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Mar 12 2023

Woke Canada. PEI poll. Endangered Pences.

Mar 12, 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
Meta says it will block news content in Canada if C-18 passes
Meta spokesperson Lisa Laventure says the company made the decision because the act will require it to pay publishers for links or content it doesn't post. [Global]

A sharp increase in people entering Canada through crossings like Roxham Road into Québec is intensifying pressure on Justin Trudeau to reach an agreement with Joe Biden to close off the entire land border to most asylum seekers. [Reuters]

Le Canada et son idéologie « woke » instrumentalisent le concept d’intersectionnalité pour en faire une « arme » contre les valeurs québécoises, a dénoncé le chef bloquiste Yves-François Blanchet dans un discours en marge du congrès du Parti québécois. [La Presse]
Nearly three-quarters of Canadians say they aren't changing their drinking habits despite warnings that more than two alcoholic drinks a week can increase their health risk. [Global]
From the Provinces
NDP Leader Notley delivers pre-election speech at Edmonton nomination
Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley rallied the faithful in Edmonton on Saturday and made assurances the party is keeping an eye on Edmonton. [Edmonton Journal]
New poll puts Sharon Cameron's Grits trailing in second, Bevan-Baker's Greens in third. [Saltwire]
Most interesting race involves a head-to-head matchup between the leader of the PEI Greens and the leader of the PEI Liberal Party. [Saltwire]
Elsewhere
Ron DeSantis feels the love in Iowa. That might not be enough.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis made his first trip to Iowa as a prospective 2024 presidential candidate, where he delivered stump-style speeches Friday. [NBC]
Former Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday harshly criticized former President Donald Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, widening the rift between the two men as they prepare to battle over the Republican nomination in next year's election. [AP]

Li Qiang, the former boss of Shanghai, was tapped as China's premier on Saturday, putting him in charge of steering a post-pandemic economic recovery as the country's second-in-command. [Nikkei Asia]
A bipartisan group of senators wants to make daylight saving time permanent. But sleep experts say standard time is better, because it saves morning light and is more in sync with our natural rhythms. [NPR]
COVID and Vaccines
Here’s Why the Science Is Clear That Masks Work
Zeynep Tufekci: A respected science organization says its review of studies about respiratory viruses was misinterpreted to incorrectly claim masks were useless. [NYT]

Preprint findings aren’t final, and publicizing their results may increase distrust in science news stories. [University of Georgia]
Media
The Consequence of Mandated Payments for Links: Facebook Confirms It Will Drop News Sharing in Canada Under Bill C-18
Michael Geist: For Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez, it is "links in, liability in." Facebook and Google are moving toward not linking and remove news from their platforms and services in Canada. [Substack]

The company, which will begin operating in May, plans to have around 550 journalists covering entertainment, politics and sports within a year. [NYT]

Josh Freed: It has long been the English-speaking community's loudest voice in Quebec, so help save it before columnists like me are downsized to 'Flitter' one-liners. [Montreal Gazette]
It might not be as mustache-twirling a villain as Alden Global Capital, but its enormous scale has meant enormous losses for local journalism. [Nieman Lab]
Tech

Jetpack 11.9 was released this week with support for sharing posts to Mastodon. The new button allows readers to click an icon to launch a sharing window that will ask the user to enter the full URL of the Mastodon instance where the post should be shared. [WP Tavern]
Issued this day ...
... in 1976: Sc # 687: Olympic Sites: Notre-Dame and Place Ville Marie. Design: Jean Mercier and Pierre Mercier.

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