Canada
Trudeau promises border helicopters at ‘very productive’ Trump meeting: source
On Friday evening, Trudeau landed in Florida and travelled to Trump's Mar-a-Lago club for a hastily arranged dinner and discussion with president-elect.
Blue plate special
Paul Wells On Thursday [Poilievre] told reporters there “were no problems at the border” before Justin Trudeau. No wonder he dislikes journalists: we insist on taking and keeping notes. Stephen Harper was bedevilled with what he called the “thickening border,” which can be devastating to cross-border trade, and which essentially ended John Manley’s early-2000s fantasy of a “North American perimeter” within which each country would simply trust the other to keep bad guys and bad things out. Instead Harper had to rebut the myth that Canada is a machine for generating terrorists, a myth that was largely based on things his colleagues said between 2001 and 2006. One of the questions I have about Poilievre is whether he understands that Canada’s post-election future exists and that he intends to play a starring role in it. This week the jury was out.
Women in politics: To run or not to run?
Semra Sevi: Research suggests that women may be underrepresented in politics because parties act as gatekeepers and tend to choose men over women as candidates.
The Provinces
‘Trusted partner to your north’: Ontario set to roll out major U.S. commercial
A new commercial targeting Americans is set to launch Monday across the U.S., with plans to reach more than 100 million viewers through staples like Monday Night Football, Fox News and CNN.
Elsewhere
Trump’s pick for FBI director has publicly mused about targeting journalists, government officials
In a 2023 interview on “War Room,” a podcast hosted Stephen K. Bannon, Trump’s onetime chief strategist, Kash Patel threatened to go after journalists if appointed to a role in a Trump administration. “We’re going to come after you, whether it’s criminally or civilly — we’ll figure that out,” he said. (🎁 link)
Young men swung right after Trump campaign dominated by macho appeals
Young men shifted toward Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election in a change from recent years, when most young male voters backed the Democratic candidate. Poilievre ≠ Trump. But, like Trump, Poilievre is finding a ton of support among young male voters and many are prefer the Conservative leader for the same reasons young American men prefer Trump.
Justin Trudeau flies to Mar-a-Lago after Donald Trump’s tariff threat
Trump also spoke to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum over the phone on Wednesday following the tariff threat, but the two have described dramatically different versions of what took place. (🎁 link)
Georgian President Calls Parliament 'Illegitimate' As U.S. Suspends 'Strategic Partnership'
Georgia has been thrown into turmoil since parliamentary elections in October -- in which Georgian Dream secured 54 percent of the vote -- with the opposition and Western governments arguing that the poll was marred by violations and Russian influence.
Ukraine says war has damaged most of its civilian airports
Ukraine's airspace has been closed to civilian flights since the start of the war
Iceland holds parliamentary election after government’s collapse
The legislative election takes place after the collapse of a fragile coalition, with the economy being a top concern.
Media
China sentences former journalist to seven years for espionage
Dong Yuyu, a senior staffer at the Guangming Daily and a Harvard Nieman Fellow, has been detained since 2022.
Bluesky implements a 'more aggressive' impersonation policy
The Bluesky Safety account said that the social media service is removing accounts that are impersonating other people and those squatting on handles. Bluesky doesn't have a conventional verification system, so it's easy for unscrupulous users to pretend to be someone else either for attention or to scam other people. That may not have been a serious problem in the past, but the recent influx of new users threw the issue into stark relief.
Reader Notes
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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.
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Science and tech
Man Renovates Decommissioned Missile Silo Into Delightful Airbnb, Attracts "Swingers"
A man in Arkansas turned a decommissioned missile silo into a lavish Airbnb over ten years, spending $800,000.
Craft 3 is a notes, tasks, and calendar app that does almost everything right
David Pierce: By pivoting away from competing with Google Docs and selling to businesses, Craft got back to note-taking basics — and built something awesome. A similar product for the MacOS/iOS is Stuff if you're looking to change your list/task management app. I've been using Things but with the latest updates of the MacOS and iOS, the updated versions of the trio of Apple apps -- Notes, Calendar, and Reminders -- has me thinking of switching.
Issued this day ...
… in 1932: #Sc 196: King George V “Medallion” Issue. 2¢ black brown. Design based on a sculpture by Edgar Bertram Mackennal.
For you stamp fans -- this space gets a little threadbare in December as Canada Post has tended not to issue a lot of new stamps "this day" in the final month of the year. Things pick up again right after Christmas.