Canada

Danielle Smith trying to dumb down Alberta. Danielle Smith attempting to take away your charter rights.

While the wisdom of limiting power supply to data centres could be debated, the ban on cryptocurrency centres is a no-brainer. Cryptocurrency consumes massive amounts of electricity to run servers and water to cool them. In 2023, a study published in the journal Sustainability found crypto mines were consuming enough electricity to power the entire country of Argentina. Global water use was similarly off the dial

enough to supply basic drinking water and sanitation services for those who lack access.

And that's not to speak of carbon emissions associated with cryptocurrency. Every Bitcoin transaction generates carbon emissions "roughly equivalent to driving a gasoline-powered car between 1,600 and 2,600 kilometres," a paper in the London School of Economics Business Review found.

Since 2020, the country's average electricity rate has increased by more than 30 per cent. But the increases are wildly higher in communities near data centre developments. A September Bloomberg investigation found monthly electricity costs in some of those locations had risen by as much as 267 per cent over what they were five years ago.

When Trump talks about the 51st state or 'jokes' about a merger, most people think of a territorial invasion. Meanwhile, what we've missed is the ongoing erosion of our economic sovereignty that's been happening under our noses.

Without re-litigating NAFTA and the USMCA

simultaneously the best and worst trade deals ever, depending on when you're asking the man who spearheaded it

these choices and the neoliberal political order that created them are part of the trend that brought us here. Deep integration with the U.S., the takeover of Canadian firms by American corporations, and the outsized influence of American multinationals on Canada's economy and government may feel like new problems in this moment, but they have been growing for years.

South Korea put political weight behind its bold, high-stakes bid to sell submarines to Canada on Thursday as Prime Minister Mark Carney got a look at one of the country’s new boats and toured the shipyard that would do the construction.

South Korea Prime Minister Kim Min-seok accompanied Carney during the visit to the Hanwha Ocean Ltd. facility in Geoje, 96 kilometres from Gyeongju, where the Asia Pacific Cooperation (APEC) summit is being held. Earlier in the day, Carney also met with South Korea’s new president, Lee Jae Myung.

Hanwha Ocean and its partner Hyundai Heavy Industries have been fairly aggressive in pitching the KSS-III (Batch 2) submarine to Canada, delivering an unsolicited, detailed proposal to the federal government last winter — just ahead of the last election.

The submarine Carney got to see was only recently launched and built for the South Korean navy. Yet, in a bold marketing move, it flew a Canadian flag from its mast, while a second boat under construction nearby had Korean and Canadian banners draped across it.

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Cargojet Inc., Canada’s leading provider of time-sensitive premium air cargo services, announces a scheduled direct air cargo service connecting Canada and expanding into Europe, effective November 1, 2025. The service will link Liege Airport (LGG), Europe’s leading cargo gateway, with Canada’s major cargo hubs.

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This weekly service marks a significant expansion of Cargojet’s global network, providing customers with dependable, time-sensitive capacity and enhanced connectivity across continents. Integrated within Cargojet’s domestic overnight network, the route will offer streamlined connections across Canada, improving overall transit times and providing greater flexibility for freight forwarders, logistics providers, and shippers.

Operating on an initial once-weekly schedule, the route enhances access to one of Europe’s most strategic cargo hubs, with plans to increase frequency as demand and opportunities continue to grow. This integration supports Cargojet’s long-term expansion strategy and reinforces its position as a reliable partner in the global logistics market.

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Archived link

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Any scan of global markets with a reliable defence product and supply chain in mind should take Canada to the Nordics. The Nordic countries are all solid NATO partners and share our northern operating environment. Canadian cabinet ministers have recently travelled to Sweden and Finland to explore new defence deals, including a visit by the Industry Minister Mélanie Joly to the Saab firm. Foreign Minister Anita Anand, meanwhile, travelled to Finland to talk about Arctic security.

The Nordics are trying to ramp up production of drone systems and innovate, while also holding out cautionary lessons about a seemingly red-hot market. A leading Norwegian drone company, Nordic Unmanned, founded in 2014, has just declared bankruptcy, citing cash flow issues. Its leading-edge drones were deployed as far afield as Brazil, and were a key element of maritime surveillance for the European Union’s European Maritime Safety Agency. One of their operational tasks was to keep an eye on the Russian shadow tanker fleet used to circumvent Western sanctions. As startling as this outcome appears, other drone companies in Northern Europe are ramping up.

We [Canada] must develop our own drone manufacturing sector, just as we look for new partnership opportunities. We can follow the Nordic and U.K. leads here.

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The Nordics and the U.K. offer both markets and lessons for Canadian defence procurement. Their firms produce advanced drone and counter-drones systems that could be incorporated into the Canadian arsenal. They also remind us that the build-up of a military drone capacity requires market capitalization, the ability to scale for start-up companies, and significant government investment and backing to avoid the fate of a company like Nordic Unmanned. All of these lessons should be incorporated into Canada’s forthcoming defence industrial strategy.

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The Swedish defence firm Saab is considering Canada as a place to assemble Gripen fighter jets as it moves to quickly ramp up production to meet demand from Ukraine.

Saab's CEO Micael Johansson said in recent interviews with financial news publications that Kyiv's interest in purchasing more than 100 Gripen fighter jets would double the defence company's production requirements.

The Financial Times and the Reuters news agency reported Johansson said the company is searching for ways to expand production capacity, possibly in Canada or elsewhere in Europe.

On the sidelines of the Canadian Aerospace Summit in Ottawa, Industry Minister Mélanie Joly told The Canadian Press Wednesday this is "good news" and that she spoke with Johansson earlier in the day.

"I've been actively working with Saab to see what can be done to do more partnerships with Canada, and it starts with the GlobalEye [surveillance plane], but also we're willing to see what we can do to help support Ukraine," she said.

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Archived link

The Globe and Mail column, “Let’s free ourselves of the U.S. and forge closer ties with China”, by Julian Karaguesian and Robin Shaban, reveals a troubling lack of historical awareness and strategic judgment.

Marketed as a call for Canadian economic independence, it amounts to an argument for deeper dependence on an authoritarian regime that uses coercive diplomacy, illicit finance and political interference to erode democratic sovereignty.

Canadians should reject the notion that closer alignment with Beijing strengthens our independence. The opposite is demonstrably true.

The authors praise China’s economic dynamism and technological progress but ignore the context in which these gains were made. They are not the result of fair-market innovation, but of systematic intellectual property theft, forced technology transfers and vast state subsidies that distort global competition.

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Proposing deeper technological engagement with a regime known for embedding backdoors in products like Huawei hardware, which Canadian security agencies have flagged as a national security risk, and for weaponizing supply chains is dangerously naïve. This isn’t innovation; it’s strategic infiltration that introduces unacceptable risks into Canada’s economic infrastructure.

Equating Canada’s alliance with the U.S. to strategic subservience misrepresents the nature of cooperation in a rules-based international order.

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Beijing has made clear it does not operate as a predictable or principled partner. Its use of retaliatory diplomacy — such as the politically motivated detention of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, bans on Canadian agricultural exports and the expansion of United Front influence operations (covert and overt efforts by the Chinese Communist Party to sway public opinion and policy abroad)—demonstrates a pattern of intimidation.

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Replacing that [U.S.] alliance with exposure to a regime that jails dissidents, manipulates international institutions and conducts cyberespionage on Canadian citizens is not diversification. It’s submission.

Canada should not trade the open architecture of the Atlantic alliance for Beijing’s authoritarian opacity. Strategic autonomy cannot be built on intimidation and coercion. We must engage the world, but with eyes open and principles intact.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/48882721

The U.S. Senate passed legislation Wednesday that would nullify U.S. tariffs on Canada, just as U.S. President Donald Trump is engaged in trade talks in Asia as well as an increasingly bitter trade spat with U.S.’s northern neighbour that is one of its largest economic partners.

The 50-46 tally was the latest in a series of votes this week to terminate the national emergencies that Trump has used to impose tariffs. While the resolutions won’t ultimately take effect, they have proven to be an effective way for Democrats to expose cracks between the president’s trade policy and Republican senators who have traditionally supported free trade arguments.

Archived link

Taiwan's National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research cohosted the Next Generation Frontiers Symposia Oct. 27-29 in Alberta, Canada, underscoring bilateral commitment to advancing technological exchange.

NSTC Deputy Minister Chen Bing-yu led a delegation of outstanding young academics specializing in artificial intelligence to the forum, the council said, adding that he expressed hope the meeting would inspire domestic participants to deliver even more influential research outcomes.

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Véronique Dault, executive director of government and public sector partnerships at Canada-based global research organization CIFAR, pointed out that this was the first collaborative event between the two parties. She said she hoped early-career researchers from both sides could brainstorm together to create new opportunities for cooperation.

Discussions centered on AI and sustainability, Indigenous AI and culture, responsible and trustworthy AI, and sovereign AI. According to the NSTC, participants engaged in in-depth dialogue about the roles such technologies could play in culture, environmental sustainability, ethics and social responsibility.

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Archived link

Here is the original warning by the Centre for Cyber Security.

Canada’s cyber authorities are warning that hacktivists are increasingly targeting internet-connected industrial systems after several recent incidents disrupted operations at utilities and small businesses across the country.

The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security said this week that, together with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, it has investigated multiple cases involving compromised industrial control systems (ICS).

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The Canadian authorities did not specify why they labeled the attackers “hacktivists” — a term for threat actors who hack for publicity rather than toward geopolitical or financial goals. The alert did not attribute the incidents to a specific group.

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Canada’s warning follows a global uptick in hacktivist activity against critical infrastructure.

In late 2023, the Russian government-aligned group known as the Cyber Army of Russia Reborn (CARR) claimed to have attacked the industrial control systems of multiple U.S. and European critical infrastructure targets.

In January 2024, the group took responsibility for overflowing water storage tanks in Texas, resulting in the loss of tens of thousands of gallons of water. CARR also claimed to have compromised the SCADA system of a U.S. energy company, gaining control over alarms and pumps for its tanks.

In June, the U.S. State Department accused Iranians allegedly affiliated with a group known as CyberAv3ngers of targeting critical infrastructure with malware designed to compromise industrial control systems.

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Canada’s cyber agency warned that many smaller utilities, farms, and manufacturers continue to run poorly secured internet-connected systems, leaving them vulnerable to opportunistic attacks.

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CBC has rolled out a 24,7 commercial free CBC Kids streaming channel for ages two to ten, available now on CBC Gem and the CBC Kids YouTube channel. The lineup mixes preschool and school age series, including Dino Ranch, Hey Duggee, Molly of Denali, and CBC originals like Gary’s Magic Fort. Radio Canada is launching two French language ad free youth channels in parallel on ICI TOU.TV. CBC frames the move as meeting families on the platforms they already use, with current seasons of shows still available separately on TV and on demand.

What to Know
• 24,7 ad free stream on CBC Gem and CBC Kids YouTube, no extra app needed
• Target audience, kids two to ten with preschool and school age blocks
• Titles highlighted, Dino Ranch, Hey Duggee, Molly of Denali, CBC originals
• French side, Radio Canada adds two ad free youth channels on ICI
• Discovery angle, easier always on access for Canadian kids content

Sources:
Primary, CBC Media Centre press release. ymamj.org
Broadcast Dialogue coverage. Broadcast Dialogue
Advanced Television brief. Advanced Television

Here is an Invidious link: https://inv.nadeko.net/watch?v=6I-fCf2Jskc

Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, board director at the China Strategic Risk Institute and former senior Canadian government official, discusses Prime Minister Carney's upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the APEC Summit. She examines the risks of Canada pursuing closer trade ties with China, while warning that such moves could undermine Canada and invite Chinese leverage over Canadian policy on Taiwan, Uyghur human rights, and critical infrastructure.

She also addresses the striking shift in Canadian public opinion, with more Canadians now viewing the U.S. as an enemy than China, and critiques the lack of progress on addressing Chinese foreign interference in Canada.

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At a summit in western Canada in June, G7 leaders launched a "Critical Minerals Action Plan," which calls for diversified supply chains to advance "shared national and economic security interests."

The upcoming two-day meeting in Toronto offers "a major opportunity" to advance that effort, Tae-Yoon Kim, head of the critical minerals division at the International Energy Agency, said.

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A central complaint about China's conduct is that it does not adhere to market principles.

Multiple countries have substantial mineral reserves, but China's true dominance lies in its processing and refining capacity -- especially for rare earths, which are needed to make the specialized magnets used in a range of high-tech products.

Since a high proportion of material moves through Chinese-controlled businesses, Beijing can build stockpiles and control global supply.

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For Canada's Energy Minister Tim Hodgson, the G7 meeting comes at a "hinge moment," his spokesman Gregory Frame told AFP.

At the meeting, Canada "will announce the first deliverables reached under (a new alliance) that will help ensure the minerals that underpin the industries of the future can be mined, refined, and produced by countries that share our values."

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G7 energy ministers are united in concern about the "security of supply," Hunter said, with China imposing more serious rare earth export controls.

For Hunter, progress at the Toronto meeting would include concrete action on the issue of traceability -- tracking raw materials from mining to refinement and ensuring suppliers follow global market rules.

Hunter said that "opaque" Chinese-controlled companies exist across the supply chain, which the G7 should strive to "box out of the market" with new policies on traceability and transparency.

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The Goose strikes Albertan separatism.

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