Canada
Singh says NDP won’t play ‘games’ and help Bloc, Tories topple Liberals
Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet said he will make good on his threat to work with opposition parties to topple the minority Liberals with a non-confidence vote. But the Trudeau minority govt appears set to survive -- once again -- with NDP help.
Liberal Party preparing to launch ad campaign to take on high-flying Poilievre
"I think we sort of brought a knife to a gunfight so far on how we're approaching advertising and how we're approaching the campaign in general," [LPC MP Nate] Erskine-Smith told reporters after the meeting with [national campaign director Andrew] Bevan. "I think we've got to step up our game and today was an important meeting in doing just that."
Cole Hogan is a Conservative -- he'd be the first to tell you that -- but it's his business as a digital campaigns consultant to use Facebook's publicly available data to track how much our federal parties are spending on advertising on that platform. I think you could reasonably infer that the ratio of ad spends on Meta translate into the ratio of ad spend on other platforms, including legacy media. Here's his chart from last week. And, if you follow him on LinkedIn, you'll see it looks like this week in, week out, one reason why LPC MPs are so annoyed at their leader and their party's leadership. -DA
The Fiscal Implications of Meeting the NATO Military Spending Target
Parliamentary Budget Office: DND figures released along with its new defence policy, Our North Strong and Free: A Renewed Vision for Canada’s Defence, project military spending to reach 1.76% of GDP by 2029-30, but these figures are based on an erroneous GDP forecast. Adjusting for the correct GDP growth rates, military spending only reaches 1.58% of GDP by 2029-30, leaving a 0.42 percentage point gap to meet the 2% target by 2032-33.
Federal Conservatives to hold Egmont nomination vote next week
There are two candidates vying to be the party’s candidate in Egmont – Logan McLellan and J. Adam Bassett. McLellan is a financial adviser who ran as the party’s candidate during the 2019 federal election. Bassett is a youth mental health worker.
The Provinces
Women achieve gender parity in election results
Michelle Mungall This is a first for Canada. It will be the second time North America has had gender parity in a legislative house, Cuba being the first. And we will be the third jurisdiction in the Commonwealth, following Rwanda and New Zealand.
N.S. votes: Liberals promise more collaborative care, Tories pledge menopause clinic
The Progressive Conservatives — elected in 2021 on a promise to fix the health system — have made "a million announcements, they’ve spent billions of dollars,” [NDP Leader Claudia Chender] said. "We haven't made a dent in that (primary care wait-list). That has to be the priority.” Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Houston made a health announcement of his own on Wednesday, promising to open a Halifax-based medical clinic to treat symptoms of menopause.
Saskatchewan Party candidate who used racial slur on track to lose seat
David Buckingham, the incumbent in Saskatoon Westview, was narrowly ahead of NDP challenger April ChiefCalf in voting on election night. Elections Saskatchewan has now added mail-in ballots to the count, putting ChiefCalf at 3,501 votes, which is 37 ahead of Buckingham.
Holt says money to keep nurses in N.B. will be priority after Nov. 2 swearing in
Having already announced a four-person transition team, Holt confirmed that she and the others would be officially sworn in as members of the legislature on Nov. 2.
Elsewhere
All Those Presidential Campaign Emails Sound Like Your Drunk Ex
The Harris campaign exudes joy and confidence—except for those sad middle of the night emails.
Kamala Harris campaign advertises on Las Vegas Sphere
Former President Donald Trump was also scheduled to hold a Las Vegas-area rally on Halloween. The Trump-Vance campaign rally was scheduled for that afternoon at Lee’s Family Forum in Henderson. Both campaigns have visited southern Nevada a handful of times — Harris about a dozen since becoming vice president in 2021 and then the Democratic nominee in July. Cuz Nevada is one of those 7 battleground swing states!
Media
The Washington Post’s non-endorsement led to record-breaking weeks at other news orgs
The Philadelphia Inquirer had its best week for new subscriptions ever and The Guardian U.S. broke its single-day fundraising record — twice.
Differences in misinformation sharing can lead to politically asymmetric sanctions
Thus, even under politically neutral anti-misinformation policies, political asymmetries in enforcement should be expected. Political imbalance in enforcement need not imply bias on the part of social media companies implementing anti-misinformation policies.
Reader Notes
We could use an extra couple of bucks a months from you!
This newsletter is curated by David Akin, chief political correspondent at Global News. The headlines, excerpts, and photos are generated by the publishers of the clipping. The publisher is at the bottom left of the clipping. If I've got a comment, you''ll see that in italics. But if I've generated the headline and the excerpt, you'll see me taking attribution by finishing with -DA in bold. The stuff about the stamps at the bottom — that’s all me.
You can help keep this newsletter going with a monthly pledge -- Just $5 would do it -- via Patreon or, if you want to make a one-time donation, send an e-transfer to jda@davidakin.com.
About one in 20 of this newsletter's subscribers have already contributed and I’m very grateful for the support. Thank you.
Hoping the 19 in 20 who are not yet helping out might consider a donation as small as $3 a month for this 7-day-a-week newsletter. Thanks in any event for reading!
Science and tech
Apple announces redesigned Mac Mini with M4 chip — and it’s so damn small
The Mac Mini gets its first design overhaul in more than a decade, and it comes with some serious upgrades on the inside, too.
The Calendar
- Montreal - PM Justin Trudeau participates in the Ministerial Conference on the Human Dimension of Ukraine’s Peace Formula.
- 0815 ET: 035-B West Block - Agriculture and Agri-Food (AGRI) | Meeting 116 - Intergenerational Transfer of Farms and New Entrants
- 0815 ET: 415 Wellington - Indigenous and Northern Affairs (INAN) | Meeting 127 - C-61
- 0815 ET: 330 Wellington - Industry and Technology (INDU) | Meeting 143 - Credit Card Practices and Regulations in Canada
- 0815 ET: 430 Wellington - National Defence (NDDN) | Meeting 123 - Space Defence
- 0930 ET: 135B West Block - NDP MP Leah Gazan speaks about a private member's bill.
- 1000 ET: Scarborough, ON - Health Min Mark Holland speaks about the Canadian Dental Care Plan
- 1100 ET: 410 Wellington - Veterans Affairs (ACVA) | Meeting 112 - Recognition of Persian Gulf Veterans and Reviewing of: (a) the definition of “War”, “Wartime Service”, and “Special Duty Service“; and (b) the Difference, the Process of Determining, and Criteria for Veteran’s Benefits
- 1100 ET: 035-B West Block - Citizenship and Immigration (CIMM) | Meeting 113 - Pension Transferability and Access to Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF), and Delays in Permanent Residence and Visas for Hong Kongers
- 1100 ET: 025-B West Block - Government Operations and Estimates (OGGO) | Meeting 150 - Indigenous Procurement
- 1100 ET: 415 Wellington - Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA) | Meeting 133 - Workers in the Seasonal Industry and the Employment Insurance Program
- 1100 ET: 430 Wellington - Justice and Human Rights (JUST) | Meeting 119 - C-270
- 1100 ET: 125-B West Block - Official Languages (LANG) | Meeting 118 - Committee Business
- 1100 ET: 225-A West Block - Procedure and House Affairs (PROC) | Meeting 130 - C-65
- 1100 ET: 410 Wellington - Veterans Affairs (ACVA) | Meeting 112 - Drafting report / Testimony from Defence Min Bill Blair
- 1530 ET: 225-A West Block - Health (HESA) | Meeting 136 - Bill C-368, An Act to amend the Food and Drugs Act (natural health products)
- 1530 ET: 225-A West Block - Health (HESA) | Meeting 136 - Bill C-368, An Act to amend the Food and Drugs Act (natural health products)
- 1530 ET: 125-B West Block - Transport, Infrastructure and Communities (TRAN) | Meeting 135 - Regulation of Recreational Boating on Canada’s Waterways
- 1530 ET: 410 Wellington - Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics (ETHI) | Meeting 137 - Drafting report
- 1530 ET: 025-B West Block - Finance (FINA) | Meeting 162 - Pre-Budget Consultations in Advance of the 2025 Budget
- 1530 ET: 330 Wellington - Foreign Affairs and International Development (FAAE) | Meeting 124 - Canada's Advancement of a Two-State Solution
- 1530 ET: 225-A West Block - Health (HESA) | Meeting 136 - C-368
- 1530 ET: 415 Wellington - Public Safety and National Security (SECU) | Meeting 127 - Electoral Interference and Criminal Activities in Canada by Agents of the Government of India
- 1530 ET: 035-B West Block - Science and Research (SRSR) | Meeting 106 - Drafting report
- 1530 ET: 125-B West Block - Transport, Infrastructure and Communities (TRAN) | Meeting 135 - Regulation of Recreational Boating on Canada’s Waterways
