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Jun 1 2025

The Roundup: Poilievre's review. TACO Trump. Q-Day.

SUN JUN 1 2024
David Akin's Roundup
Poilievre's review. TACO Trump. Q-Day.
Canada
Carney has 'nation-building projects' on his mind as he meets with premiers in Saskatoon
Prime Minister Mark Carney's main focus will be on project development as he sits down with provincial and territorial premiers this week. [CBC]
Party members would have the chance to vote on whether Poilievre should remain leader if national council signs off on proposal. [Globe and Mail] (🎁 link)
Norman Hillmer: Trump and Trumpism are not Canada’s fault. No one could have imagined the cruelty and ignorance of a leader who cares not at all about America’s friends and admires its enemies. We are on new ground in Canadian-American relations. We cannot know whether the patterns of independence and interdependence that have for a century and a half defined the shape of northern North America are gone for now or gone forever. Or maybe they are not gone at all. [Literary Review of Canada]

Drawing on Enlightenment critiques of priestcraft and superstition, opponents of the Quebec Act claimed that it established, rather than tolerated, Catholicism. By contrast, defenders of the Quebec Act argued that priestcraft and superstition were declining among Canadian Catholics and that enshrining the right of Catholic priests to collect tithes did not represent a church establishment. The debate turned on the problem of Catholic loyalty in a Protestant state. [The English Historical Review]
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The Provinces
A Canadian prairie city virtually deserted as fires rage and thousands more evacuees expected
Manitoba's premier says the Canadian prairie city of Flin Flon hasbeen virtually deserted and more evacuees were expected as wildfires raged in the province. Premier Wab Kinew told a news conference that the mayor, councilors, health-care staff and other officials have had to depart Flin Flon, a city of 5,000 people. The evacuees are among 17,000 people reported so far to have left their homes due to a number of wildfires burning in remote regions from Manitoba’s northwest to the southeast. Kinew said as the fires grow, thousands more evacuees can be expected and that communities like Winnipeg, Thompson and The Pas have already stepped up to help provide food and shelter. [WHEC]
Aurora
Elsewhere
Why Trump got visibly angry at the ‘TACO’ question
There was a reason for President Donald Trump’s particularly caustic response when a reporter asked him Wednesday about a new term coined about the president’s tariffs: TACO, or Trump Always Chickens Out. [CNN]
Donald Trump's tariff and 51st state rhetoric is hurting interest in seeing the Oilers play in the Panthers' den. [Edmonton Journal]
The proposal comes as Chancellor Friedrich Merz is expected to travel to Washington soon to meet with US President Donald Trump, although a trip has not yet been officially announced. Trump has in the past said he will not allow foreign governments to “appropriate America’s tax base for their own benefit”. [Cyprus-Mail]
Note to Readers
A reminder that the headlines and excerpts here are, for the most part, written by the publishers of the item to which I’ve linked. If I’ve written the headline and excerpt, I’ll take authorship by finishing the note with a bold - DA. If I’ve inserted my own comment in an excerpt written by the publisher, I’ll put that in italics. You can always find my disclosure statement and biography at www.davidakin.com

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Media
As an X alternative, Bluesky is popular among left-leaning 'news influencers,' Pew Research finds. But they're not abandoning Elon Musk's social network just yet. [PCMag]
Science and Technology
The Quantum Apocalypse Is Coming. Be Very Afraid
What happens when quantum computers can finally crack encryption and break into the world’s best-kept secrets? It’s called Q-Day—the worst holiday maybe ever. [Wired]

New research involving over 411,000 adults finds that greater use of technology, such as computers and smartphones, is linked to reduced cognitive decline in later life—offering a hopeful counterpoint to the “digital dementia” narrative. [PsyPost]
The Calendar
  • 1330 : Calgary - PM Carney meets with energy sector leaders. 
Issued this day ...
… in 2000: Sc 1857. Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada. Design: Gary Ludwig.  

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