Tech
Mortality convergence clubs of 194 countries by sex resemble the configuration of continents. These five clubs show a common steady upward trend in longevity indicators, accompanied by a progressive reduction in disparities between sexes and between groups of countries. Paper finds: We're all living longer. [Plos One]
The Calendar
  • 0900 ET: Brampton, ON - Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks to reporters.
  • 0900 ET: Kingston, ON - LPC MP Mark Gerretsen makes a funding announcement. 
  • 0930 ET: Ingleside, ON - Agriculture Min Lawrence MacAulay makes a funding announcement. 
  • 1100 ET: 025-B West Block,  - Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates (OGGO) | Meeting  101 - ArriveCAN Application
  • 1100 ET: 415 Wellington,  - Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs (INAN) | Meeting  93 - Bill C-53
  • 1100 ET: 330 Wellington,  - Standing Committee on Industry and Technology (INDU) | Meeting  108 - Bill C-27
  • 1100 ET: 125-B West Block,  - Standing Committee on National Defence (NDDN) | Meeting  90 - Lack of Housing Availability on or Near Bases for Canadian Armed Forces Members and Their Families and the Challenges Facing Members and Their Families When They Are Required to Move Across the Country
  • 1100 ET: 410 Wellington,  - Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs (ACVA) | Meeting  80 - Drafting report
  • 1200 ET: Colorado Springs, CO - Defence Min Bill Blair attends a NORAD change-of-command ceremony.
  • 1400 ET: HoC Foyer,  - NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh speaks to reporters.
  • 1530 ET: 315 Wellington,  - Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development (FAAE) | Meeting  92 - Briefing on Diplomatic Relations Between India and Canada
  • 1530 ET: 035-B West Block,  - Standing Committee on Health (HESA) | Meeting  99 - Drafting reports. 
  • 1530 ET: 025-B West Block,  - Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA) | Meeting 98 - Citizens Services Min Terry Beech and Labour Min Seamus O'Regan testify on FY24 Supp Bs
  • 1530 ET: 415 Wellington,  - Standing Committee on Natural Resources (RNNR) | Meeting  83 - Bill C-49
  • 1530 ET: 125-B West Block,  - Standing Committee on Official Languages (LANG) | Meeting  85 - Economic Development of Official Language Minority Communities
  • 1530 ET: 425 Wellington,  - Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security (SECU) | Meeting 92 - Bill C-26
  • 1700 ET: B30 Senate Building,  - Senate Committee on Official Languages meets to discuss committee business.
  • 1830 ET: 225-A West Block,  - Special Committee on the Canada–People’s Republic of China Relationship (CACN) | Meeting  32 - Canada–People’s Republic of China Relations
Issued this day ...
... in 2000: Scott # 1838 pane of 6: NHL All Stars - I - 50th All Star Game. Design: Dan Fell. 
This was the first of a series which ran through to 2005 (you’ve seen some in this space over the last week) to feature some of the all-time greats on skates in the NHL but you would be hard-pressed to find a better six to ice than this group, L-R from top, Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Maurice Richard, Doug Harvey, Bobby Orr, and Jacques Plante. Incredibly — no one from the Leafs made this cut. Plante did play for the Leafs at the end of his career, but he’s shown here in the uniform of the Canadiens.

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