Canada
Transport Minister Anita Anand won’t make bid for Liberal leadership or re-election
Transport Minister Anita Anand will not be entering her name in the race to replace outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as Leader of the Liberal Party. So we're down to Carney, Freeland, Champagne, MacKinnon, Wilkinson, Gould, Clark, Arya, Bayliss ...
Former B.C. premier Christy Clark walks back claim she was never Conservative
The Conservatives have provided a screen grab of their electronic records, showing Clark was an active member of the party from June 2, 2022 until June 30, 2023. On social media late Friday, Clark posted a facepalm emoji and said she "misspoke," but says she's not backing away from her claim the she supported Charest to stop Poilievre. "I have always been clear that I supported Jean Charest to stop Pierre Poilievre. He’s the most divisive politician we’ve seen in years," Clark said in a post on X.
Le caucus libéral a « abusé de la bienveillance » de Trudeau, selon Marc Miller
La démission de la vice-première ministre et ministre des Finances Chrystia Freeland a été "un moment immensément critique" pour le premier ministre, selon Marc Miller. "Voir un lieutenant d'une telle envergure quitter d'une telle façon, ça ébranlerait n'importe qui", confie-t-il. Toutefois, Justin Trudeau n'est pas une personne rancunière, affirme le ministre Miller. "Moi, très franchement, je le serais", dit-il. "Mais lui, il a cette capacité de pardonner les gens."
Pierre Poilievre promet d’autoriser les prochains projets de GNL au Québec
Le chef du Parti conservateur du Canada (PCC), Pierre Poilievre, a poursuivi sa visite de deux jours au Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean samedi. Pour faire face aux menaces de tarifs américains, il a promis, s’il est élu, d’approuver les projets d’exportation de gaz naturel liquéfié (GNL) comme celui de GNL Québec, qui a été refusé par Québec et Ottawa.
Parti conservateur du Canada | Pierre Poilievre courtise le Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean
Pierre Poilievre est déjà en mode séduction au Québec. Samedi, lors d’un rassemblement dans la circonscription bloquiste de Jonquière, le chef conservateur a déclaré qu’il était un bien meilleur choix que le Bloc québécois pour défendre les intérêts des régions. Il a aussi réitéré une série de promesses en vue des prochaines élections.
Tories have their candidate in Jonquière
With an election expected to start in late March, I'm tracking candidate nominations. All parties have a long way to go. In the regions of Québec outside Montreal and her suburbs and outside the National Capital Region, there are 37 seats. The Conservatives, so far as i can tell, have just 10 candidates nominated so far -- four incumbents and six new candidates. (The Liberals have just six, all incumbents only. Still compiling the list of NPD and BQ candidates)
One of those new Conservative candidates is Fanny Boulanger, pictured here in this photo take by an OLO photographer, campaigning on Friday in the riding with Pierre Poilievre and Chicoutimi-Le Fjord incumbent Richard Martel. Boulanger is from the region but has been working in Ottawa as the director of parliamentary affairs in the OLO and, before that, as a political assistant for Richard Martel.
The ranks of political staffers are commonly drawn on to run in ridings where a party is unlikely to win and this may be the case here. Though the Conservatives finished a respectable second here in 2021, Bloc Québecois incumbent Mario Simard won by 14 points. He was first elected in 2019. My model, based on current polling averages for the province, has Simard holding his seat with a 12-point win.
This part of the province has voted either NDP or BQ since 1988 when the Mulroney PCs elected Jean-Pierre Blackburn (who would go on to serve in Stephen Harper's cabinet) in the riding of Jonquière and a guy named Lucien Bouchard won next door in Lac-Saint-Jean. -DA
Conservatives kick the tires in Sudbury East-Manitoulin-Nickel Belt
There are at least two people actively seeking nomination for the Conservative Party of Canada in the Sudbury East-Manitoulin-Nickel Belt riding. The incumbent in this new-for-2025 riding is Liberal Marc Serré. The New Democrats have nominated Andreanne Chenier who narrowly lost to Serré by less than 800 votes (transposed results) in 2021. The transposed results show a relatively close three-way race: Serré had 31.9%; Chenier had 30.3% and the Conservative of the day had 27%. RIght now, in my model, I have the CPC up 4 points in a part of the country that has not voted anything by Liberal or NDP since the general election of 1930. But if not the CPC, this riding would likely go NDP.
The Provinces
Influential leader of Canada's Ontario province seeks Trump, Musk meeting says US 'needs us like we need them'
'I’m not too sure if it’s personal against Trudeau, but Trudeau is on his way out, so hopefully we’ll have a better conversation,' Doug Ford says
Course à la chefferie du PLQ | Sur la ligne de départ
Le Parti libéral du Québec entame officiellement lundi une course à la direction qui culminera le 14 juin prochain par l’élection du successeur de Dominique Anglade. Après des années de vaches maigres, la formation politique espère ainsi tourner la page et se positionner en vue des prochaines élections générales qui auront lieu un an plus tard à peine. Qui sera appelé à affronter François Legault et à tenir tête au chef péquiste Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, qui vogue en tête des sondages depuis des mois ? Tour d’horizon des forces en présence.
Tory win in 2025 NL election not ‘a likely outcome’: Furey
When reporters asked Premier Andrew Furey to comment on that, he didn’t say that speculation was untrue. Rather, he said, “Look, there will be an election in 2025.”
Elsewhere
Incumbent expected to win as Croatians vote in presidential run-off
Zoran Milanovic, a NATO critic, is on track to win the run-off vote after securing 49 percent votes in round one.
Key Trump Adviser Blasts Iran At Paris Opposition Gathering
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's incoming special envoy for Russia and Ukraine, while attending an Iranian opposition event in Paris, called for the return of “maximum pressure” against Tehran to push it to allow more democracy and to cease support for extremist elements in the Middle East.
US federal workers: Key questions and employment trends
The U.S. government is the nation’s largest employer, with just over 3 million civilian workers. In light of President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to shrink the size and scope of the government, our explainer answers key questions about who these workers are and what they do.
Media
Journalists covered a Chinese dissident. Bomb threats followed
Reporters covering a Chinese dissident in Europe were accused of making bomb threats. An NPR investigation now has them wondering if it was the work of the Chinese government or someone else.
Reader Notes
Who writes this stuff?
The headlines, excerpts, and photos here 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 stamp stuff at the bottom are scans from my collection and, if there’s a stamp blurb, I’ve written that bit. -DA
Science and tech
Scan Detects Evidence of "Lost World" Under Pacific Ocean
It's an intriguing finding that suggests a "lost world" could be lurking deep below the Pacific Ocean, highlighting how much there still is to learn about what's going on deep below our planet's crust.