Canada

Archived version

The R-C-M-P has warned the federal public safety minister the police force has "resourcing challenges" when it comes to tackling the threat of foreign interference.

The concern arises as the Mounties and other federal security agencies face pressure from diaspora communities to do more to counter meddling and transnational repression by such countries as China, Russia, Iran and India.

...

Australia and Denmark offer a study in contrast when it comes to making daycare more accessible

Archived version

More than 3,000 kilometres north of the nation's capital, soldiers, ships and aircraft of Canada's Armed Forces gathered this week in one of the most remote areas of the country to answer one question: How would they board a foreign vessel that neither wanted to be seen, nor stopped.

What if the crew of that ship was near sensitive military sites in the North?

It may seem far-fetched. But vessels run routinely through the north with their transponders switched off — largely invisible to other ships, and not necessarily seen by Canada's satellite and surveillance systems.

The annual exercise is known as Operation Nanook, and took on particular significance this year with a collision of geopolitical changes: China's growing ambition in the Arctic, Prime Minister Mark Carney's plans to substantially increase the capabilities of the military and the newly recognized value of minerals in the North.

...

Canada's traditional adversaries have shown growing interest in the North's rich deposits of critical minerals. Not to mention the opening of new, shorter shipping routes between Asia, North America and Europe through the Northwest Passage as climate change makes for an increasing number of ice-free days.

"That would be Russia and, increasingly, China," said Stephanie Carvin, a former national security official and now an academic with Carleton University in Ottawa.

...

CRA is running a public consultation on automatic tax filing. You can fill it out here.

Here's the verbiage about the project

It's unbelievable that Canada makes people with trivial tax needs jump through so many hoops. If someone is elderly and poor, they need to file taxes to receive their full benefits. That's a huge barrier to many people.

Measles is scary. Breakthrough measles is even scarier.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/article-measles-breakthrough-vaccine-joy-spearchief-morris/

An informative interview with Bob Rae, our UN ambassador, on where our gov't seems to be at the moment.

Archive: [ https://archive.is/Snxyj ]

I think the Beaverton has it right, his elbows are in a quantum state.

If she wants to leave Canada she can always just move and leave Alberta.

Archived

Canada has signed a bilateral free trade agreement with Indonesia, which aims to eliminate or reduce tariffs on over 95 per cent of Ottawa's exports to its largest market in Southeast Asia.

[...]

Canada's exports include wheat, potash, timber and soybeans.

[...]

The agreement also provides for the elimination of more than 90 per cent of tariffs on Indonesian imports, a boon to Indonesia's export of garments and leather goods to the North American market.

[...]

Simultaneously, a defence cooperation agreement was signed aimed at strengthening collaboration in military training, maritime security, cyber defence and peacekeeping.

· Letter Mail Delivery Standards: Canada Post will introduce flexibilities to reflect today’s lower volumes. The average household receives just two letters per week, yet operations remain designed for far higher volumes. By adjusting standards so that non-urgent mail can move by ground instead of air, the corporation will save more than $20 million per year.

· Community Mailbox Conversions: The government is lifting the moratorium on community mailbox conversions. Currently, three-quarters of Canadians already receive mail through community, apartment, or rural mailboxes, while one-quarter still receive door-to-door delivery. Canada Post will be authorized to convert the remaining 4 million addresses to community mailboxes, generating close to $400 million in annual savings.

· Postal Network Modernization: The moratorium on rural post offices, in place since 1994, will also be lifted. The rural moratorium was imposed in 1994 and covers close to 4000 locations. It has not evolved in 30 years, but Canada has changed. This means that areas that used to be rural may now be suburban or even urban, but are still required to operate as rural post offices. Canada Post must return to the government with a plan to modernize and right-size its network.

Saw the news today about Canada Post changes. Though the union wouldn't like it. See that they went on strike. Then I get these emails back to back.

Do you know a worthy Canadian for the 'Order of Canada' I have a few suggestions, ''do you?''

CUPW has announced an immediate strike, and postal workers are currently walking off the job.

The minister of public works, Joel Lightbound, has announced his intentions to implement all of the recommedations laid out in the Kaplan report, including permanently ending door-to-door delivery and the requirement to deliver mail 5 days a week.

Not sure how he expected labour to respond to 1/3 of the workforce being made redundant.