Canada
WestJet mechanics striking despite federal intervention
WestJet said in a statement that it is 'outraged' and severe travel disruption should be expected if the strike isn't called off immediately.
Trudeau faces calls to resign after Toronto byelection loss
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is dodging questions about the embarrassing loss of a Liberal stronghold to the Conservatives. Trudeau’s former environment minister Catherine McKenna and a backbench MP Wayne Long say its time for the party to find a new leader, after the Liberals’ stunning defeat by the Conservatives in the Toronto-St. Paul’s byelection. David Akin looks at who else is calling for Trudeau to stand aside and who is standing by him.
Liberal MP Chahal among nine MPs demanding ‘immediate’ caucus meeting to discuss ‘extremely concerning’ byelection loss - The Hill Times
The request, which the MPs say is supported by ‘dozens’ in caucus, comes hours after Liberal MP Wayne Long wrote another caucus-wide email saying the Liberals ‘need new leadership and a new direction.’
I know the inside story of the Liberal revolt against Justin Trudeau. How? I overheard it in a train station
Justin Ling: The environment minister was in Toronto this week to meet with Members of Parliament who were awestruck by Monday’s upset defeat in the Toronto–St Paul’s byelection. He spent Thursday working the phones with Liberals across the country trying to take stock of how bad things really are. I know this because Guilbault did some of this work in public, in the Via Rail business lounge, as he sat next to Canada’s least-recognizable columnist: Me.
Entrevue avec Jagmeet Singh | « On est orange et non rouge »
Jagmeet Singh répète depuis des mois qu’il « force les libéraux » à améliorer la vie des gens, mais son message semble tomber dans l’oreille d’un sourd. Ses appuis dans les sondages bougent peu même si le parti a réussi à concrétiser la plupart des éléments de son entente avec le Parti libéral. Le chef néo-démocrate entame une tournée estivale pour faire remonter l’aiguille et tenter de se distinguer du gouvernement qu’il continue de soutenir.
Lt.-Gen. Jennie Carignan chosen as next chief of the defence staff
Lt.-Gen. Jennie Carignan has been named the next chief of the defence staff — making her the first woman to serve as the top commander of the Canadian military.
Poilievre’s office silent on leader’s Pride plans, other party chiefs look to attend
Officials for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the leaders of the NDP, Bloc Quebecois and Greens all responded to queries to confirm they will attend various Pride events.
Measuring Main Streets
Using a data-driven approach, Measuring Main Streets explores what’s working, what’s not and what’s next for Canada’s main streets, empowering city builders from the neighbourhood to the national scale.
Halifax shipyard tests steel-cutting methods as first new destroyer expected by 2035
Standing before hundreds of hard-hatted Halifax shipbuilders Friday, Defence Minister Bill Blair also announced that the 15 upcoming warships are officially designated as River class destroyers. They're named in recognition of Canadian warships that gained fame during the Second World War, and the waterways that lead to Canada's coastlines.
The Provinces
Current immigration levels could lead to ‘overreaction’ against newcomers, Legault says
Quebec Premier François Legault warned Friday there's a risk of "overreaction" against newcomers if the province maintains its current immigration levels.
Ontario PC MPP thrown out of caucus after meeting with far-right figure Tommy Robinson
Goldie Ghamari, who represents the Ottawa-area riding of Carleton, has been kicked out of the PC caucus after what Premier Doug Ford calls repeated and serious lapses in judgment.
‘Waste of time and money’: Quebec business owner slams new language rules
Quebec business owners are frustrated over the new language laws coming into effect in 2025.
Elsewhere
'I am absolutely voting for Donald Trump': Undecided voters react to Biden's debate performance
Of the 13 "undecideds" who spoke to Reuters, 10 described the 81-year-old Democratic president's performance against Republican candidate Trump collectively as feeble, befuddled, embarrassing and difficult to watch.
Biden-Trump debate spurs panic among Democrats: ‘This is bad’
Publicly and privately, Democrats questioned whether the party could or should replace Joe Biden as the party's presidential nominee against the Donald Trump this fall.
Media
Will Google strike a deal with California news outlets to fund journalism?
California news publishers and Big Tech companies appear to be inching toward compromise on legislation requiring digital platforms to pay news outlets.
Shares of Trump Media swing wildly after first US presidential debate, fall 10%
Shares in the owner of social networking site Truth Social jumped 5% at the opening bell and then sank through much of the day. The shares still finished the week with a gain of over 18%.
Science and tech
Effectiveness of large language models in political microtargeting assessed in new study
Recent advancements in large language models (LLMs) have raised the prospect of scalable, automated, and fine-grained political microtargeting on a scale previously unseen. For example, when integrated with existing databases of personal data, LLMs could tailor messages to appeal to the vulnerabilities and values of specific individuals, such that a 28 year-old, non-religious, liberal female with a college degree receives a very different message than a 61 year-old, religious, conservative male who only graduated from high school.
Issued this day ...
… in 1984: Scott #1027a pane of 12: Canada Day. Design Jean Morin and Tom Yakobina. All the paintings that appear on this stamp the work of Jean-Paul Lemieux (1904-1990). Wish I could name all the paintings but just ran out of time to do that research… sigh. From left to right, starting with the top row: Sc 1016: New Brunswick Sc 1017: British Columbia Sc 1018: Yukon Territory Sc 1019: Quebec Sc 1020: Manitoba Sc 1021: Alberta Sc 1022: Prince Edward Island Sc 1023: Saskatchewan Sc 1024: Nova Scotia Sc 1025: Northwest Territories Sc 1026: Newfoundland and Labrador Sc 1027: Ontario