Canada
Gould stirs debate among Liberal MPs over whether they 'lost trust' of Canadians
Some lawmakers assembled for the Liberal caucus meeting in Ottawa on Friday bristled at that notion, while others said the party became too insular in recent years. "No, I don't agree with that at all,” said Housing Minister Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, pushing back against Gould's argument.
Poilievre promises Canadians good homes, safe streets, food on table
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre posed for photos with Oland Brewery plant workers, delivered a speech, snatched a few boxes of canned Alexander Keith’s beer off the plant conveyor system for a photo opportunity and quipped that the Trudeau Liberal government taxation over the past nine years “is almost enough to drive a man to drink.” Your periodic reminder that, unlike any leader I've ever covered in 20 years on Parliament Hill, the Conservative leader does not as a matter of routine inform the Parliamentary Press Gallery of his whereabouts either ahead of time or after the fact. As a result, a diligent politics reporter has to rely on closely tracking social media feeds of the leader and many of his MPs. On Friday, so far as I can tell, Poilievre held campaign events, in Dieppe, NB (riding of Moncton-Riverview--Dieppe), and Halifax (campaigned with his candidate in Halifax West and then this event in the riding of Halifax).
Liberal leadership scorecard
Winning caucus does not guarantee that a contender for a party's leadership will win the title. But, so far at least, Mark Carney is easily outscoring his opponents when it comes to endorsements by Liberal MPs. On Saturday, more cabinet ministers lined up behind Carney including Defence Minister Bill Blair and Treasury Board President Anita Anand.
There are 153 MPs in the Liberal caucus and, by my count, 46 of them have endorsed Carney including the following cabinet ministers: Anand, Anandasangaree, Blair, Champagne, Erskine-Smith, Guilbeault, Hadju, Hutchings, Joly, Khera, MacKinnon, Sahota, Sajjan, Sudds, Valdez, and Wilkinson.
Backing Chrystia Freeland, I have 21 MPs, including the following cabinet ministers: Beech, Holland, Hussen, Lebouthillier and Virani.
I have two MPs backing Karina Gould, none backing Chandra Arya, Jaime Battiste, Frank Baylis or Ruby Dhalla.
-DA
Former LPC MP and retired LGen Andrew Leslie endorses former RCAF officer and former LPC/CPC MP Leona Alleslev for the CPC nomination for Kingston and the Islands.
House Standing Committee on National Defence - Chief of the Defence Staff - Mandate and Priorities
Just published via the government's Open Data initiative; the briefing binder prepared for Gen. Carignan for her Sep 26 2024 appearance at the House of Commons Standing Committee on National Defence. -DA.
The Provinces
Ford’s LCBO order on U.S. booze won’t hurt Ontario convenience stores: group
Doug Ford’s order to the LCBO to clear U.S. booze from its shelves if Donald Trump imposes sweeping tariffs won’t hurt Ontario’s convenience stores, an industry group says.
Michael Ford is the minister for citizenship and multiculturalism and the MPP for York South-- Weston.
Elsewhere
Thousands in Germany protest the rise of the far right ahead of next month's election
At Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, a huge crowd blew whistles, sang anti-fascist songs and carried banners denouncing AfD. Activists said they hoped the rally also would draw attention to other far-right parties in Europe and the new administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Elon Musk addresses AfD rally
Praising the country for having a culture that was ‘unique, and special and good’, US President Donald Trump’s new efficiency tsar proclaimed that ‘it’s okay to be proud to be German’. Referencing Germany’s Nazi past, he declared that there is ‘too much of a focus on past guilt and we should move beyond that.’ Musk speech comes a few days after his Nazi salute and ahead of other European and world leaders gathering this weekend to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz death camp.
German opposition leader plans migration proposals to parliament in risky pre-election move
Germany’s opposition leader says his party will bring motions to toughen migration policy to parliament next week in one of its last sessions before the country’s election.
State Department suspends processing passport applications with ‘X’ gender marker
In addition to the suspension of processing the applications with the X marker, the State Department is no longer issuing US passports with this marker, the spokesperson said. They said that “guidance regarding previously issued X sex marker passports is forthcoming.”
Mapmakers grapple with Trump’s geographic renaming plans
Trump’s territorial assertions, in line with his “America First” worldview, sparked a round of rethinking by mapmakers and teachers, snark on social media and sarcasm by at least one other world leader.
Media
What are we talking about when we say the “ethics” of AI and journalism?
Paul Bradshaw: Many people — including me — are quite uncomfortable with generative AI. Most of this discomfort can be traced to the various ethical challenges that AI raises. But an understanding of the different schools of ethics can help us both to better address those challenges and what to do about them.
Science and tech
A Test So Hard No AI System Can Pass It — Yet
New models from companies like OpenAI, Google and Anthropic have been getting high scores on many Ph.D.-level challenges, limiting those tests’ usefulness and leading to a chilling question: Are A.I. systems getting too smart for us to measure? This week, researchers at the Center for AI Safety and Scale AI are releasing a possible answer to that question: A new evaluation, called “Humanity’s Last Exam,” that they claim is the hardest test ever administered to A.I. systems. (🎁 link)
Don't Want to Pay for Copilot AI? Switch to Microsoft 365 Classic
A standard subscription to Microsoft 365 includes Copilot for an additional $3 per month. Here’s how to get a cheaper Classic plan without the AI features.
