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Aug 10 2023

Target Chong. Ford folly. Ecuador assassination.

Aug 10, 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
MP Michael Chong targeted in ‘information operation’ likely from China
While China's role in the operation is 'highly probable,' Canadian officials said there isn't 'unequivocal' evidence proving Beijing was involved in targeting Michael Chong. [Global]
Canada’s first minister of citizens’ services brings an entrepreneur’s intent to a 30-year-old problem. But will he be set up to fail or succeed? [Policy Options]
“I felt like my head was going to split in two.” [Vancouver Sun]
Un procès, qui se tiendra devant la Cour supérieure du Québec, pourrait bien forcer la démission de la gouverneure générale Mary Simon. [TVA]
“Since my appointment as Senator, every day has been a rich learning experience that fuels my passion. I am honoured to pursue this passion in my new role in the Government Representative’s Office. I will continue to draw on my Innu and Québécoise experiences for the benefit of the entire country,” Senator Audette said.  [Senate of Canada]

Former Conservative Senator Hugh Segal, originally from Montreal, passed away Wednesday at the age of 72. [The Suburban]
From the provinces
Developers had direct influence over Ontario Greenbelt land removal, AG finds
The A-G report makes a definitive link between the Premier’s Office, the housing minister, a central political staffer who drove the project, and developers who benefitted from the deal. The end result: the owners of 15 parcels of land removed from the Greenbelt will see the value rise by $8.3 billion, according to the auditor general. [Global]

Donation records also showed some developers who owned Greenbelt land before it was opened up seemed to have given significant sums to the Progressive Conservative party — with lobbying records connecting five developers that stand to benefit most from the changes to Ford’s political party. Collectively, the developers who bought Greenbelt land since Ford was elected spent over $278 million, according to land registry documents. According to Lysyk’s report Wednesday, Greenbelt landowners stand to make a total $8.28 billion from the province’s plan. [TorStar]
Joe Warmington: Admitting the process was wrong but that no one will be held accountable, and the results of it will remain intact, is not good enough. [Toronto Sun]
'We are going to deliver justice,' said Wab Kinew, NDP leader, promising that if elected in October, his party would back the search of a landfill for missing Indigenous women. [Global]

NDP Leader Wab Kinew promised Wednesday to continue a pair of Progressive Conservative budget measures if he's elected premier of Manitoba this fall. [CBC]
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Elsewhere
Poland to send up to 10,000 soldiers to border with Belarus
Poland has expressed concerns about the border area since hundreds of Russia’s Wagner mercenaries arrived in Belarus. [Al Jazeera]
An Ecuadorian presidential candidate known for speaking up against cartels and corruption was shot and killed Wednesday at a political rally in the capital, amid a startling wave of gang-driven violence in the South American country. [AP]
Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling (Ret.): Combined arms operations, especially an attack against a prepared defender, are difficult even for the world’s best militaries. [The Bulwark]
Vanda Felbab-Brown: What started as an internally-driven coup in Niger on July 26, West Africa’s seventh in three years, has rapidly come to threaten Western interests. The fast post-coup developments mirror those in Mali and Burkina Faso and highlight the difficulty — and perhaps impossibility, in the short term anyway — of sustaining the West’s hard security and geostrategic interests and simultaneously its commitment to democracy in various parts of Africa. [Brookings] 
The Federation's Employee, Maytal Kowalski, Received Notice of Her Dismissal Following a Confrontation With CEO Ezra Shanken Regarding Israel. Federation Officials Claim 'This Is Not About Politics'. [Haaretz]
Tech
Google Maps is an eyesore. 5 examples of how the app has lost its way
Google Maps has become an eyesore. Here are 5 examples of how the app has lost its way, and why Apple Maps has one clear advantage. [Fast Company]

Reddit corporate claims victory over its disgruntled mods as r/aww, r/pics, and r/videos abandon the "John Oliver rule." [Gizmodo]
It could prove to be an important move from Meta. [The Verge]
Website owners can stop OpenAI’s new web crawler GPTBot from using information from sites to train its GPT models with a simple addition to the metadata. [The Verge]
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Media
How you can find Global News
Important breaking news and information about Canada — and about your community — will no longer be available on Meta platforms. But there's lots of other ways you can stay connected with Global News’ journalism. [Global]

Effort will include workshops, research, and resources for students. [New York University]
Issued this day ...
Issued this day in 1993: Scott # 1489a strip of 5: Heritage Rivers — 3: Routes of Settlement and Growth. Design: Malcolm Waddell. Illustrations: Jan Waddell
The third in a four-part series of booklet stamps to feature Canadian rivers, this group of five features, from left to right, the Fraser River; the Yukon River; the Red River, the St. Lawrence, and the Saint John River.

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