Past issues Subscribe

Jul 20 2025

The Roundup: Trade talks. UNDRIP guide. Brown threatened.

SUN JUL 20 2025
David Akin's Roundup
Trade talks. UNDRIP guide. Brown threatened.
Canada
Trade top of mind as Canada's premiers are set to hold three-day meeting in Ontario
Tariffs and trade are top of the agenda as the country's premiers arrive in Ontario's cottage country for a three-day meeting that comes at a pivotal time for both Canada-U.S. and domestic relations. [Times Colonist]
Ryan Cardwell: ... the source of funding for support to SM producers comes from an implicit tax on food, not from government transfers. This has important implications. Support to other agricultural producers is funded from government revenues, much of which is raised through a progressive tax system and does not significantly affect food prices. On the other hand, SM’s implicit food tax has regressive distributional effects, imposing a heavier burden on low-income households who spend larger shares of their incomes on food; this implicit tax rate is five times higher for low-income households than for high-income households. [National Post]
Just published via the government's "Open Data" project, this publication was created by Canada's Justice Department in June, 2024. - DA
The briefing binder provided to Gary Anandasangaree after Mark Carney made him both Justice Minister and Minister for Crown-Indigenous Affairs in March 2025. Anandasangaree would become public safety minister in Carney's second cabinet while the CIRNAC role went to first-time MP Rebecca Alty. - DA
The briefing binder provided to Kamal Khera after she was sworn in to Mark Carney's first cabinet in 2025. Khera was subsequently defeated in the general election. Carney appointed Marjorie Michel as Health Minister after the election. I suspect Michel's briefing binder would have been very similar to this one. - DA.
The Provinces
Kanwarjyot Singh Manoria was arrested on Tuesday and charged with uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm to Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown. [Global]

A small township in northern Ontario says it will suspend all municipal services next month, after years of financial instability and pleas for provincial help. The Township of Fauquier-Strickland announced the decision last Tuesday, citing over $2.5 million in accumulated operating deficits and the complete depletion of reserve funds. [Global]
Premier Danielle Smith's government wants the Heritage Fund to hit $250 billion by 2050 so future Alberta governments can spend investment returns without draining the fund. [Global]
Paul Finch, president of the B.C. General Employees' Union, says the impasse came over wages, work from home rules and modernizing the contract. Finch says their members face an affordability crisis, and if wages don't keep up with inflation, skilled workers will be lost, including wildland firefighters, who "are among the lowest paid employees in the entire government." [CP]
Aurora
Elsewhere
Japan votes in a key election as Prime Minister Ishiba faces a possible loss
The emerging populist party Sanseito stands out with the toughest anti-foreigner stance with its "Japanese First" platform that proposes a new agency to centralize policies related to foreigners. The party's populist platform also includes anti-vaccine, anti-globalism and favors traditional gender roles. [NPR]

The US-led NATO alliance must prepare for the possibility that Russia and China could launch wars in Europe and the Pacific simultaneously, with 2027 being a potential flashpoint year, a top military officer said. [Stars and Stripes]
Media
A Juicy Chronicle of the Fat Decades at Condé Nast
“Empire of the Elite,” by Michael M. Grynbaum, is a story of (mostly) insider-outsiders who helmed the glossiest American magazines in their heyday. [NYT] (🎁 link)
Note to Readers
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 .

You’re one of more than 2,200 subscribers getting this newsletter 7 days a week and there’s no charge. But I do incur costs to produce and distribute what amounts to about 60,000 e-mails a month.  So if you can join the 100 or so already kicking in as little as $5 a month that would be a big help. If prefer to make a one-time donation — great!  — send an e-transfer to jda@davidakin.com. 
Science and Technology
Wildfires send Canada's carbon emissions soaring. And our peatlands emit even more
A new government model to estimate peatland emissions and their impact on climate change could provide a new perspective on the problem — and spark new discussions about solutions. [CBC]

With these videos also came a slew of new slang words, like “on fleek,” meaning “perfect,” or “yeet,” an interjection said while throwing something at high velocity. It also popularized existing words from African American English, such as “bae” and “fam,” both terms of endearment for one’s close friends. [Literary Hub]
Issued this day ...
… in 1935: Sc 230 pair. King George V Pictorial Coil Stamps. Design: Herman Herbert Schwarz.

Previous Issues

Load More