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Aug 16 2025

The Roundup: Flight strike. Putin win. Robot games.

SAT AUG 16 2025
David Akin's Roundup
Flight strike. Putin win. Robot games.
Canada
Air Canada flight attendants on strike, airline's flights cancelled
The union representing more than 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants says its members have walked off the job after it was unable to reach an eleventh hour deal with the airline The strike officially began just before 1 a.m. ET on Saturday. The airline said all Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flights would be cancelled amid the work stoppage. Around 130,000 customers will be affected each day that the strike continues, the company said. [CP]
Hajdu said it’s “critical” that the two parties “return to the table” to forge a deal on their own. The minister said the union has indicated many of its demands have been met, suggesting there is a path forward to a deal. [CP]
Liberals 'must answer for why they spent $170,000 on lavish costs to repatriate reported ISIS criminals,' the Tories said. [Global] 

The latest numbers from the Canadian Real Estate Association suggest the housing market is in a relatively 'stable' period, but it may not last long, according to experts. [Global]
Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to visit Mexico next month as the countries try to navigate trade relations with the United States. [Yahoo]
The Provinces
NDP drawing support from other parties: Kinew
Kinew and NDP candidate Ray Berthelette hosted a press conference Friday, which was billed as “PCs and Liberals in Spruce Woods lending their vote to Ray and the NDP” in a media release. It featured a former Liberal candidate for the riding and a Progressive Conservative party member saying they support Berthelette in the campaign. [Brandon Sun]
"This is a legacy of an accommodation which was brought in during COVID and as much as there are some benefits, you don't get the same level of productivity," Brown said on the radio show, adding that the decision was finalized Thursday evening. The City of Brampton said in a statement Friday afternoon that the decision "aligns with evolving workplace trends across Ontario." [CP]
Aurora
Elsewhere
No Ukraine Cease-Fire For Trump, And A Red-Carpet Welcome For Putin
“The Kremlin is touting this as a major reset in relations with the United States, given the red-carpet treatment Putin received and the possibility of another summit in Moscow,” said Stephen Flanagan, who twice served on the White House National Security Council. [Radio Free Europe]

Documents with sensitive details about the meeting between President Trump and Russian President Putin were left behind on a public hotel printer. [NPR]
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Saturday that he plans to meet US President Donald Trump in the White House on Monday. The announcement comes just hours after the US president concluded a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, which produced no agreement to end the war on Ukraine. [Euronews]

China says it is disappointed by the move to impose tariffs and urges Canada “to correct its erroneous actions.” Canada’s trade dispute with China is ramping up this week after Beijing imposed a tariff of nearly 76 per cent on Canadian canola seed — an apparent response to Canada’s ongoing tariffs of 100 per cent on Chinese-made electric vehicles. [Global]
U.S. President Donald Trump's criticism of Goldman Sachs' research on tariff risks could prompt some analysts to water down their research, investors and academics said, an outcome that could leave investors with less reliable information. [Reuters]

The threat was a stark reminder of the sweeping restrictions and repression of rights, especially of women and girls, that has taken place under the Taliban’s rule, which is based on its strict interpretation of Islamic law. [Al Jazeera]
Media
[A new report says] nearly half of the cryptocurrency stories on five news site are written by artificial intelligence. “From January to June 2025, crypto newsrooms took different paths with AI. Some leaned heavily on it from the start. Others were just beginning to bring it into the mix. Investing.com published the highest share of AI-written content. About 54.8% of its articles during the period were attributed to machine authorship. The Defiant came in close behind at 48.8%." [TalkingBizNews]
Disinformation is false information that is deliberately intended to mislead. It is sometimes called “fake news”. Learn more about how disinformation spreads, who creates it and why. Just ran across this resource published by federal government and most recently updated in mid-July. [Government of Canada]
Science and Technology
Robots box, sprint and stumble in first-ever World Humanoid Robot Games
The robots are remotely operated by their human teams and while they are going for gold, the robots are being tested for agility and skill in 26 events, including gymnastics, track and field, and martial arts. [Global]
In 2025, researchers from around the world entered the joint BMC Ecology and Evolution and BMC Zoology image competition. Their images capture the beauty, struggles, and remarkable strategies life on Earth uses in the fight to survive and thrive. This Editorial announces the winning images, selected by the Editor and senior members of the journal’s Editorial boards. [BMC Ecology and Evolution]
The Calendar
  • 1100 ET : Welland, ON - CPC MP Fred Davies opens his constituency office.
  • 1300 ET : Mayne Island, BC - GPC MP Elizabeth May attends a fall fair.
Issued this day ...
… in 2012. Sc 2567 - souvenir sheet of 9. 100th Grey Cup Game. Design: Filip Mroz, David Rosenberg | Bensimon Byrne.
This series of stamps illustrates the greatest Grey Cup wins by the eight Canadian CFL teams in existence at the time. Hardcore CFL fans will recognize, for example, the 1950 “Mud Bowl”, won by the Argos, which is commemorated in this series. This series was issued at the beginning of the 2012 CFL season and, at the end of it, the Toronto Argonauts would win the 100th Grey Cup — and Canada Post issued an updated version of the stamp you see at the top of this souvenir sheet on Nov 28, 2012 commemorating the historic Argo win.

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