Canada
Sending Canadian vessel to Cuba alongside Russia's was carefully planned: Minister
Spokesman Daniel Minden issued a statement on Sunday saying the visit to Havana's port "was carefully and fulsomely planned," and the minister authorized it on the advice of the Royal Canadian Navy and Canadian Joint Operations Command.
Canada can no longer be ‘naive’ about the ‘real’ threats it faces: defence chief
Gen. Wayne Eyre said he's "cautiously optimistic" that the Canadian military is on the "upswing," but that growth is still "not fast enough" to face the global threat environment.
Canada to continue diplomacy with alleged foreign interference actors: Joly
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly says Canada won't cut off engagement with China and India despite allegations they have interfered in Canada's democratic institutions.
Liberals have their candidates in 2 eastern Ontario Tory strongholds
The Liberal Party of Canada recently announced its candidates for the 45th general election in two ridings where Conservatives are almost certain to prevail. The first is the riding of Carleton -- which happens to be where I live -- where the Liberals almost knocked off the incumbent, Pierre Poilievre, in 2015. But since then, the incumbent has become the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and may yet be the next prime minister of Canada. Bruce Fanjoy, though, is unimpressed and, as the Liberal candidate in the riding of Carleton, will try to deprive Poilievre of his seat in the House of Commons. It is a long-shot bet for Fanjoy. Poilievre won by nearly 20 points in 2021 and the new boundaries of Carleton include the rural/Conservative portions of the former riding of Kanata--Carleton. So Carleton has likely become more Conservative, not less. My model right now has Poilievre lapping his Liberal opponent by 44 points or 35,000 votes.
Next door to Carleton is the riding of Lanark-Frontenac, home to Conservative incumbent Scott Reid. This riding is even more of a lock, IMO, for the Conservatives. Nonetheless, Liberal Michelle Foxton is gamely aiming for Reid's seat with a campaign that suggests Reid ought to be disqualified because his family is the owner of the regional retailer Giant Tiger, which does indeed sell groceries and other household goods. Think of it as a very mini version of Wal-Mart; a store where you can get your kids' winter coat, a lamp for your spare room, as well as frozen sausage and fresh tomatoes. In the Liberal formulation here, the Reid family must be just like those evil billionaire grocers, the Westons and, as a result, Reid must be evil as well.
Reid is one of the longest-serving MPs in the House, having been elected as a Canadian Alliance MP in 2000. Reid beat a Liberal incumbent in that election, Ian Murray, who had won in the 1997 general election, the last time a Liberal won in this part of Ontario. Reid is currently chair of the Conservative caucus and, if an election were held this spring, might be expected to win by 46 points.
So good luck to candidates Fanjoy and Foxton and if there is any consolation to be offered: It will be much, much more difficult for the New Democrats running in both those ridings. -DA
The Provinces
Ontario Liberals declare ‘electoral urgency’ amid early election speculation
Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie asked the party's executive council to declare an electoral urgency, allowing the Liberals to speed up the timeline to hold local races.
The summer barbecue push for your vote
Recently, Brunswick News asked the leaders of the three parties with seats in the legislature how they and their parties plan to spend this summer. What Higgs and the PCs are planning is a mystery. They declined to comment for the story.
Elsewhere
Ukraine peace summit yields mixed results
The path toward peace in Ukraine took a few small steps forward this weekend at an international peace summit. Representatives from dozens of countries gathered in Switzerland to draft a roadmap of how to get there. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was at the conference, but other major world leaders skipped it. And as Mackenzie Gray reports, that’s cast doubt on how quickly peace can finally come to Ukraine.
Netanyahu disbands his inner war cabinet
Netanyahu is now expected to hold consultations about the Gaza war with a small group of ministers, including Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer who had been in the war cabinet.
Media
Does AI Have a Place in Journalism? 6 Ways It Helps Us Craft Original Work
PCMag editors and writers explain how they use generative AI to streamline time-intensive processes and help improve their pieces.
Investigative journalism’s AI challenges: accuracy and bias, explainability and resources
The most basic challenge facing investigative journalists wanting to apply artificial intelligence is practicality: not only do AI technologies such as machine learning require a certain combination of skill sets and the time and resources to bring those together, but also the availability of a sufficient quality and quantity of data to train models
Twitter Xed Out: How Are Journalists Using Social Media Now?
Althoff said if journalists want to be an active participant, and they feel it’s safe and productive, then certainly go for it. But a hiring editor isn’t going to tell a journalist they need to have an account on X, Instagram, or TikTok.
Science and tech
How to use ChatGPT to analyze PDFs for free
Got a massive PDF to sift through? Here's how to save time with an AI assistant that can read, summarize, outline, and more.
McDonald's Plans to Stop Testing AI For Now
The fast food restaurant was using AI in the drive-thru at over 100 stores.
The Calendar
- 1000 ET: 135B West Block - GPC MP Elizabeth May speaks about NSICOP and C-226
- 1045 ET: Room 410 Wellington - National Defence (NDDN) | Meeting 111 - Drafting report; Defence Policy Update
- 1100 ET: Room 025-B West Block - Government Operations and Estimates (OGGO) | Meeting 130 - FY25 Supp As; Committee Business
- 1100 ET: Room 415 Wellington - Indigenous and Northern Affairs (INAN) | Meeting 115 - Bill C-61
- 1100 ET: Room 330 Wellington - Industry and Technology (INDU) | Meeting 131 - Bill C-352
- 1100 ET: Room 225-A West Block - Justice and Human Rights (JUST) | Meeting 111 - Drafting report.
- 1100 ET: Room 425 Wellington - Veterans Affairs (ACVA) | Meeting 101 - Recognition of Persian Gulf Veterans
- 1110 ET: HoC Foyer - Defence Min Bill Blair speaks to reporters.
- 1530 ET: Room 415 Wellington - Health (HESA) | Meeting 124 - Health Min Mark Holland and Mental Health Min Ya'ara Saks testify on FY25 Supp As
- 1530 ET: Room 430 Wellington - Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA) | Meeting 121 - Federal Housing Investments
- 1530 ET: Room 035-B West Block - Natural Resources (RNNR) | Meeting 102 - Canada’s Clean Energy Plans in the Context of North American Energy Transformation; Drafting report.
- 1530 ET: Room 125-B West Block - Official Languages (LANG) | Meeting 107 - Committee Business
- 1815 ET: Ottawa - PM Trudeau speaks at a National Indigenous History Month reception.
- 1830 ET: 025-B West Block - Special Committee on the Canada–People’s Republic of China Relationship (CACN) | Meeting 45 - Canada–People’s Republic of China Relations
- 1850 ET: Ottawa - PM Trudeau speaks at a Filipino Heritage Month reception.
Issued this day ...
… in 1898: Scott #75: Queen Victoria “Numeral” Issue - 1¢ grey green. Photograph: W. & D. Downey.
All of these scans, as I've mentioned here before, are from my collection of Canadian stamps. The collection is about 3,000 strong but only 18 were issued in the 19th century. This is ninth oldest stamp in my collection which I acquired for all of -- ahem -- 20 cents :)