sbv

Did access to healthcare and family doctors come up? The article doesn't mention it.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-five-key-takeaways-from-the-first-ontario-election-debate/

This article is deep in "no shit" territory - we've seen lots of chatter about online interference since Trump's first election. The part that's interesting is the call to action

Digital platforms provide unreliable or narrow data on inauthentic behaviour, and they’re not currently required to share any public-interest data with Canadian policy-makers or civil society; combatting online astroturfing will require both increased transparency and platform accountability. Canada should require that these platforms share data with researchers so that the public can understand the prevalence of information threats, and so that policy-makers and civil society can effectively advocate for better digital regulation and platform design.

And the effect of small numbers of users:

We’ve found evidence that very small groups of users are having an outsized impact in online discussions about Canadian elections. In the 2023 Alberta election, just 200 users published 12 per cent of all tweets sent to candidates and political parties. In both the Alberta election and the Toronto mayoral by-election that same year, 50 or fewer users generated over 10 per cent of all abusive content we monitored. These highly active power users (or power abusers) could include high proportions of astroturfers. Regardless of their intentions, granting outsized influence to any very small group of users skews our perceptions of public opinion.

Original: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-is-that-online-outrage-youre-seeing-really-grassroots-or-just/

I thought I was being clever, putting the litter box on wheels so I could slide it out from under the stairs, but I have inadvertently created a Mad Max-esque vehicle which my cat uses to roll around the house, dragging himself with his front paws, the entire time shitting.

Really interesting op-ed given that Trump was complaining US banks aren't allowed in Canada:

President Donald Trump’s chief economist, Stephen Miran, a Harvard-trained PhD and hedge fund strategist nominated to chair the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, wrote in November “A User’s Guide to Restructuring the Global Trading System.”

...

He points to the 2018-19 tariffs the first Trump administration imposed on China (and the Biden administration retained) as proof his theory has merit and that it “should inform analysis of future trade conflicts.” In that case the Chinese currency fell, the U.S. dollar strengthened, and the trade deficit remained. But the important thing is that inflation was manageable, China got the message, and new revenue was raised for the U.S. Treasury, according to Mr. Miran.

We will need to come to terms with the fact that the U.S. will assess its relationship with us based on a criteria matrix that includes, as Mr. Miran suggests, if Canada “opens its markets to U.S. firms in the same way America opens its markets to foreign firms operating stateside.”

This has implications for Canadian agricultural supply management, the telecom sector, restrictions on investments, service barriers to online streaming and barriers to digital trade such as the digital service tax.

Original: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/commentary/article-how-are-we-so-befuddled-at-us-tariffs-when-its-all-been-so-obvious/

Now that we're talking trade, it works be a good time to address Canada's internal trade barriers:

“Let’s sit down and come up with a list, because everyone wants to protect something – no matter if it’s the dairy cow in Newfoundland, or the wine in B.C., or ourselves – everyone’s guilty,” he added.

Consumers are confronted by these roadblocks every day. A craft brewery in Quebec can’t sell its beer directly to a nearby restaurant in Ottawa. An engineer in New Brunswick has to get licensed in neighbouring Nova Scotia before practising there. A truck driver in British Columbia can only drive certain truck configurations at night but must do so during the day in Alberta – leaving a narrower time frame to make an interprovincial trek.

Taken together, these barriers are constraining Canada’s economic potential. Research shows that tearing them down would give the economy a sizable boost – perhaps enough to offset the hit from steep U.S. tariffs.

Original https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-trump-threats-are-inspiring-canada-to-tackle-trade-war-from-within/

I feel like some cancon would have been a better choice for this sentiment.

What is your Canadian choice for this meme?

Not directly Canadian news, but given Saturday's events, it's relevant:

Mexico has been preparing possible retaliatory tariffs on imports from the U.S., ranging from 5% to 20%, on pork, cheese, fresh produce, manufactured steel and aluminum, according to sources familiar with the matter. The auto industry would initially be exempt, they said.

I'm waiting for Trudeau's twice delayed press conference. According to Legault, Canada is putting 25% tariffs on some US imports.

Is that legit? Did Legault just scoop Trudeau? I guess we'll find out soonish.

As someone who supports the carbon rebate and thinks it's a good policy, I have to admit that Carney is right. Trudeau screwed up the implementation, and now a policy that gives most Canadians more money than they pay is a third rail.

Replacing the tax with something more acceptable, and equally effective seems like a good way forward.

Original: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-mark-carney-consumer-carbon-tax-liberal-leadership-race/

I got suckered. I saw some posts about how men don't take care of their skin, and how it has more of an effect as we age. So I thought, what's the harm? Let's give it a try!

Welp, after five days of putting a tiny bit of moisturiser on my face, I have a couple of tiny pimples on my nose. I haven't had zits in decades, and here we are. I stopped applying the moisturiser a couple of weeks ago and I'm still getting those zits.

Thanks skincare.

I didn't realize Elon had Canadian grandparents:

Musk’s maternal grandfather, Joshua Haldeman, moved from Canada to South Africa in 1950 because he liked the newly elected apartheid government.

In the 1930s, Haldeman was the Canadian leader of a fringe political movement originating in the US, Technocracy Incorporated, that advocated abolishing democracy in favor of government by elite technicians but which took on overtones of fascism with its uniforms and salutes.

The Canadian government banned Technocracy Incorporated during the second world war as a threat to the country’s security in part for its opposition to fighting Hitler. Haldeman was charged with publishing documents opposing the war and sent to prison for two months.

I don't like associating people with the sins of their ancestors, but Technocracy Incorporated sounds too silly to ignore.

I was one of a group of Just Stop Oil activists given the longest-ever UK sentences for peaceful motorway. Six months into my incarceration, this is what I have learned

Not directly related to climate change, but Just Stop Oil has been in the news a lot.