Canada
Liberal MPs say time's up for Trudeau to face Canadians
We want to keep our party together, and at this point, we’re not hearing from the prime minister,” [Helena Jaczek] told National Post in an interview. “I think everyone understood the need for some reflection, but it is what, more than two weeks now since Chrystia Freeland resigned. And so what I’m hearing that’s a little different is, ‘well the silence is deafening. Where’s the leadership in a time of crisis?'”
Possible scenarios that could play out in Ottawa as the Liberal government teeters
With MPs set to return to the House of Commons on Jan. 27, the Liberal grip on power appears tenuous. The NDP, which has been a steady ally of the minority government since the 2021 election, is no longer planning to support the Liberals. Here is a look at some of the scenarios that could play out in coming weeks:
Expect a court challenge if Trudeau puts Parliament on pause
In a landmark fall 2019 ruling, the U.K. Supreme Court put the brakes on then prime minister Boris Johnson’s bid to silence Parliamentary debate ahead of the Oct. 31 Brexit deadline.
Marco Mendicino: "Please see my statement."
Completely unsurprising announcement, in my view, that (Liberal MP Marco Mendicino will not seek re-election)[https://globalnews.ca/news/10940683/marco-mendicino-liberals-re-election-trudeau/] . Not only did Mendicino get dropped from Trudeau's cabinet, but he has, as he says in this resignation letter, been frequently at odds with the government's foreign policy particularly on the Middle East. But he must also know the he was facing very long odds of re-election even if he had re-offered.
The Conservatives nominated former Toronto city councillor Karen Stintz to run in Eglinton-Lawrence nearly a year ago and, judging by her social media feed, she's been campaigning hard ever since. Mendicino won the riding by 20 points in 2021 but, given current federal polling averages in Ontario right now, my model has Stintz winning by 20 if we had an election there this winter. As for Mendicino, he hints in his resignation letter that he might be looking at municipal politics. -DA
The Jordan B Peterson Podcast: Pierre Poilievre
Jordan Peterson sits down with Canadian member of Parliament Pierre Poilievre (and likely the next Prime Minister). They discuss his role as Leader of the Opposition, the untapped energy sector, the real reason Canadians cannot afford homes, how Justin Trudeau has walked the country off a cliff, and what will likely play out in 2025 leading up to the much-needed election. Peterson's podcast is distributed via the American conservative media company The Daily Wire. This was recorded Dec. 21 and you'll need to set aside an hour-and-forty minutes to watch/listen to the whole thing.
The Provinces
Ontario confirms future of 9 supervised injection sites, 1 remains in limbo
The government announced Thursday that drug injection sites in locations including Toronto, Ottawa and Thunder Bay will all be given funding to switch to rehabilitation facilities.
Dreaming of labour gains, union leaders smitten with Holt
One of her first moves was to welcome three [union] leaders from the Canadian Union of Public Employees, or CUPE, to her Liberal government’s inaugural throne speech on Nov. 19, spelling out its direction. They had previously been banned from the legislative assembly precinct, including the hallowed ground on the lawn where they typically stage protests and deliver speeches, for almost a year. The three were banned by former Speaker Bill Oliver, the Progressive Conservative MLA from Kings Centre, because of a rowdy session in the House on Dec. 12, 2023.
Regina's mayor looks to make roads and pipes 'exciting' to get residents' buy-in on infrastructure projects
Chad Bachynski admits that he's had to approach everything about leading a city of more 230,000 people with an "open mind." He said he's still learning about the job, and working to forge relationships with the men and women bringing very different views to the horseshoe-shaped table at Regina city hall.
Elsewhere
Russia ramps up disinformation efforts as its grip weakens over post-Assad Syria
Moscow pushes anti-US conspiracy theories in Syria, claiming Western allies are plotting with IS terrorists to take over Russian military bases
China slams Canada’s ‘double standards’ on human rights after sanctions laid
The blowback comes after Ottawa sanctioned eight Chinese officials it accuses of "grave human rights violations" against ethnic and religious minorities.
Media
What do people want? Views on platforms and the digital public sphere in eight countries
Many people use platforms for news about politics, while also remaining sceptical and concerned about misinformation, bias, privacy, freedom of expression, and tech power. People also appreciate the benefits of platforms. This trend, which the authors dub ‘platform ambivalence’ is one of the key aspects from the [Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism] report which defines people’s attitudes towards their use of platforms.
The Biggest Stories Indian News Outlets Misreported In 2024 M
In 2024, BOOM wrote 1280 fact-checks across three languages - English, Hindi and Bengali. Of these, 51 fact checks highlighted misreporting by mainstream media outlets.
Reader Notes
Reminder that the headlines, excerpts, and photos here are generated by the publishers of the clipping or adapted from what the publisher generates. 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, I'll take authorship by finishing the excerpt with -DA in bold.
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Science and tech
Meta policy chief Nick Clegg steps down
Clegg, Meta’s politically centrist policy chief since 2018, will be replaced by one of the company’s most prominent Republican executives, Joel Kaplan. Clegg noted on X that Kaplan is “clearly the right person for the right job at the right time.”
Some of the more useful Tidyverse functions
Tidyverse has long been an amazing collection of R packages, primarily for data engineering and data science. Common among these packages is the same language grammar, great design and structure, making data science easier.
