Canada

Relevancy in Canada being the owner of indigo book chain Heather Reisman is listed as one of the 12 billionaires who were onboard the plot to spy on Americans.

A Canadian billionaire, acting with a foreign government intelligence service/military, to subvert free speech and spy on Americans.

Are we cool with that?

See the link for the interactive graphs

TLDR:

• Most Americans trust Canada is negotiating in good faith
• A majority of Americans view Canada as an ally and partner
• Most Americans Still Believe [the overall relationship is] Good
• Carney mostly unknown, but viewed positively by Americans

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/54716891

Colleges and universities earn revenue each year by licensing their trademarks to major apparel companies, including Lululemon and Fanatics. These companies, in turn, rely on vast supplier networks located primarily in countries with weak labour protections and regulations.

Source: https://xkcd.com/3164/

The title is a bit clickbait-y. I went into this one feeling strongly opposed it. Afterwards I'm still not sure, but I get that there's some nuance to it.

Relevance:

In Québec and other parts of Canada, discussions are underway to adopt such regulations.

Author: Steve Lorteau | Long-Term Appointment Law Professor, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa

Excerpts:

Interactions between different users on roads are often a source of frustration, the most prominent being those between motorists and cyclists.

For example, many motorists are frustrated when they see bicycles cross an intersection without coming to a complete stop, which drivers are required to do.

As a professor of law at the University of Ottawa who specializes in urban law issues, I have studied various regulatory approaches that have been adopted around the world, each with different advantages and disadvantages.

The uniform application of traffic rules may seem fair, but in reality, it can create a false sense of equality.

On the one hand, the risks associated with different modes of transport are incommensurate. A car that runs a red light can cause serious or even fatal injuries. A cyclist, on the other hand, is unlikely to cause the same degree of damage.

Furthermore, the efficiency of cycling depends on maintaining speed. Having to stop completely over and over discourages people from cycling, despite its many benefits for health, the environment and traffic flow.

Treating two such different modes of transport the same way, therefore, amounts to implicitly favouring cars, something akin to imposing the same speed limit on pedestrians and trucks.

Since 1982, cyclists in Idaho have been able to treat a stop sign as a yield sign and a red light as a stop sign. Several American states (such as Arkansas, Colorado, and Oregon) and countries, such as France and Belgium, have adopted similar regulations.

In Québec and other parts of Canada, discussions are underway to adopt such regulations.

It’s important to note that the goal of the Idaho stop rule is not to legalize chaos on the roads. Cyclists must still yield to cars ahead of them at stop signs, as well as to pedestrians at all times, and may only enter the intersection when it is clear.

Some medical professionals say detaining highly intoxicated people for up to three days could put lives at risk if it's not accompanied by proper care.

On Wednesday, the Manitoba Legislature passed the NDP government's Bill 48, the Protective Detention and Care of Intoxicated Persons Act, which will allow it to establish a "protective care centre," or detox facility.

But Dr. Jim Simm, the province's former chief psychiatrist, said there's little precedent backing it up.

"There's been several studies looking at involuntary treatment for substance use. The results are generally actually worse," he said.

"I am skeptical [the centre] would have positive results, and [it has] the added risk of medical complications without proper medical supervision."

Tuesday's federal budget offers a glimpse into how dozens of government departments plan to rein in spending following this summer's comprehensive expenditure review.

The review aimed to find "ambitious savings" of up to 15 per cent over three years. The results were included with the budget, which still needs to pass a confidence vote.

(Full department listing in the article.)

The Supreme Court of Canada has dismissed an application for leave to appeal from the judgment of the Federal Court of Appeal regarding Universal Ostrich Farms Inc. vs. Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

This means there is no longer any legal impediment to the cull of the ostriches.

The court made the announcement on its website without explanation, which is typical.

Tabled Tuesday, the budget says legislative changes will streamline approvals and reduce regulatory uncertainty for the planned high-speed rail line between Toronto and Quebec City.

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced in September that the government would speed up engineering and regulatory work on the project to get construction underway within four years.

"We always have to remember that if the federal government has a deficit, then it means some other sector has a surplus. We need to understand which sector that is and, more importantly, if it’s desirable. In this case, the surplus will likely be created for high-income households and large, foreign-owned companies benefiting from defence spending—they are on the other side of this deficit."

"This didn’t have to be the case. The government could have provided more support for unemployed workers through better Employment Insurance (EI) or beefed up one of the various low-income transfers. It could also have raised taxes on the rich in order to protect and improve public services."

The federal and provincial governments have been underfunding universities for decades. Recently, universities were able to start recruiting foreign students to make up for the shortfall, but it looks like that money tap will be turned down. It doesn't look like there's a plan to make up for it.

At the same time, the feds want to

recruit more than 1,000 top international researchers to Canada, with the budget injecting up to $1.7-billion into a suite of recruitment measures.

That'll be tough if universities see their income crater.

We call on Minister Joly, Minister Solomon, and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (“ISED”) to do the following:

1. Extend the consultation deadline to February 2, 2026;
2. Reconstitute the Task Force into a more equitably representative one that is equipped to confront the ongoing threats of AI to people and communities; and
3. Rewrite the survey into a more legitimate and unbiased consultation instrument.

WHEN I BEGAN REPORTING on the Canadian military’s halting embrace of drone technology for The Walrus, one conversation impressed me. Lieutenant General Michael Wright spoke with a candour and urgency I don’t usually encounter in covering defence and intelligence. Appointed commander of the Canadian Army in 2024, Lieutenant General Wright has been a central voice on how the country’s military must modernize to remain credible. In our exchange, which occurred in June, he made a powerful case for drones as fundamental to that rebuild. There was a clarity to his proposals that felt too important to bury inside a longer piece: it deserved to appear on its own terms. What follows is that conversation, lightly edited for clarity and length.

Archived link

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Concerns about election interference, espionage, and economic coercion are not just theoretical. Intelligence officers, parliamentarians, and investigative journalists have repeatedly flagged incidents of the PRC [People's Republic of China] targeting Canadian Chinese diaspora communities, attempting to sway local elections, and even infiltrating institutions of higher learning.

But responses have been fragmented, and at times, politically muted. What’s needed now is a nationwide inquiry with subpoena power and full transparency alongside active criminal investigations, where warranted.

To understand the PRC’s strategy in Canada, we must also look globally at its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)—a trillion-dollar geopolitical project that combines infrastructure investment, debt diplomacy, and soft power influence.

Under the BRI, China has secured critical infrastructure assets—including ports, energy grids, and telecommunications networks—in dozens of countries. As a result, many nations have found themselves economically beholden to Chinese state-owned enterprises, with strings quietly but firmly attached. This has compromised sovereignty, influenced policy-making, and increased susceptibility to authoritarianism.

Canada may not be an official BRI partner, but the tactics of economic leverage, academic espionage, and political manipulation are here nonetheless, dressed up as research partnerships, real estate investments, and threats to MPs and diaspora activists.

The implications for national security, civil liberties, and democratic integrity are immense.

That Canada’s smallest province—notably, the birthplace of Confederation—has had the foresight and courage to raise the alarm is both a credit to its leadership and an indictment of federal hesitation. Many islanders have also called for reforms of the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission, the body that should have investigated the Buddhist organizations back in 2018.

P.E.I.’s call for an inquiry should be viewed as a national call to action—proof that even provinces removed from the country’s geopolitical epicentres are feeling the ripple effects of foreign influence.

Now it’s up to the federal government to act decisively.

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