WED AUG 13 2025
David Akin's Roundup
Canola crisis. Ford's ask. US deficit.
Canada
Trade war with China could have devastating impact on Canadian canola farmers
Canada's agriculture industry is calling on Ottawa for help after China announced Tuesday it is imposing a tariff of 75.8 per cent on Canadian canola imports. [Global]
Around 467,100 old homes are expected to be resold in Canada this year, a drop of 3.5 per cent compared to last year, a new RBC report said. [Global]
With a national leader representing the riding as its MP, Poilievre said he will have the 'biggest megaphone around' to fight for residents' issues. [Calgary Herald]
The Provinces
How did a Chinese company win a contract with BC Ferries?
Canada's national shipbuilding strategy was launched 15 years ago and is mostly seen as a success, but it's also being criticized after China Merchants Industry Weihai Shipyards (CMI Weihai), a Chinese company, was awarded a new contract with BC Ferries. Neetu Garcha explains the controversy, and how BC Ferries is defending its decision. [Global National]

Jeff Evely, a People’s Party of Canada candidate in the April 28 federal election, was fined almost $29,000 for violating a Nova Scotia fire-safety ban on entering the woods. [Global]

“On Monday, I am going up to have a one-on-one meeting with the prime minister. I have told him how I feel. We have to create the environment (for economic growth),” he said. “There are just a few things we can do that can really change things. Number one, we are taxed to death; it is simple as that…. It’s economics 101. Put money in the peoples’ pockets and they are going to go out and spend it. It is as simple as going out to dinner, buying a pair of sneakers, buying a pair of jeans; it stimulates the economy.” [BNN Bloomberg]
Le nouveau député Alex Boissonneault juge que son élection envoie « un message très, très fort » au gouvernement de François Legault. [Radio-Canada]

Aurora
Elsewhere
Ukraine, sidelined in Trump-Putin summit, fights Russian grab for more territory
Small bands of Russian soldiers thrust deeper into eastern Ukraine on Tuesday before a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, which European leaders fear could end in peace terms imposed on an unlawfully shrunken Ukraine. [US News and World Report]
Even as Trump talks about America becoming rich because of his import tax hikes, federal spending keeps outpacing the revenues collected by the U.S. government. [Global]
Media

Meta’s social upstart Threads just hit 400 million users. It's within striking distance of X on mobile engagement. [Fast Company]

Science and Technology
There is no consistent "ChatGPT" to interrogate about its mistakes, no singular "Grok" entity that can tell you why it failed, no fixed "Replit" persona that knows whether database rollbacks are possible. You're interacting with a system that generates plausible-sounding text based on patterns in its training data (usually trained months or years ago), not an entity with genuine self-awareness or system knowledge that has been reading everything about itself and somehow remembering it. [Ars Technica]
The Calendar
  • 1000 ET : Blainville, QC - LPC MP Claude Guay makes a funding announcement
  • 1730 ET : Cold Lake, AB - Defence Min David McGuinty will meet with Canadian Forces members at CFB Cold Lake.
Issued this day ...
… in 1930. Sc 171 pa. King George V “Arch/Leaf” Issue. Design: Herman Herbert Schwarz.