ICYMI: March 23-29
I will have my final dispatch from the federal NDP convention done later today, but will send it out first thing in the morning tomorrow to avoid cluttering your inbox.
Blogroll
Story of the Week
Who could have imagined that social democrats, democratic socialists and their ilk wouldn’t want Conservative policies rebranded as Liberal policies from their own party as well? And who would have thought they’d vote for an unambiguous social democrat to make that point?
Aren’t we all supposed to be neoliberals now, with the NDP merely representing the “woke” neoliberalism-with-a-human-face fringe of the narrow spectrum of economic policy positions permitted nowadays in Canadian political discourse?
Apparently not!
A hint of what was about to happen could have been found in the results of Jagmeet Singh’s seven and a half years leading the NDP, during which the party chased away many of the social democrats who were assumed to be its base by being as much like the Liberals as possible, and propping up the Liberals in Parliament when it wasn’t possible through the so-called Supply and Confidence Agreement.
And like almost all Western parties of labour, the NDP had already pushed many working class voters into the arms of MAGA right by ignoring their aspirations and refusing to acknowledge the role of the economic policies the party supported in crushing working families.
Alberta
Three quarters of data centre sites planned in Alberta are in high water stress areas, Rory White and Natasha Bulowski, Canada’s National Observer (March 23)
Gondek, Chabot and Chu all cooperating in ongoing RCMP investigation, Darren Krause, LiveWire Calgary (March 24)
Canada
Carney government tables toned-down version of tougher immigration law, Mark Ramzy, Toronto Star (March 23)
Canada’s immigration bill may compromise rights, UN committee says, Ghada Alsharif, Toronto Star (March 23)
How RCMP spies infiltrated the 1970s Indigenous rights movement, Brett Forester, Ka’nhehsí:io Deer, Marnie Luke and Dave Seglins, CBC News (March 24)
Toronto police ban protests on residential streets near Bathurst and Sheppard, Bryann Aguilar, CTV News (March 24)
Toronto council seeks answers on AI data centre approvals, Cloe Logan, Canada’s National Observer (March 25)
How A Gas Price ‘Expert’ Is Using The Iran War to Mobilize Canadians Against Climate Action, Taylor Noakes, DeSmog (March 25)
Ottawa experts raise alarm over ‘regressive’ government proposals for access-to-information law, Ben Andrews, Ottawa Citizen (March 28)
U.S.
2028 Dem hopefuls scramble for distance from AIPAC, Lisa Kashinsky and Shia Kapos, Politico (March 24)
World
Spies, Lies and Fake Investors in Disguise: How Plotters Tried to Flip a European Election, Drew Hinshaw and Joe Parkinson, Wall Street Journal (March 23)
Heroism, horror and the ‘pits of hell’: inside the last days of El Fasher, Mark Townsend, Elena Morresi and Laure Boulinier, The Guardian (March 25)
Cuban Patients Are Dying Because of U.S. Blockade, Doctors Say, Ed Augustin and Jack Nicas, New York Times (March 26)
Middle East
Bottling the World Economy, Adam Hanieh, New York Review (March 23)
Israel Plans to Control Large Parts of Southern Lebanon, Defense Minister Says, Natan Odenheimer, New York Times (March 24)
U.N. experts demand Israel release prominent Gaza doctor after reports of ‘severe torture’, Chantal Da Silva, NBC News (March 25)
Israeli military suspends battalion involved in assaulting, detaining CNN crew in West Bank, Tal Shalev and Jeremy Diamond, CNN (March 29)
New U.S. Missile Hit Iranian Sports Hall and School, Analysis Shows, Christiaan Triebert and John Ismay, New York Times (March 29)
Tech
Meta and YouTube Found Negligent in Landmark Social Media Addiction Case, Cecilia Kang, Ryan Mac and Eli Tan, New York Times (March 25)
