Today's News about bridges and airports and Trump blathering again, plus updates on wildfires and on the Commonwealth Games

To finish off the week, here's a collection of posts about the news.
I must admit, I'm tired, so very very tired, of writing about Trump and about Canada's problems dealing with him.

Can't imagine how tired Carney must be!

I am really tired of the infantile diatribes from bullies outraged that their victims are putting up a fight. It is never-ending. We just want to get on with our lives, but no. Sneering, entitled drama-queen bullies from the south keep trying to break things and steal our stuff.

- Joanne Pettis 🇨🇦

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Canada’s Carney to Trump: “Go ahead and tariff us. We’ll just sign deals with everyone else”

- Steve Heise

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Are you kidding? This week's news roundup of preposterous news - more tariffs, invading Iran, crashing the economy. Plus today's wildfires update

More damned tariffs?

So on Thursday this happened:

Trump’s Tariff Pivot: ‘Forced Labor’ Duties Hit 60 Nations as Global Levy Expires The clock just ran out on Trump’s temporary 10% global tariff—but the White House isn't dropping its trade shield. Taking effect at the exact minute the old levy expires at midnight Friday, 60 trading partners will be slammed with new 10% and 12.5% "forced labor" duties, covering a staggering 99.4% of all U.S. imports. The Legal Workaround After the Supreme Court struck down Trump's sweeping "reciprocal" tariffs in February, the administration needed a new weapon to maintain its tariff floor. Enter Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. By accusing trading partners of lax enforcement on forced labor bans, the White House is effectively keeping its baseline tariffs intact while sidestepping the legal vulnerabilities that doomed its previous attempt. The Breakdown The 10% Tier: Hits major partners like Canada, Mexico, Britain, India, and Argentina. The 12.5% Tier: Targets the EU, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan (when combined with existing rates). The China Factor: Beijing faces a 12.5% rate driven by U.S. allegations of Uyghur forced labor—a claim China fiercely denies. The ultimate goal? Push Chinese tariffs back up to the 20% ceiling agreed upon in a late-2025 trade truce. What Gets a Pass? To prevent domestic economic shockwaves, the administration carved out massive exemptions. Oil, gas, fertilizer, specific foods, and USMCA-compliant goods are safe. Products already hit by Section 232 national security tariffs—like autos, steel, aluminum, and copper—will also avoid the double-tax. Global Pushback The maneuver sparked immediate outrage. Norway, Australia, and Brazil slammed the duties as unjustified, while Canada offered a muted but firm response. At home, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey warned the tariffs will drive up costs and cripple American competitiveness: "Nobody can afford this." The Bottom Line Trade lawyers call the Section 301 maneuver a "sledgehammer." It seamlessly replicates the tariff rates of the expiring levies but is far harder to kill in court. As one trade expert noted, the administration gets to keep its baseline tariffs, and judges will be highly reluctant to block a crackdown on forced labor.

- Adrian Macovei

Read on Substack

This explains all the new tariffs. And you must take notes because this WILL be on the test!

Thursday Survey: some good comments about the news stories of this week, plus today's wildfire update

First, about those damned tariffs

but.... but.... I thought it was about the wind, and how it was carrying the smoke over the *gasp* border. So, Chrystia Freeland told the little creep to f'off, did she? Of course he'd say what he said. Wimpy criminal that he is. Oh, and Canada screwing the States? .... read on... ⬇️ #cdnpoli

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— Augustina (@augustina.bsky.social) July 22, 2026 at 11:49 PM

Today's News: Canadians are 😠 about those tariffs. Plus a wildfires update

Canada is right royally pissed off.

There are dozens of good posts I could share, but here's a few I liked - by the way, most are NSFW because that's the way Canadians feel about Trump and his stupid tarrifs.

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Sigh Once again the petulant toddler-president is punishing Americans in his newest rage at being slighted on the world stage, and Canada is his whipping boy. There is such a disconnect from reality in that old man’s head. He can never seem to understand that when he throws sand at everyone in the sandbox, hogs all the sand toys and poops his pants, the other kids are going to avoid him and welcome the quiet kid who shares his toys and brought snacks for everyone. Thank heavens the quiet kid has friends everywhere. We can go play elsewhere when we want although we’ll have to watch out. The spoiled brat is throwing things, and inevitably we’ll get hit.

- Joanne Pettis 🇨🇦

Read on Substack

Post to come later

Hi all -- our power is out and my phone power is limited. So I may not be able to post until tomorrow. 

In the meantime

Catching up with the news: Heroes of the Flames, FTFG, and World Cup stories

Canada wildland fire information system map

Heroes of the flames

Some courageous people.

Chance Paavola

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Sunday Funday: Some posts about the wildfires. Plus good posts, funny posts, getting old(er), Carney hat trick, TrumpWatch, Animal Crackers and World Cup Stories

First, a few more posts about those wildfires:

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Round-up: just some political cartoons, plus some commentary about the week

Dali - Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (Premonition of Civil War)

Just some cartoons and comments on the week - and the Dali painting seemed appropriate...

Canadian wildfires 

The Toronto Star has an interactive wildfire map [gift link] showing where the smoke is expected for the next several days.

Probably more helpful to think of them not so much as “Canadian wildfires” but rather “climate change wildfires currently consuming Canada”

— Katie Mack (@astrokatie.com) July 17, 2026 at 8:23 AM

Meanwhile, people in the United States are losing their minds about the smoke, including Trump. 

Today's News: Canada battles terrible fires but we are keeping our Elbows Up! Trump speech is a Nothingburger. And some World Cup Stories

In Canadian news today, the wildfires are so terrible right now.

And we aren't the only ones fighting this battle.

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Here in Saskatoon we don't have smoke (yet) but lots of people east of us are in the soup right now.

Today's News: Saying "no" to Poilievre and Trump. Plus World Cup Stories

A recent poll that showed Poilievre had narrowed the gap between him and Carney - now he's only 6 points behind, instead of 9.

The thing is, this isn't going to stand up.
Not after Lethbridge Liberace and all the fallout this week.
And I don't know how Poilievre can read these columns and not at least consider resigning.

First is from the Public Consent substack (also reprinted in The Walrus), where public affairs consultant Dan Robertson, a Conservative, describes the crazy last few weeks in Conservative Land and tells Poilievre to grow up:

....For those spared the spectacle, a brief summary: at the Calgary Stampede, Pierre Poilievre celebrated Kerry Lynne Findlay’s victory in the British Columbia Conservative leadership race as a win over “Liberal lobbyists from out East.”
The people he described were not Liberals. They were Kory Teneycke, Nick Kouvalis, and Anthony Koch, among the most accomplished Conservative operatives in the country. What followed were days of digital crossfire involving former Poilievre communications directors, columnists, influencers, and operatives, culminating in Brian Lilley asking in print whether the leader is serious about winning and Ben Woodfinden, who gave years to Poilievre’s office, confessing he has never been more depressed about the state of conservative politics in this country.
Everyone involved believes they are right. Some probably are. Here is the thing about being right in politics: it doesn’t matter. Winning elections is the point. Not winning the argument.
Which brings me to the onus. In any organization, responsibility for cohesion rises with rank. A volunteer can hold a grudge. A staffer can nurse a grievance. A columnist can keep score. The leader cannot. The leader of a political party cannot be one combatant among many because the leader is the only person whose job includes the coalition itself. When the leader picks a fight, it is not a fight; it is a fracture. When the leader can end a fight and declines to do so, HE is the cause of the fracture.
This is the hardest lesson in our movement’s history....
There is no version of internal conservative warfare that ends well. There are only two versions: the one where the leader stops it early, and the one where it stops him....
...Every other participant in this brawl can afford to be right. The leader can only afford to win. If mending fences with Doug Ford and his team adds a single point in Ontario, the phone call costs nothing, and pride is not a reason.
Canadian voters are watching a party that trails in the polls ripping itself apart. They will draw the obvious conclusion: a party that cannot govern itself cannot govern the country....

Wednesday Wit: Clips and comments from our Bizarro World. Plus today's World Cup stories

 

Anyone who read DC Comics in their youth will likely remember their "Bizarro World" issues.

A useful concept, as it turns out -- too many people seem to be living in Bizarro World now, where up is down, monsters are electable, "socialists" are enemies, Poilievre thinks he won in 2025, Trump thinks he runs the world and so forth and so on. 

So today I'm sharing some clips and comments about our situation.

Pierre Poilievre's bizarre beliefs were the subject of discussion at a recent Curse of Politics podcast where David Herle, Scott Reid, Jordan Leichnitz, and Kory Teneycke couldn't figure out why Poilievre would go to the Stampede to complain about BC Conservative leader loser Caroline Elliott - a typically myopic gripe-fest which will do nothing to grow the base. As Teneycke said

...His entire ego and self-image is wrapped up and frozen in time in 2024, where it looked like he was going to be prime minister. Now that it is very clear to everyone in the world, except perhaps him and a handful of trolls online, that that ain't ever going to happen, he's trying to recast the decision from 'Who do you want to have be prime minister?' to 'Who should be the leader of the opposition....
...You saw professional weirdo Jamil Jivani out with more weird comments. And clearly he is under the control of no one ... The fact that he can't get along with leadership isn't a surprise. This is somebody who's essentially sued every former employer he's had or left on very bad terms. This is a guy who you're going to have problems with, and you could see that train coming 20 miles down the tracks. But, add it all together, I think you're seeing a weak leader with almost no control over his caucus and is reaping what he and his little buddy Scheer have sown in terms of the people that they've allowed into caucus...
...When you elect leaders who are completely and utterly unaccomplished prior to entering politics and who have entered politics in their 20s, you are going to be very vulnerable to running against somebody who has actually done something with their life. And why Scheer is still sitting in the caucus is the same reason why Poilievre will end up sitting in the caucus after he's done being leader, because he is unemployable in any other job...

Wow!

Catching up with the news about Carney and bridges and reports and Ukraine and Trump. Plus World Cup Stories and other sports

Hey, lots of news since Saturday!

Gordie Howe Bridge update
CTV reports:

Prime Minister Mark Carney is defending the deal brokered between Canada and the United States to open the delayed Gordie Howe International Bridge and insists the profits split with the Americans will be minimal.
“The word ‘net’ does a lot of work in this. We are sharing after Canada is paid back,” Carney said in an interview with CTV Calgary’s Tara Nelson at the Calgary Stampede on Sunday when asked about the agreement.
“We get the revenues. Then the servicing of the costs of the bridge and paying the debt of the bridge, and then what’s left over, there’s a split of that for 15 years,” he said.
“There’s not going to be a lot of net to split,” the prime minister later added.
According to a senior government source, Canada will get 50 per cent of the bridge’s toll profits in the first 15 years, with the other 50 per cent going into an economic development fund.
The source also tells CTV News that the U.S. will need to agree if Canada wants to increase bridge tolls by more than 10 per cent or lower them below compared regional averages....

I suspect the idea behind the bridge toll "regional average" agreement is to protect the Maroun family so the new bridge won't be allowed to charge less than they are already charging for their Ambassador Bridge.

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Sunday Funday: I'm Forswunk! So here are some good posts & funny posts, plus What an Asshole, Carney Hat Trick, TrumpWatch, Animal Crackers, World Cup stories

Cartoon by Mick O'Hara

Anyone else forswunk? [exhausted from work, heat, lack of sleep, etc.] It’s a gorgeous word from the 1300s, to which I have added my own riff with ‘foreswunk’: exhausted before you even begin.

- Susie Dent

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I think everyone feels forswunk now, so here is this week's collection to enjoy!

Good posts
Vancouver street art

#streetart #Giants #Vancouver #Granvilleisland

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— ilovedogs2024.bsky.social (@ilovedogs2024.bsky.social) July 5, 2026 at 10:03 PM

Wrapping up the week: Canada v Poilievre, Canada v USA, ICE Gestapo v USA, Spain v Trump, plus World Cup Stories and shout out to Gaby Dabrowski

Canada v Poilievre: laugh of the week
That white satin cowboy suit seemed to be the final blow to his credibility with Canadian media.

Robert Fife on the latest round of Conservative infighting: "This party is falling apart before our very eyes."

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— Scott Robertson (@sarobertson.bsky.social) July 10, 2026 at 6:30 PM

It would be truly hysterical if the Cons dumped Poilievre and elected a moderate as leader. One who could run to the left of Carney who is steaming further and further right. We used to call them ‘Progressive’ Conservatives. But I won’t hold my breath waiting for that to happen.

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— Scott Forbes🇨🇦 (@theecologyprof.bsky.social) July 10, 2026 at 7:38 PM

Today's News: Carney, Trudeau, Poilievre, Trump and Count Binface. Plus World Cup Stories

I have often said that I feel smarter every time I listen to Carney explain something important. I don't agree with every position he takes, but its clear that he is thoughtful and purposeful, not knee-jerk and emotional. 

Some examples from his Saudi Arabia trip:

"Lecturing countries from afar is satisfying but ineffective."

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