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Mar 8 2023

Ursula’s tribute. COVID breakthrough. Tucker’s hatred.

Mar 8, 2023
David Akin's Roundup
Clippings of #cdnpoli, #media, and #tech content aimed at those with an interest in Canadian politics and policy. And sometimes Canadian postage stamps.
Canada
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine ‘a war on women’s rights,’ EU leader tells Parliament
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen paid tribute to Ukrainian women who are fighting against Russia and decried the sexual violence carried out by Moscow's forces. [Global]
The special rapporteur, who will likely be named in the coming days, will also make recommendations on how Ottawa can better combat foreign interference. [Global]

Poilievre says spy agency CSIS deliberately leaked information about elections meddling to reporters because it didn’t trust the prime minister. [TorStar]
Vaughn Palmer: The federal justice minister signalled he won't make big changes in a bail system blamed for rise in unprovoked attacks. [Vancouver Sun]
Hassan Soroosh says the Taliban is dismantling two decades of gains for women in Afghanistan and bringing back some of the most repressive measures from the 1990s. [Global]
Yves Giroux says his office analyzed the cost of processing applications for economic immigrants through the express entry system for five fiscal years. [Global]

Committee Report No. 2 of the Special Joint Commitee on Medical Assistance in Dying. [Senate of Canada]

Committee Report No. 10 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health. [House of Commons]

Report No. 5 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food [House of Commons]
From the Provinces
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said the City of Calgary did not ask for funding for downtown revitalization, but a letter from Mayor Jyoti Gondek in November 2022 says otherwise. [Global]

The Alberta Firearms Act would allow the province to develop regulations that it sees as necessary to protect gun owners in the province. [Global]
Manitoba’s proposed 2023 budget acknowledges inflation and aims to leave more than $5,500 in the pockets of the average family by 2024. [Global]
Queen’s Park is getting a major makeover. The province on Tuesday introduced legislation that will begin the lengthy process of renovating the Ontario legislative building, known colloquially as the Pink Palace. [TorStar]
L’Ontario a atteint sa cible de 5% en immigration francophone pour la première fois l’an dernier. L’Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario (AFO) estime de son côté que le gouvernement Ford devrait augmenter son objectif. [TFO]

Cinq mois après avoir obtenu le score le plus bas du Parti québécois (PQ) aux élections générales depuis sa fondation, le chef péquiste Paul St-Pierre Plamondon dit être « serein » quant au vote de confiance auquel il se soumettra samedi. [La Presse]
Elsewhere
For Afghan women under the Taliban, ‘home is like jail.’ Now, some are speaking out
Ahead of International Women's Day on March 8, Global News spoke to women and people on the ground as the Taliban attack on women continues to escalate.

The Philippine coast guard has launched a strategy of publicizing aggressive actions by China in the disputed South China Sea, which has countered Chinese propaganda and sparked international condemnation that has put Beijing under the spotlight, a Philippine official said Wednesday. [AP]
COVID and Vaccines

Eric Topol: All indications from genomic surveillance of the virus, wastewater. and the clinical outcomes that are still being tracked (albeit more limited and less periodicity as time goes on), that we’ve (finally) entered an endemic phase. There are no new SARS-CoV-2 variants that have yet cropped up with a growth advantage over XBB.1.5... [Substack]

Some findings have shown that many people dying from COVID-19 are vaccinated. But that doesn’t mean vaccines don’t work. [American Medical Association]
Media
Takeaways from the Fox Dominion filings
Two days before Jan. 6, Tucker Carlson texted someone, “We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. I truly can’t wait.” He added, “I hate him passionately.." [WaPo]

If you're not told you are fired, are you really fired? At Twitter, probably. And then, sometimes, you get your job back — if you want it. Haraldur Thorleifsson, who until recently was employed at Twitter, logged in to his computer last Sunday to do some work — only to find himself locked out, along with 200 others. [AP]
Tipsheet/slide deck used by Betsy Ladyzhets in her presentation to the 2023 conference of the [U.S.-based] National Institute of Computer-Assisted Reporting [NICAR] Useful for journalists covering COVID and its effects.
Tech

If you frequently find yourself searching through Google Drive, make use of this handy trick to make the task more efficient. [ZDNet]
Issued this day ...
... in 1979: Sc # 721: Medium-Value Tree Definitives: White Pine. Design: Heather J. Cooper. 

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