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Aug 15 2023

Spending cuts. Yellowknife emergency. Taxi sex.

Aug 15, 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

The ministers have a few weeks to find cuts to meet savings targets outlined in the 2023 federal budget. [Globe and Mail]
Anand insists Treasury Board President is a job she wants and one where she intends to try to better align the government's spending with what Canadians need. [National Post]
Anand in the middle
Paul Wells: .... Maybe a newly-installed Treasury Board president who has to keep denying she’s been demoted will have better luck. It’s a popular job: she’ll be the seventh person to hold it for Trudeau. Two left politics from that job: Scott Brison and Jane Philpott. One got dumped from cabinet: Mona Fortier. You look at that record and you think, Yup, this looks like the kind of place where I can get serious work done. Not. [Substack]
Le parti veut profiter de l’augmentation de la circulation sur les routes du Québec pendant la saison estivale pour rejoindre un maximum de personnes. Not reported here but one other bit of context: The CPC launched an ad campaign this month after a few record-setting fundraising quarters. Well, the BQ, too, under Blanchet has also been a relative fundraising powerhouse and apparently now has some money to spend on billboard ads. [JdeQ] 
The focus on housing and affordability comes as the Conservatives continue to hammer the Liberals for the current state of the housing market. [Global]
The Liberal government has quietly begun work on a voluntary code of conduct for generative artificial intelligence tech like Chat GPT. [National Post]

Speaking of which 👆 , the publication of this journal article 👇 this week is right on cue ...

... this note contextualizes today's challenges of governing the design, deployment and use of digital technologies, and describes a new set of secure and responsible technology policy movements and initiatives that can inform and support effective, public interest-oriented technology policymaking in Canada. We conclude by outlining a potential research agenda, with multi-sector mobilization opportunities, to accelerate this critical work. [Canadian Public Administration]
The report is considered confidential for now, but a declassified version must be handed over to Parliament within 30 days of its next sitting. [Global]
From the provinces
Hundreds of northerners were being airlifted from at least three communities in the face of wind-whipped wildfires as the Canadian Forces arrived in the Northwest Territories and ashes rained down on its capital city. [CP]
Smith said the Opposition NDPs prevented passage of government legislation that would have allowed more private liquor sales. [Global]
Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries has agreed to binding arbitration to end the job action, but the Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union (MGEU) isn't too sure. [Global]
As the frequency of medical aid in dying continues to rise in Quebec, the head of the independent body that monitors the practice in the province says he worries doctor-assisted deaths are no longer being seen as a last resort. [CP]
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith offered up conflicting explanations Monday for why her government put a temporary ban on large wind and solar energy projects. [TorStar]
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Elsewhere
With Racketeering Charges, Georgia Prosecutor Aims to ‘Tell the Whole Story’
Prosecutors have found racketeering laws to be powerful tools in targeting not only foot soldiers in a criminal enterprise, but also high-level decision makers. Good background on RICO here -- with lots of scepticism that this is the right tool to target Trump. And while this article does not point this out, it's worth saying that a RICO conviction in this case is unpardonable by a president. [NYT]
Trump could be selected as nominee before voters learn whether he has been convicted. Helpful timeline here. [Axios]
On Monday, the Russian currency passed 101 rubles to the dollar, continuing a more than 25% decline in its value since the beginning of the year. [Global]
Sci/Tech
Regulators give green light to driverless taxis in San Francisco
California regulators gave approval Thursday to two rival robotaxi companies, Cruise and Waymo, to operate their driverless cars 24/7 across all of San Francisco and charge passengers for their services. [CNN]
A little-known 2018 study said the spread of self-driving cars was likely to mean more sex on the road. San Franciscans are making it happen. [San Francisco Standard]
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Media
Stephen L. Carter: The White House appears to have revoked credentials for 400 reporters to bar just one. That wasn't necessary. [Bloomberg]
Issued this day ...
Issued this day in 1969: Sc # 699: Charlottetown Bicentennial. Design: Lloyd Fitzgerald.

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