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Apr 26 2025

The Roundup: Young Conservatives. Woke promises. America's alarm.

SAT APR 26 2024
David Akin's Roundup
Young Conservatives. Woke promises. America's alarm.
Canada
Why are more young Quebec voters leaning Conservative?
Recent polling suggests 44 per cent of young Canadians want a Conservative government. [Global]

La Prairie–Atateken, «c’est la lutte la plus chaude au pays!» lance le candidat libéral Jacques Ramsay à un électeur potentiel. [TVA]

The Public Service Commission, the guardian of a non-partisan public service, confirmed 65 bureaucrats sought permission to run in this election. Eleven withdrew, 54 were cleared to seek nominations, and 24 are on the ballot – for nine different parties.

The Conservatives drew the largest share with nine candidates – flipping their long-standing claim that the public service is packed with Liberal sympathizers and loyalists. Prime Minister Stephen Harper once said his power would be checked by a Liberal-dominated public service, Senate, and judiciary. [Policy Options]
FT analysis finds network of social media accounts attacking Liberal leader Mark Carney. [Financial Times]
Poilievre has promised to ‘put an end to the imposition of woke ideology in the federal public service’ [Globe and Mail]
The vow—which echoes rhetoric used by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to justify canceling research grants and shutting down government programs—has alarmed many researchers. “I think this is the first time a politician in Canada has crossed that line to officially say they want to interfere to control research topics,” says Madeleine Pastinelli, president of the university professors’ union in the province of Quebec. “It could be a very terrible time for us.” Article was published April 9, before the Conservatives released their platform which did indeed promise "an end to the imposition of woke ideology in the federal public service and in the allocation of federal funds for university research.” [Science]
Vaughn Palmer: The spectacle of one current and two former NDP premiers in a last-minute scramble tells you how the party views its chances. [Vancouver Sun]
In Mark Carney’s northern birthplace, Fort Smith, the election is the talk of the town
For voters in the small Northwest Territories community, the only consensus is that their famous son has put them on the map. [Globe and Mail]  (🎁 link)
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From the provinces
Ford-Poilievre rift on full display as federal race upended by strategic leaks
“If Poilievre loses his seat? He’s done. He’s gone,” said one Conservative source. “And so is Jenni. And if the Liberals win a majority, the knives will be out for Jenni as well. There’ll have to be a graceful exit.” [iPolitics]
Aurora
Elsewhere
It might be falling apart for Trump
Aaron Blake: About 100 days in, the signs are almost uniformly negative for the second-term Trump project. [WaPo]
When asked if he wants to be remembered as a president who expanded U.S. territory, Trump said: “Wouldn’t mind.” Trump also claimed that Greenland would be “very well off” as part of the United States. [Global]

Some of America’s biggest companies say President Donald Trump’s erratic trade policy is leading consumers to spend less, raising costs for their businesses and making it impossible to plan for the future. [CNN]
Media
What really goes on inside a federal leader’s election campaign bus
John Ivison: There really is no substitute for watching the pretenders for the job of prime minister up close as they deal with the slings and arrows of a campaign. [NP]

An Australian radio station has been called out for using an AI-generated host for months without disclosing it. [Sydney Morning Herald]
Science and Tech
Apple is in talks with its outsourcing partners in India to execute this plan amid soaring trade tensions, as per FT. But the point of Trump's tariffs, of course, was to bring iPhone manufacturing to America... [Al Jazeera]
The Calendar
  • 0900 ET: King City, ON - LPC Leader Mark Carney makes an announcement and speaks to reporters.
  • 0945 ET: Val d'Or, QC - BQ Leader Yves-François Blanchet speaks to reportersl
  • 1015 ET: London, ON - NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh campaigns in the riding of London Centre
  • 1030 ET: Newmarket, ON - LPC Leader Mark Carney campaigns in the riding of Newmarket-Aurora.
  • 1050 ET: Val d'Or, QC - BQ Leader Yves-François Blanchet campaigns in the riding of Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou
  • 1130 ET: Surrey, BC - Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre campaigns in the riding of Surrey--Newton
  • 1145 ET: Aurora, ON - LPC Leader Mark Carney campaigns in the riding of Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill
  • 1300 ET: Delta, BC - Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks to supporters.
  • 1300 ET: Markham, ON - LPC Leader Mark Carney campaigns in the riding of Markham--Unionville
  • 1300 ET: Windsor, ON - NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh campaigns in the riding of Windsor West.
  • 1400 ET: Delta, BC - Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre campaigns in the riding of Delta.
  • 1500 ET: Mississauga, ON - LPC Leader Mark Carney speaks to supporters.
  • 1500 ET: Mont-Laurier, QC - BQ Leader Yves-François Blanchet campaigns in the riding of Laurentides-Labelle.
  • 1715 ET: Saint-Adèle, QC - BQ Leader Yves-François Blanchet campaigns in the riding of Les Pays-d’en-Haut
  • 1830 ET: Sainte-Thérèse, QC - BQ Leader Yves-François Blanchet campaigns in the riding of Thérèse-De Blainville.
  • 1900 ET: Windsor, ON - LPC Leader Mark Carney speaks to supporters.
  • 1945 ET: Pointe-aux-Trembles, QC - BQ Leader Yves-François Blanchet campaigns in the riding of La Pointe-de-l’Île.
  • 2100 ET: Sudbury, ON - Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks to supporters.
  • 2200 ET: Vancouver, - NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh campaigns in the riding of Vancouver Kingsway
  • 2315 ET: Burnaby, BC - NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh campaigns in the riding of Burnaby Centre
Issued this day ...
… in 1978. Sc 764a. Captain James Cook. Design: William Rueter.

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