Canada
Canada must take ‘responsibility’ for its sovereignty, defence chief says
U.S. President Donald Trump's complaints about Canada's military spending and capabilities have underscored the need for Ottawa to prioritize defence, Gen. Jennie Carignan says.
Arya says he's out of Liberal leadership race, as Carney gets more caucus support
One of the seven Liberal leadership hopefuls says the party is not allowing him to run, as another high-profile cabinet minister endorsed Mark Carney on Sunday.
Canada, Mexico steelmakers refuse new US orders
Some steelmakers in Canada and Mexico are telling customers that they are refusing new orders to the United States on concerns that President Donald Trump soon will reimpose duties.
Leona Alleslev ends federal Conservative candidate bid for Kingston and The Islands
She made her announcement on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025, saying that she was stepping aside to support Kingston mayor Bryan Paterson in his bid for the candidacy.
Bloc MP Kristina Michaud to challenge Liberal MP Diane Lebouthillier
An article from last April but passing it along as I had not realized that BQ incumbent Kristina Michaud had settled on a riding to run in in the next general election as her current riding, Avignon--La Mitis--Matane--Matapédia, has essentially been eliminated in the new electoral map. Michaud, 31, has been an MP since 2019 and has decided to take on the federal fisheries minister. -DA
The Consolidation of Power in the Centre Is not a MAGA Invention
Michael den Tandt The prime minister’s senior staff, across party lines, have come to occupy the decision-making space once held by MPs and senior ministers. The author is a former colleague -- we were day-oners at the National Post -- but also worked as a communications advisor inside Trudeau PMO
The Provinces
Activists phone Premier Doug Ford at Milton quarry rally
The Reform Gravel Mining Coalition held a rally at Milton’s Country Heritage Park to demand the provincial government stop quarry projects in Milton, Burlington and Caledon. The event included speeches by three mayors, statements of support from multiple provincial opposition leaders and performances by Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo and Sarah Harmer. I grew up in Guelph and worked as a reporter in Orangeville and Hamilton and, for those not from the region, you can't believe how much quarries, quarry development and truck traffic drives municipal politics. The Ford government will need all the aggregate it can mine if it wants to build all those highways. And that aggregate has to come from somewhere. But many voters in this region just don't want it anywhere near their homes.
Liberals claim Ford’s plan to visit Washington during election is ‘explicitly partisan’
As Premier Doug Ford prepares to trigger a provincial election on Wednesday, opposition parties are raising concerns about his two planned trips to Washington D.C. during the campaign, calling them “explicitly partisan” and an inappropriate use of taxpayer funds.
‘We need leadership, not showmanship,’ Bonnie Crombie shares why she would be a better premier for Ontario than Doug Ford
Liberal leader Bonnie Crombie says she’s ready to become Ontario’s next premier, despite Doug Ford being “selfish” for calling an election.
Monteith-Farrell to run again for NDP
Monteith-Farrell held [Thunder Bay--Atikokan] from 2018 to 2022, but was defeated after four years in office by Conservative Kevin Holland.
Elsewhere
Trump orders sanctions on Colombia after it refuses deportation flights
Trump retaliates with steep tariffs and immediately revokes visas of Colombian officials after the nation’s president says his country will not accept U.S. deportation flights. Not that a cup of coffee at Starbucks was cheap to begin with but, if the beans came from Colombia, Americans will now pay more for their Colombian coffee beans. That's what a tariff is: A tax paid by importers. (🎁 link)
Trump's Q&A on Air Force One goes from the plane's color to TikTok and Canada
President Donald Trump popped in to the plane's press cabin while flying from Las Vegas to Florida to share his thoughts since taking office in a 20-minute Q&A with reporters.
Why Greenland?
Timothy Snyder: "America First" has nothing to do with the interests of Americans facing a challenging world, and no one has even pretended very hard that it does. What "America First" means, in the 2020s as in the 1940s, is that America should be the first democracy to imitate leading foreign dictators. Trump has admired dictators and will admire dictators. This might be in his interest: again, in the basic sense that he needs to learn how to stay in power and die in bed. But it has nothing to do with the interests of Americans.
Media
Fake CBC ads have flooded X with sketchy headlines. We looked for the source
Sensational headlines about Poilievre, Singh, promote digital trading scheme, spoof legitimate businesses.
FOI Tools
Dean Beeby had a long career at CP and CBC and made Access to Information (ATI)/Freedom of Information (FOI) request his specialty. I remember him once telling me he had a stack of pre-written $5 cheques on his desk -- it costs $5 to submit a federal ATI request -- so that, as he was going through his work day, if he thought of a government record he thought might yield a good story, he could quickly pull everything together. Dean continues his ATI work through a substack and, at this link, has a couple of explainers and tipsheets for journos and researchers. -DA
Reader Notes
Reminder that 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
Basic Data Structures in R: Vectors, Matrices, and Data Frames
...a guided tour through R’s core data structures, starting with the simplest — vectors — and gradually moving toward more complex ones like lists and data frames. Along the way, we’ll explore practical questions that arise as your data grows in complexity, such as:
- What if I need to store different types of data together?
- How can I categorize data for analysis?
- What’s the best way to handle higher-dimensional data?
Great review/introduction. I've long maintained that every journalist ought to know their way around a spreadsheet and, while I'm no expert in R, I would strongly recommend that any journalist looking to take his or her game to the next level figure out R and how to incorporate data analysis into their work. R, once you figure it out, is a tool you can use to beat deadlines!
