Past issues Subscribe

Aug 18 2025

The Roundup: By-election day. Ford in Ottawa. Zelenskyy in DC.

MON AUG 18
David Akin's Roundup
By-election day. Ford in Ottawa. Zelenskyy in DC.
Canada
Poilievre seeks political comeback in rural Alberta by-election
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is trying to win his way back into the House of Commons. After losing his Ottawa-area seat in the last federal election, Poilievre is now running in the rural Alberta riding of Battle River-Crowfoot. Voters in that riding head to the polls on Monday. But with some 214 candidates on the ballot, voters have a lot of names to wade through. Mackenzie Gray has more on Poilievre’s attempt to return from political exile and on the protest that’s followed him to Alberta. [Global National]

Air Canada said on Sunday that it would push back its plan to get flights back in the air until Monday evening, even though the union said employees will remain on strike until a "fair, negotiated collective agreement" is reached. The strike officially began just before 1 a.m. ET on Saturday, and Air Canada locked out flight attendants about 30 minutes later due to the strike action. [CP]
This month, John Slipp closed the Woodstock Duty Free Shop Inc. as lower traffic at the U.S.-Canada border dealt the final blow to a business already weakened by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, at 59, Slipp says he will have to find another source of income and is advocating for more government support for stores like his. [CP]
The Provinces
PM Carney, Premier Ford meeting in Ottawa today
Carney and Ford are expected to discuss affordability, housing and crime, the official says. The official says the meeting is meant to be "casual" but offers a good opportunity for the two to touch base ahead of the fall sittings of the House of Commons and the provincial legislature. [CP]

Ontario's move to order public servants to work from the office full time is raising questions about its potential impact on the government's ability to recruit and retain skilled staff. [CBC]
Aurora
Elsewhere
European leaders to join Ukraine’s Zelenskyy for meeting with Trump
Leaders from France, Britain and Germany are rallying around the Ukrainian leader after his exclusion from Trump’s summit on Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Their pledge to be at Zelenskyy’s side at the White House on Monday is an apparent effort to ensure the meeting goes better than the last one in February, when Trump berated Zelenskyy in a heated Oval Office encounter. [Global]
European and NATO leaders will join Zelenskyy in Washington Monday for talks with Trump on ending the war in Ukraine, with NATO-style security guarantees on the table. [Global]
Bolivia’s presidential election will go to a runoff for the first time, with two rightwing candidates competing for the presidency – marking the end of nearly 20 years of dominance by the leftist Movimiento al Socialismo (Mas). [The Guardian]
California Democrats on Friday released their redistricting proposal, aiming to produce up to five additional Democratic seats in the US House in response to Texas Republicans’ mid-decade redrawing of lines at the behest of President Donald Trump. [CNN]
Media
How to Keep Up With President Trump
“It has become incredibly clear how important it is for people to see a Black White House reporter for The New York Times,” she said. In a recent interview, Ms. Green spoke about the day-to-day demands of the job and the challenges that come with the beat. [NYT] (🎁 link)
"If we sit on the sideline and observe, I think the risk is too high that we are gonna be left behind." [Nieman Journalism Lab]
Science and Technology
... an experiment in my English classroom. I attempted the experiment in four sections of my class during the 2024-2025 academic year, with a total of 72 student writers. Rather than taking an “abstinence-only” approach to AI, I decided to put the central, existential question to them directly: was it still necessary or valuable to learn to write? The choice would be theirs. We would look at the evidence, and at the end of the semester, they would decide by vote whether A.I. could replace me. What could go wrong? [Literary Hub]
The Calendar
  • 0930 ET : Ottawa - PM Carney meets with Ontario Premier Doug Ford.
  • 1030 ET : Lethbridge, AB - CPC MP Rachael Thomas hosts a pancake breakfasts.
  • 1130 ET : NPT - Emergency Preparedness Min Min Eleanor Olszewski , Indigenous Services Min Mandy Gull-Masty, and LPC MP Corey Hogan speak about the 2025 wildfire season.
  • 1200 ET : Halifax - Justice Min Sean Fraser and LPC MPs Shannon Miiedama, Jessica Fancy, and Mike Kelloway make an infrastructure funding announcement. 
  • 1245 ET : Finland - Foreign Affairs Min Anita Anand speaks to reporters.
  • 1300 ET : Papineauville, QC - LPC MP Stéphane Lauzon makes a funding announcement
  • 1345 ET : Ottawa - Housing, Infrastructure and PACIFICCan Min Gregor Robertson speaks to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario.
Issued this day ...
… in 1997. Sc 1657. World Congress of the PTTI Labour Union. Design: François Picard.  Marked the 28th World Congress of the Postal, Telegraph, and Telephone International Labour Union, held in 1997, in Montreal.

Previous Issues

Load More