Canada
Pierre Poilievre tells Burlington boilermakers his plans to make Canada a place where hard work pays off
Among many promises made this morning, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre told a large crowd of tradespeople that he plans to do away with the woke culture and bring in a warrior culture.
Logan McLellan wins contested federal Conservative nomination in Egmont, P.E.I.
The Conservative Party of Canada will run Logan McLellan, a financial advisor, as its candidate in Egmont in the next federal election. McLellan ran -- and lost -- against LPC incumbent Bobby Morrissey in 2019 but got a decent vote share: Morrissey had 40% of the vote; McLellan then had 34%. The Guardian reporter on this story phoned up Morrissey's office to see if was running again and Morrissey didn't respond. Kind of doesn't matter. Egmont is the most Conservative of the four ridings on PEI and, given polling averages in Atlantic Canada, Egmont seems to be a safe Conservative win for McLellan if an election were held this fall. My model assumes that, until we hear otherwise, Morrissey will re-offer but even with the small incumbency advantage I still have the CPC winning by about 7.5 points. The CPC won this riding when Harper was PM: Gail Shea won it in 2008 and again in 2001 -- but the riding went back to the Liberals during the Trudeau sweep of 2015.
CPC has its candidate - and likely an MP -- in Elgin--St Thomas--London South
Andrew Lawton, who recently published a biography of Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, has won the Conservative nomination in the new-for-2025 riding of Elgin-St Thomas--London South, per Conservative MP Lianne Rood's social feeds. The riding contains most of what had been Elgin--Middlesex--London which was held by Conservative Karen Vecchio since 2015. Vecchio decided earlier this year not to run again.
This part of Ontario has not elected a Liberal in a general election since 2000 and would seem very unlikely to do so in the months ahead. My model has this riding going to the Conservative Lawton by 25K votes or more if an election were held this fall. -DA
The Provinces
Nova Scotia NDP candidate out after criticism for ‘troubling’ posts about Israel
Nova Scotia's New Democratic Party says a candidate criticized for "troubling" and "damaging" social media posts is no longer running for the party.
Direction du PLQ | Pablo Rodriguez reçoit l’appui d’anciens ministres
Le candidat à la chefferie du Parti libéral du Québec (PLQ) Pablo Rodriguez a reçu plusieurs nouveaux appuis, vendredi, dont d’anciens ministres des gouvernements Couillard et Bourassa.
Parti libéral du Québec | Charles Milliard lorgne la circonscription d’Orford
Qu’il remporte ou non la course à la direction du Parti libéral, l’ex-président de la Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec Charles Milliard entend se présenter dans la circonscription d’Orford, en Estrie, lors des prochaines élections.
Zita Cobb Runs a $1,780-a-Night Inn on a Small Island. Is She the Most Radical Person in Travel?
The innkeeper at this luxury hotel on Newfoundland’s Fogo Island hopes other places might draw inspiration from an economic model in which tourism is in service to the community, and not the other way around. 🎁
Elsewhere
Inside the Federal Work Force That Trump Has Promised to Eviscerate
His intention to accomplish the latter is an explicit feature of Mr. Trump’s official to-do list, known as Agenda 47. From numerous interviews conducted with government officials spread across eight federal agencies, the overwhelming consensus is that Mr. Trump and his allies are not bluffing. That said, exactly how his war on the bureaucracy will be waged, and how government workers will respond to it, remain looming questions. “There’s definitely anxiety, no question,” said Thomas Yazdgerdi, the president of the American Foreign Service Association, which represents about 28,000 current and former State Department workers. He said diplomats were asking him: “Is my job going to be OK? Will they shut down my bureau? What will happen to me?” 🎁 link.
(Oz) PM readies for APEC summit in Peru
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is preparing to travel to the APEC summit in Peru for discussions spanning free trade, renewable energy and critical minerals. China's Xi, America's Biden, and now Australia's Albanese have all confirmed their intention to be in LIma next week. We expect PM Trudeau to attend but his office has yet to officially announce his participation. Meanwhile, other world leaders, like Albanese, are already out there talking about how they'll influence the discussion. Canada? Not so much. Or at least not yet.
Media
Why Does No One Understand the Real Reason Trump Won?
Michael Tomasky: Today, the right-wing media—Fox News (and the entire News Corp.), Newsmax, One America News Network, the Sinclair network of radio and TV stations and newspapers, iHeart Media (formerly Clear Channel), the Bott Radio Network (Christian radio), Elon Musk’s X, the huge podcasts like Joe Rogan’s, and much more—sets the news agenda in this country. ... Even the mighty New York Times follows in its wake ...
Guild Builds
David Pierce in his newsletter describes this Web site: "The striking New York Times tech workers created a pretty fun set of games you can play instead of Wordle this week. Match Strike is hilarious and fun, as is Scabby’s Fair Contract Builder. Who knew you could build a good game that’s also a sick burn against your boss?"
Reader Notes
Author! Author! : Who writes this newsletter?
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. Many of you have already contributed and I’m very grateful. Thank you. Hoping others may consider a donation as small as $3 a month for this 7-day-a-week newsletter. Thanks in any event for all your support!
Science and tech
NASA's Voyager finally phoned home with a device unused since 1981
Voyager's problem began on Oct. 16, when flight controllers sent the robotic explorer a somewhat routine command to turn on a heater. Two days later, when NASA expected to receive a response from the spacecraft, the team learned something tripped Voyager's fault protection system, which turned off its X-band transmitter. By Oct. 19, communication had altogether stopped. However, Voyager 1 was equipped with a backup that relies on a different, albeit significantly fainter, frequency.
Claude AI to process secret government data through new Palantir deal
The partnership makes Claude available within Palantir's Impact Level 6 environment (IL6), a defense-accredited system that handles data critical to national security up to the "secret" classification level. This move follows a broader trend of AI companies seeking defense contracts, with Meta offering its Llama models to defense partners and OpenAI pursuing closer ties with the Defense Department. Canada's Department of National Defence has or has had some contracts with Palantir. I'm shooting some questions about the current relationship with Palantir but if you, dear ready, have contact/knowledge about Palantir's activities in Canada, please let me know.
Issued this day ...
… in 1980. Sc 876a se-tenant block of 4. Military Aircraft. Design: Jacques Charette. Paintings: Robert William Bradford.
This is one of the pairs from a four-stamp series issued on this day in 1980. Canada Post's notes:
Sc 875 The Imperial Munitions Board took over the Curtiss Aircraft factory in Toronto early in 1917. Rechristened Canadian Aeroplanes, Limited, the operation began large-scale production of the JN-4, a British-American-designed trainer. By the end of the First World War, the company had turned out approximately 2900 "Jennies", including 680 for export to the United States as well as some for spare parts. Thousands of Canadian airmen trained in the JN-4. It carried Canada's first airmail on a flight from Montreal to Toronto. Canada's first registered commercial aircraft was a JN-4, owned by a Regina company. The first aircraft to fly across the mountains of Western Canada was a JN-4, piloted by Captain Ernest C. Hoy, D.F.C., of Vancouver. The stamp shows an aircraft of the 85th Squadron stationed at Camp Borden, Ontario, and is depicted in the colour scheme of R.A.F. First World War trainers.
Sc 876 In early 1934 Hawker Aircraft of Great Britain began designing a monoplane fighter to be powered by Rolls-Royce's latest engine. The aircraft, soon to gain fame as the Hurricane, first flew on 6 November 1935. One R.C.A.F. squadron and one squadron of Canadians in the R.A.F flew Hurricanes in the Battle of Britain. The aircraft quickly became outmoded as a daytime fighter but proved useful for other tasks. For instance, the R.C.A.F used it as a night tighter and for train strafing and shipping attacks. The Canadian Car and Foundry Company of Fort William, Ontario, (now part of Thunder Bay) produced 1451 Hurricanes. The aircraft illustrated on the stamp are Canadian-built Hurricanes from R.C.A.F. No. 1 Fighter Squadron, one of the units that participated in the Battle of Britain.