Wednesday Wit: some good comments about Poilievre and Trump and Carney and US-Canada relations and living your dreams, plus World Cup Stories

So Poilievre went to Calgary and it didn't go very well:

The Canadian media is constantly, desperately trying to prop Poilievre up at this serious policy thinker but fortunately he regularly intervenes to make clear that he’ll never surpass his true Facebook comment section self

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— Martin Concagh (@mconcagh.bsky.social) July 7, 2026 at 6:40 AM

Today's News: World Cup stories - Everything Trump Touches Dies. Plus, Carney get Subs, and checking in on Canada's far-right

The world is laughing at Trump

And at FIFA

Canada ends its World Cup journey. Plus Sunday Funday posts, Getting Old(er), Animal Crackers

Our World Cup journey is over

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— Justin McElroy 🇨🇦 (@jmcelroy.bsky.social) July 4, 2026 at 1:02 PM

The boys did good

Canada’s World Cup Journey Ends in Houston. What a Ride It Has Been. 🍁 By Annie Koshy A 0-3 defeat to Morocco today in Houston in the Round of 16. A bridge too far, against one of the best teams in the world. Five matches. Two wins. One draw. Two losses. Canada’s men scored eight goals and reached the Round of 16 of a home World Cup after 40 years of waiting for a single win. Jesse Marsch built something real. Jonathan David announced himself to the world. Alphonso Davies showed what a player he has become. Stephen Eustáquio became a national hero in stoppage time in Los Angeles. This generation of Canadian footballers changed what this country believes is possible. The Men’s World Cup goes on. Canada’s done us proud . 🍁⚽❤️🙏🏽

- Annie Koshy

Read on Substack

on one hand getting to the round of 16 is an unqualified success but between the first half and the davies and koné injuries we’re going to have a “what if” debate for years to come but maybe that’s the beauty of sports and wait you’re all yelling at me yeah okay that’s fair

— Justin McElroy 🇨🇦 (@jmcelroy.bsky.social) July 4, 2026 at 12:53 PM

Its Cartoon Day! Plus catching up with the news, some TrumpWatch, and World Cup stories

A few good cartoons: 

Today's News: Absolutely excellent Canada Strong announcements, plus World Cup Stories

When July 1 happens on a Wednesday, Canadians usually take the Thursday and Friday off too, so we engineer a five-day weekend to kick off the summer.
This year, that break did not happen for PM Carney. 

Wow!

Canada and British Columbia Sign Cooperative Prosperity Agreement on Energy, Trade, and Infrastructure By Annie Koshy Prime Minister Mark Carney and British Columbia Premier David Eby signed the Canada-British Columbia Cooperative Prosperity Agreement in Vancouver today, one of the most consequential federal-provincial economic deals signed in British Columbia in a generation. On LNG, the federal government committed to accelerating permitting, financing, and construction of LNG Canada Phase 2, Ksi Lisims LNG, Cedar LNG, and Woodfibre LNG. These projects would substantially expand Canada’s export capacity at a moment when allied demand for reliable energy has never been higher. The G7 statement at Évian last month explicitly welcomed Canada’s potential to deliver significant additional energy capacity to global markets. This agreement is the domestic mechanism through which that potential begins to be realized. A $500 million investment will expand the Red Chris Mine, increasing Canada’s annual copper production by more than 15 percent while reducing emissions by over 70 percent once operational. The North Coast Transmission Line receives $3.9 billion, projected to create $10 billion in new economic activity, reduce emissions by up to three million tonnes annually, and serve as the backbone of a clean energy corridor connecting British Columbia, the Yukon, and potentially Alberta. On trade infrastructure, Roberts Bank Terminal upgrades will unlock over $100 billion in new trade capacity and add approximately $3 billion to Canada’s economy annually. The George Massey Tunnel replacement receives up to $3 billion for a modern eight-lane structure replacing the aging four-lane tunnel along Highway 99. The Ports of Prince Rupert and Stewart will be developed as critical minerals trade corridors in partnership with First Nations. The environmental commitments are substantive. A new National Carbon Credit Framework will be established. A $250 million Whales Initiative will reinforce Southern Resident Killer Whale habitat protections along British Columbia’s coast. The federal North Coast tanker ban will be maintained in accordance with the proposed Alberta pipeline route, threading the needle between British Columbia’s environmental priorities and Alberta’s export ambitions. All projects will be built in consultation and partnership with First Nations, with explicit commitments to co-ownership and economic benefits. The Team Canada Strong initiative will train up to 100,000 new Red Seal trades workers to build these projects. Over $630 million in affordable child care funding is also included. The ambition is considerable. Implementation will define whether this agreement delivers on its historic framing. https://www.youtube.com/live/DaJAB7ANkl8?si=Vov88U_HrQpdldVg

- Annie Koshy

Read on Substack

Wednesday Wit: Thanks Carney, Trudeau, Marc Miller, Bryan Adams, Tod Maffin, plus Canada Day stories, political cartoons, some comments on the passing scene, and World Cup Stories

Thanks Carney!

And this time he waited until the pancake was set before he flipped it - I think he's taken some lessons!

Heads up, Stampeded -- PM Carney now appears to have some pancake game!

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— davidakin (@davidakin.bsky.social) July 1, 2026 at 9:44 AM

A Canada Day hug between Carney and Trudeau

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— Scott Robertson (@sarobertson.bsky.social) July 1, 2026 at 11:00 AM

Kicking Back on Canada Day! Plus more Forward Guidance, World Cup stories and Pride update

This cartoon is an oldie but a goodie -- hope you are also enjoying just kicking back and swatting those annoying mosquitos!

Brittlestar explains Canada Day to Americans:

Happy Happy Joy Joy! Canada advances to round of 16. Plus more World Cup stories, catching up with the news, and today's Pride Update

What a game that was on Sunday afternoon!

Here are some posts I found about it:

Canada scores in stoppage time to reach World Cup last 16. How far can the co-hosts go? www.nytimes.com/athletic/740... 'Oh Canada' WE SALUTE YOU. It was Carney. I hope you know that.

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— Judy Gitlin (@xcised120.bsky.social) June 28, 2026 at 5:34 PM

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Sunday Funday; Good posts and comments, Funny posts and cartoons, Getting Old(er), Carney Hat Trick, TrumpWatch, Animal Crackers, World Cup Stories

So what's happening here? Lets start with a few good posts and thoughtful comments

I'm putting this right at the top so its easy to find when I want to read it again

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Moving on

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Things that piss me off and things that make me happy. Plus World Cup Stories

First, I was so happy today to see that PM Carney has a plan for renovating 24 Sussex Drive.  Tod Maffin made an interesting Short about the building and the plan:

Carney says he will not live at 24 Sussex himself. "I may not look like it, but my kids are already grown."

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It's Cartoon Day! Plus Carney's press conference, World Cup Stories and Today's Pride Update

I'm not too energetic tonight, so here are a few good cartoons I've seen lately:

Today's News: Some good commentaries, plus some World Cup stories

Some good commentaries today: 

In her substack, Joanne Pettis writes Maybe I’m the Fruitcake! Seeking Balance in a Siloed World

So, I read a lot of articles and posts that support my worldview on things.
Trump bad; Mandami good
Poilievre bad; Carney good
Danielle Smith bad; Wab Kinew good
You get the picture.
I fear though that in my way, I may not be much different from some old Maple MAGA broad who devours extreme right-wing conspiracy nonsense. Maybe I just lean the other way. Like kibbles and bits but different.
I don’t think my opinions are drawn from conspiracy blather of the left-leaning variety, but maybe I’m wrong. I realize my notions are frequently intensified by the writing of the cranky among us. However, I believe I also seek out considered, well-informed insight from reputable sources. I feel, therefore, fairly righteous about my opinions, believing them to be, in truth, informed by fact, fair, and balanced.
But how do I know that the opinions I think are balanced are not, in fact, as loonie-tunes as those of some fruitcake in MAGA land?...

Yes, I wonder about myself sometimes too.

Wednesday Wit: some funny posts and comments on the passing scene. Plus World Cup stories and Today's Pride Update

Well, for one thing, I'm happy because its finally summer.

And also I've been noticing my Sunday Funday posts often get more visitors than the more serious posts.

So I think its time I put together more Funday-type posts two or three times a week, for the rest of the summer at least. Hope you enjoy them!

“Never trust any quote of mine you read on the internet - they’re mostly hogwash.” - Mark Twain.

- Mike Sowden

Read on Substack

- Science Is Fun

Read on Substack

I ordered a chicken and an egg on Amazon. I'll let you know.

- Colin Devonshire

Read on Substack

Catching up with the news: Carney mostly getting it right, Poilievre's "comment section with parliamentary letterhead", Trump's pool, plus World Cup Stories

Fascinating Politico article by reporter Calder McHugh and Ottawa bureau chief Nick Taylor-Vaisey: Mark Carney Plays Hardball On the world stage, Canada's prime minister is a statesman. In Ottawa, he is a ward boss.
Its an interesting summary of Carney's first 18 months in politics.

...In just over a year, Carney has learned to navigate the deeply insular, often ugly game of Ottawa politics as a skilled tactician and ruthless party boss. The jetsetting king of Davos still clutches to the persona of a political outsider, more interested in the long arc of history than the petty grievances of the day. At home he benefits from an “informed naïvété,” in the words of one close Carney adviser granted anonymity to speak candidly. Carney now can do the ugly work of politics precisely because Canadians believe he is above it.
“I always knew Mark would be good at politics,” said Gerald Butts, the principal secretary to former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and still a close adviser of Carney’s. “I didn’t know he would be this good at politics, to be honest. But who did? I’m not even sure he did.”...

My only minor quibble is that I think Trudeau deserves more credit for rousing the country from December 2024 to February 2025 to oppose the Trump threat, which cut the CPC off at the knees.

Then Carney picked up the torch:

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Sunday Funday: National Indigenous People's Day; funny posts and neat posts, Getting Old(er), Carney Hat Trick, Animal Crackers, World Cup stories, Today's Pride Update

National Indigenous People's Day is this Sunday! 

Above is Cree/European artist Rachel Drager’s logo chosen by the Fraser River Indigenous Society to represent National Indigenous Peoples Day.

In celebration of National Indigenous Peoples Day, Canada Post has launched a new set of stamps. It will feature three athletes and advocates for Indigenous sports.

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— APTN News (@aptnnews.bsky.social) June 17, 2026 at 5:10 PM

Events are going on across the country:

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The Reflecting Pool as Metaphor

The whole Trump administration is summed up by what has happened with that Reflecting Pool. It is a metaphor for everything wrong with Trump.

The following chain of events is pure speculation on my part, but one thing is true: when Trump babbles, his stream-of-consciousness lies often echo the myths and tall tales he is being told by his White House staff and Cabinet, to manipulate him or distract him. These echoes are very obvious when he talks about the Reflecting Pool project. So this is what happened, I think:

1. Keeping Trump distracted with meaningless pointless make-work projects is one of ways the White House staff and Cabinet keep him feeling busy and productive while they get on with looting the country (see: the Rose Garden, the gold crap all over the White House, the walkway to the Oval, the East Wing destruction, the Ballroom, the Kennedy Center, the UFC fight, the Arc d'Trump, the new Air Force One, etc etc.)

2. The Reflecting Pool was just another pointless busy-work project. Nobody knew or cared anything about that pool three months ago. It wasn't much of a problem either. National Parks just needed to clean out its annual accumulation of debris and it would have been good to go. But White House staff started filling Trump's ears with lies about the awful state the pool was in, how Obama had ruined it, how Biden had ignored it, only you can fix it sir... and when Trump demurred that he didn't really care much about the pool, his staff talked up how big it is, its really really big sir, its lots bigger than the Empire State Building really!!!

 
3. So Trump jumped into it, made it an emergency, didn't bother with research, didn't consult anybody about its history or previous maintenance issues, just hired "some pool guy" to paint the pool blue for July 4. Easy peasey!

4. Result: another Trump disaster. #ETTD Everything Trump Touches Dies. Resurfacing a granite pool base 15 blocks long and a block wide is a lot bigger project than just paving a garden and buying some new tables and chairs. And pool paints aren't all the same. And algae prevention/ drainage technology isn't simple either. So instead of looking beautiful and pristine, the pool is now ruined. So now Trump has had to hire a "pool cleaner guy" to fix it. But really, nobody can repair it now unless it is drained, scraped, cleaned off and refilled;  that ain't gonna happen in two weeks before July 4. 

I expect their next move will be to throw a tarp over it to hide it, like they did at the Kennedy Center.
Or blame Antifa.

Wasn't that a beautiful game? Plus Carney gets things done and Trump fumbles.

Vancouver went slightly mad today, and took the rest of the country with them.

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This is the Red Sea of Canada supporters at the World Cup. Each one of these pictures is the most Canadian thing I’ve ever seen. Welcome to Vancouver!

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— M31🍁 (@m31author.bsky.social) June 18, 2026 at 6:20 PM

HISTORY IN VANCOUVER 🙌 Canada's 6️⃣-goal performance vs. Qatar marked the highest-scoring game by #CANMNT at the #FIFAWorldCup EVER. 😳

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— TSN (@tsnofficial.bsky.social) June 18, 2026 at 8:56 PM

Canada sits atop Group B standings after its dominant win over Qatar! 🙌🇨🇦 #FIFAWorldCup

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— TSN (@tsnofficial.bsky.social) June 18, 2026 at 6:09 PM

Things that make me say hmmmm..... from that awful MOU to our MAID anniversary. Plus World Cup stories and today's Pride updates

I saw lots of good posts and comments today, but I'm just focusing on the ones that made me think about things a little differently.
First, cartoons! 

About that MOU to end the Iran War ...hmmm

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I’ve read the MOU and the key point is this: JD Vance will not be President.

- Scott Galloway

Read on Substack

Today's News: Carney saves Trump's bacon, America laughs at Trump, and banning social media for teens has gone viral. Plus more World Cup stories

Carney gave an interview today to CNN and I hope Trump and his whole feckless administration appreciate the extent to which Carney has America's back about this Iran War MOU.

Carney's positive framing of the agreement will give it a credibility and substance that it didn't have before now - he calls it "well structured", "a game changer", "performance-based", and says "everyone in the G7 is behind it".
Oh, I hope he is right!
I can't find this interview posted anywhere except on X:

Full CNN interview with Carney... is he jumping the gun on the US communication strategy

Smartest guy in the room or his own mind?

"We will help as we can with the Strait of Hormuz" - Carney

Kudos "And it was at a time when people were not focused on Iran because I've always… pic.twitter.com/cvRkOu1vMw

— cbcwatcher (@cbcwatcher) June 17, 2026

TLDW (Too Long, Didn't Watch) Here is a shorter clip from the interview:


And here is another press conference held at the G7:
I cannot remember a time before this when international press wanted to hear the thinking of a Canadian prime minister.

Catching up with the News: Carney in Europe, Trump failing, Laughing at Alberta separatists, Canada good news, World Cup stories

A map of Washington state that Seattle Tourism is handing out to World Cup visitors - isn't it great?

Ok, on with today's news:

Carney in Europe - in Ireland and at the G7

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Sunday Funday: More cartoons, plus the Riders win & the Knicks win! Funny posts and neat posts, Carney Hat-Trick, TrumpWatch, Animal Crackers

Starting with a few cartoons:

Cartoons about this week's news, plus It was the day that the name came down. And updates on the World Cup and Pride

That Gordie Howe Bridge Opening

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Some good lines here from Mulcair:

Today's news: CUSMA is On Tilt, Trump's Nelson moments, About the World Cup, Canada Good News, and some interesting reads by Colin Gorrie, Mike Sowden, Howard Yu, and Culture Explorer

CUSMA is On Tilt
US Ambassador Pete Hoekstra told a meeting in Toronto that Canada needs to kowtow to Trump, and here's Tod Maffin's riposte:

youtube.com/shorts/zYk2F... What he said 👇🍁☮️🇨🇦💯

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— This Canadian 🇨🇦💯 (@adeighton.bsky.social) June 11, 2026 at 7:16 PM

Canada isn't fooled:

As the CUSMA talks veer toward failure, we are reminded July 1 is not a cliff. Minister Leblanc is right. July 1 is a glide path to a restored Canadian sovereignty. By failing to trigger a renewal, the current talks will result in a countdown to July 1, 2036 when CUSMA will cease to exist entirely. That gives us - at most - ten years to land somewhere that Canada can be as free, as prosperous and as powerful as possible. We share a continent an authoritarian and predatory nation, and that won’t change anytime soon. I’ve written elsewhere about how CUSMA is a Dead Man Walking. Without a functioning dispute settlement mechanism, it is not free trade. The June 10 statement by President Trump just reminds us the U.S. does not accept us as sovereign equals. He wants us to submit to U.S. dominance, and of course we will never accept this. Of course, the glide path to Canadian sovereignty will be bumpy. We’ll have to deal with gusts of U.S. tariffs as they blow here and there. We’ll have to manage panicky passengers, as some stakeholders weigh their specific interests in a deal with the national interest in sovereign equality. And we will have legitimate debates about the destination we should glide towards. Where do we want to land? Who do we partner with to present the largest possible market of a free and open exchange in goods and services? How do we make sure trade and investment actually brings wealth to Canada and Canadians? How do we structure our economic relationships on a way that reinforces our security and our freedom rather than compete with them? We may have much less than ten years if the wreckage of CUSMA is swept away through an invocation of the six-month termination clause. Whether we discard the scrap metal of CUSMA now or in 2036, it’s important that we not get distracted from the real work. We should continue to negotiate with the U.S., to mitigate the brunt of their attacks. But while we protect our flanks let’s focus our principal energy on guiding our nation’s flight to its new destination. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6yzvz6unV8

- Canadian Sovereignty

Read on Substack

Today's News: Keep on truckin' and just maybe you can win! Plus, updates on Epstein-gate, CUSMA, and Pride

In sports, today's message is "keep on truckin' and just maybe you will win!"

First, a spectacular comeback win by The Knicks

This is the only time ever in the NBA Finals that a team had overcome a 29-point deficit at half-time. They broke the Trump Curse and all of New York was just ecstatic.

Cast of Laocoön and his Sons (Roman version of a lost Greek original), 100BC-50AD

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— ArtButMakeItSports (@artbutmakeitsports.bsky.social) June 10, 2026 at 9:51 PM

Now is the Summer of our Discontent... Plus today's updates on the World Cup and on Pride month

It just feels like 2026 will be The Summer Of Our Discontent.
And I do hope the rest of Richard's complaint will not come true:

... I am determined to prove a villain
And hate the idle pleasures of these days.
Plots have I laid, inductions dangerous,
By drunken prophecies, libels and dreams...

First, it will be a Summer of Discontent in the United States, as Trump and his captive Republicans twist and turn to try to avoid the drubbing they can expect in the midterm elections this fall.
Their most recent tactic is to undermine confidence in elections by pretending that Republican losses are all just one big conspiracy theory. Americans do love their conspiracy theories - three centuries ago, they accused 200 people of being witches and killed 20 of them. Believing looney, ridiculous, evidence-free conspiracy theories is an American tradition!

The latest is All Elections Are Rigged Against Us (except the ones we win)!