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Aug 10 2025

The Roundup: RCMP recruiting. Atlantic drought. Attack robots.

SUN AUG 10 2025
David Akin's Roundup
RCMP recruiting. Atlantic drought. Attack robots.
Canada
RCMP union pushes for changes to help attract talent from U.S., other countries
The union says the RCMP should follow the lead of the military, which in 2022 opened applications to permanent residents without any requirement on time spent in Canada. [Global]
These are the Question Period talking points prepared for Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin for May 2025. The talking points are prepared by ministry staff and then often tweaked by the political staff in the minister's office. We don't get to see the political tweaks but the lines prepared by bureaucrats often provide useful background and information for journalists and researchers. Topics include carbon pricing, clean fuel regulations, AI and weather forecasting and so on. -DA [Environment and Climate Change Canada]
Briefing materials prepared for Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, in May 2025. [Natural Resources Canada]
Transition binder prepared by Correctional Services Canada for Minister Gary Anandasangaree after the 2025 federal election. - DA

Canada should be the world’s richest country. But for decades, small thinking, bureaucratic inertia, and special interests have kept us from realizing our potential. Just ran across this resource Saturday. [Build Canada]
The Provinces
Drought is worsening in Atlantic Canada with wildfires raging
Drought conditions have beset Atlantic Canada with wildfires raging in some locales, with no relief in coming days, according to Environment Canada. The conditions are increasing the wildfire risk. [National Post]
Aurora
Elsewhere

Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s territorial integrity, enshrined in the constitution, must be non-negotiable and emphasized that lasting peace must include Ukraine’s voice at the table. [Global]

The United States launched the Nagasaki attack on Aug. 9, 1945, killing 70,000 by the end of that year, three days after the bombing of Hiroshima that killed 140,000. [Global]
Reader note
Thanks to some  of you who subscribe to this newsletter via an outlook.com e-mail address. I discovered Saturday that, for some unknown reason, this newsletter is not getting to many, though (weirdly) not all, who subscribe to this newsletter from an outlook.com address. I'm looking into this and hope to solve this problem. In the meantime, I'll likely forward a copy of this newsletter directly to outlook.com subscribers from news@davidakin.com. I encourage all subscribers to double-check spam filters and if you can put this newsletter on a "white list" in your e-mail client, that would be great.

In the meantime, if you ever go for a day or two without seeing this newsletter, please get in touch as it may indicate your e-mail provider is preventing delivery of this newsletter. We once had this happened with bell.net and cogeco.ca subscribers.

Finally: A reminder that the headlines and excerpts here are written, for the most part,  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. Who am I? I’m the Chief Political Correspondent for Global News. My office is on Parliament Hill where I’ve been covering federal and provincial elections and politics since 2005. You can always find my disclosure statement and biography at www.davidakin.com

And, as we look to solve these technical problems, we can always use a bit more financial help as I may have to try to migrate to more expensive though more reliable platforms like Substack or Ghost . If you can chip in $5 a month for this 7-day-a-week Roundup, that would be a big help. Thanks to all who are already doing so. An alternative; send a one-time gift to jda@davidakin.com . -DA
Media

Anne Applebaum warns that Sudan’s descent into chaos shows what happens when institutions fail—and why a free press is essential to prevent America from following the same path. [Status]
A recent data analysis found 1 in 3 U.S. counties do not have the equivalent of a single full-time reporter. [Christian Science Monitor]
Science and Technology
China Shows Off Armed Attack Robots
The Chinese state broadcasting group recently released footage of its newly developed "robot wolves" in simulated combat drills. [Futurism]

After releasing GPT-5 and removing the option for GPT-4o, OpenAI restored access to its older model after a deluge of unhappy user comments. [Endgadget]

A Concordia University student team is preparing to launch the first Canadian rocket to enter space in over two decades — right from Cree territory near Mistissini, Quebec. [CBC]

The pioneering service has dwindled to a Yahoo sub-brand, but some people still rely on it for their online connection. Come Sept. 30, they'll need a new ISP. [PCMag]
Issued this day ...
… in 1899. Sc 87. Provisional issues. 

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