Today's News: Rumours of floor-crossings, plus Artemis II Briefing and Canada Good News

Rumours of floor-crossings 

Ten might be crossing the floor? Wow. I would expect that idiotic "justify your shadow cabinet job" email didn't go over very well.

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Sunday Funday: Happy Easter and other good stuff, plus posts about Getting Old(er), Artemis II Briefing, Carney Hat Trick, TrumpWatch, Animal Crackers

In honour of Easter weekend, a bunch of "Last Supper" pictures.

First, the original, by DaVinci:

Next, the tributes:

House MD

Mel Brooks:

Lost season 6 cast:

The Sopranos:

Weekly Wrap-up: On Poilievre and his inept leadership, On NATO and Trump, plus some Canada Good News and Friday's Artemis II Briefing

About Poilievre and his inept leadership 

Two months ago, people predicted that Poilievre would win his leadership vote but actually be weakened by his experience. Now, that is proving to be the case. Stunts like flying to Europe and chatting with Joe Rogan aren't impressing his colleagues, and neither is his leadership style.

Althia Raj

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is shuffling his deck, sending Elon Musk-style letters to his shadow ministers asking them to prove their worth.
Monday’s email was referred to by one Conservative as “DOGE-like” — a reference to Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency,” which sent emails to U.S. federal government workers last year demanding that they list their past week’s accomplishments or resign.
This email from Poilievre’s office was met with a shrug by some, but others saw it as insulting — and further proof their leader is out of touch with his caucus.
“It’s ridiculous!” said one MP, among several granted anonymity to speak candidly about internal party affairs. “There’s a lot of malcontents.”
“Pierre has two good weeks in a year and he’s back to default mode of, ‘Prove yourself every five minutes,’” said another MP. “If you are going to do a shuffle, just do one. Don’t play this stupid game.”
The email to Conservative shadow ministers asked them to give examples of their best social media posts, media interviews, and examples of how they have public reach in their portfolios. It also asked if they were still interested in remaining in their roles.
For those who aren’t among Poilievre’s favourite few, the need to showcase media interviews they weren’t given permission to give was seen as particularly bewildering. Even those who don’t believe they’ll be shuffled were annoyed by the exercise and the message it sent.
It’s the latest expression of frustration from Poilievre’s caucus. Since January’s convention in Calgary, which was intended to settle the leadership question — Poilievre received 87.4 per cent of delegate support — the mood internally is bleak, described by several as “dispirited.”
Many Tory MPs have concluded their leader will never win, that he cannot offer an alternative proposal to the one Canadians already rejected.
“How much time and effort do you put into a leader who can’t win?” asked a third MP.
“They’ve got no strategy,” concluded another caucus member.
Conservative MPs are tired of sitting in opposition benches....

Today's News: Conservatives talking - Ford, Poilievre and Scheer. Plus Artemis II Briefing and good news about Ayla Lucas

Conservatives talking

A lot of the news I read today was just various Conservatives talking. So here they are:

Doug Ford
Thursday in the Toronto Star

Premier Doug Ford is appealing for political “certainty” in Canada ahead of contentious trade negotiations with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Ford, in Texas on a trade mission to promote Ontario, stressed “it was the right move” when he called an early Ontario election last year to give his government a stronger hand against Trump.
“Again, it goes back to certainty,” the premier told the Star in a wide-ranging interview Thursday.
“It’s no different than the federal government. They have three byelections, and if they win them, then they’ll have a majority. And again, a magical word in both countries is everyone wants certainty. Everyone wants to move forward,” said Ford. That was a reference to byelections in Toronto’s University—Rosedale and Scarborough Southwest and the suburban Montreal-area riding of Terrebonne on April 13.
Prime Minister Mark Carney will secure a majority government if his Liberals win two of the three.
Should they sweep all three, the governing party would not need Speaker Francis Scarpaleggia to break a tie vote in the Commons.
“I just believe in majority governments,” said Ford, noting his Progressive Conservatives have won three in a row at Queen’s Park.
“As far as I’m concerned Prime Minister Carney is a good man. He’s a very astute business person. He’s a sharp guy,” he said, noting their relationship got off to a great start 13 months ago over breakfast at Wally’s Grill in the premier’s Etobicoke North riding.
“I’ll never forget when I met him the first time, the first words out of his mouth: ‘I’m more conservative than you.’ And I said: ‘well that sounds good.’”...
While the Tory premier — who has had his differences with federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre — insisted he was agnostic in the byelections, he expressed hope the Bloc Québécois does “absolutely not” prevail in Terrebonne....

Today's News: Do Trump and Miller and Poilievre ever get tired of losing? Plus, April Fools, Kit-Kat Kaper, The Launch! and Canada Good News

February 28:

April 1:

Will Trump ever get tired of losing?

Sent this free piece out yesterday morning, but Trump's speech confirmed it. Trump is stuck in Iran. He would like to leave, but as of now he cannot because Iran will not do what he wants. So, all he can do is babble and possibly escalate. Plus it helps Putin, so for Trump that's good.

- Phillips P. OBrien

Read on Substack

Today's News: The comedians will save us; Canada Good News; Epstein Scandal-Gate; Trans Day of Visibility

The comedians will save us all!

Anyone else notice this? Mainstream journalists have forgotten their duty to speak truth to power. It is why it is one of the rights written into the Constitution. Political cartoonists are the real and true heroes of the moment.

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— Mark T. Sneed (@marktsneed.bsky.social) March 30, 2026 at 4:01 AM

Today's News: Comments about Avi, more Danielle Smith grievance theatre, some AI madness, and Brittlestar's Sucker-Punch Spring

A random batch of news tonight:

Comments about Avi

Avi Lewis won the federal NDP leadership this weekend:

You know, I grew up in a CCF family. So part of me still wants the NDP to succeed.
But a much larger part wants Canada to survive as the United States falls into fascism. To do that, Canada needs Carney to be our Prime Minister, likely until at least 2035.
So if the NDP must fail for that to happen, then so be it.
Avi Lewis is a nice guy with a particularly solid back-story. But I think his leadership is not going to be strong enough to help Canada. He doesn't even have a seat, FFS. 

He has never even won an election - municipal, provincial, or federal.
And he says he won't be running for a federal seat any time soon - traditionally, when a seatless leader is selected, one of the party's elected members falls on their sword so the new leader can run in a safe seat.

It doesn't surprise me that Lewis can't ask any of his six remaining MPs to do that for him. I wonder if there are any safe NDP seats left in Canada now?
His policies are progressive, yes, and some are worthy of support I think. But many also strike me as insular, trite, parochial. I shake my head at his stubborn negativity toward Alberta and Saskatchewan, along with his apparent inability to appreciate how Canada's priorities have changed now because of our risky situation with Trump, with NATO, and with the Iran War.

Tom Mulcair responds to Avi Lewis’ criticism: "Mr. Lewis seems to be more intent on convincing other people that he's right and getting them to see his point of view than in dealing with the real differences that exist across Canada and he doesn't even want to run in a byelection."

- Scott Robertson

Read on Substack

James Moore: "I think Mark Carney is one of the luckiest political leaders that we've seen in this country in a long time in the fact the New Democrats keep tripping over themselves and electing people who are not electable to the broader Canadian public."

- Scott Robertson

Read on Substack

Sunday Funday: Canadians being Canadians, 'No Kings' signs, good videos, good posts, getting old(er), Trump gets trolled by Iran, Carney Hat Trick, Trump Watch, and Animal Crackers

Canadians being Canadians

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People doing good - Kinew, Carney, Mamdani, Zelenskyy, Tumbler Ridge, Minneapolis, Forest and Gunther, Joe Biden and the Blue Jays

Global Village collage by Juliet O'Neill

So many times we put our focus on the people and politicians we are criticizing -- and there's a lot to criticize so much of the time, yes indeed. But today I saw a number of stories about good stuff being done, so I thought it might be worthwhile to give everyone some credit.

Wab Kinew 

Telling it like it is

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Wab Kinew: "We're never gonna be the 51st state. We will always be the true North, strong and free."

- Scott Robertson

Read on Substack

Today's News: Greenland might be back on Trump's agenda

I am a little amused at how startled Americans are now, to learn that Greenland and Europe, plus Canada, was ready to fight back in January, to defend Greenland against Trump.

What did they think the North would do? Just roll over? 

This is truly insane, and it should be front page news across America. Denmark secretly deployed soldiers to Greenland prepared to blow up airport runways to stop a U.S. invasion.

— Mike Levin (@mikelevin.org) March 25, 2026 at 9:42 AM

Rachel Maddow reported on this in her Monday MSNOW show:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1Pk... U.S. ally prepares to defend itself against ...the United States Rachel Maddow looks at the news stories we would have trouble believing including Denmark, a U.S. ally, making preparations to defend itself and Greenland against the U.S

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— Canadian Curmudgeon 🍁 (@cdncurmudgeon.bsky.social) March 24, 2026 at 3:58 PM

Doom-scrolling updates: the LaGuardia crash, the predatory economy, Ayla Lucas is still in ICE jail, the Iran War

As I was doom-scrolling today, I seemed to find a lot of crazy or sad or angry stuff, or all three! This Canada Goose reference seemed apt:

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About the LaGuardia crash
The two pilots who died are being remembered as heroes, because their handling of the immanent collision ensured that the plane didn't pinwheel or crash off the runway. They died so everyone else could live.
When I first heard about the controversy over Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau's condolence video being in English, I thought it was overblown, just a distraction. But I can understand it now -- this guy has had years to improve his French but apparently hasn't done the work, and he didn't even seem to realize that the grieving Montreal Air Canada staff and families were disrespected. They needed to hear from Rousseau in their own language, the language they speak every day.

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Thinking About: Canada joining the European Union? Poilievre circling the drain? The Iran War as tragedy and farce?

What about Canada joining the European union?
Politico Europe reported last week Canada could join EU, French foreign minister says Half-joking comments about Canada joining the bloc have become common as Ottawa adapts to its fraying relationship with the United States.

France’s foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot has floated the idea that Canada could one day join the European Union, using the transatlantic ally as a striking example of the bloc’s global appeal.
Speaking at the Europe 2026 conference in Berlin alongside his German counterpart Johann Wadephul, Barrot argued that the EU is increasingly attracting partners far beyond its borders as geopolitical tensions soar.
“Nine countries are formally candidates to EU accession today. Others might join them,” Barrot said. “Iceland in a few weeks or months. And maybe Canada at some point.”
Barrot’s Canada remark was not presented as a concrete policy proposal, but rather as part of a broader argument that the EU is emerging as a “third superpower” capable of balancing the rivalry between the United States and China.
Earlier on Tuesday, Finnish President Alexander Stubb suggested to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney while the pair were out running that he should “think about” joining the EU as well.
The comments come as European leaders push to strengthen the bloc’s geopolitical role amid Russia’s war in Ukraine and the U.S. war in the Middle East....
Canada has already pushed back on any suggestion of EU membership, with Carney stating there are no plans to join the bloc. “The short answer is no,” the Canadian PM said when asked about the idea at the NATO summit earlier this year. “That’s not the intent. That’s not the pathway we’re on.”
Instead, Ottawa has been pursuing closer ties short of membership, including a new strategic defense and security partnership with the EU aimed at deepening cooperation across trade, supply chains and security.
While full EU membership for Canada is unlikely in the short term, and no concrete plans to realize it are yet known to be in motion, given the increasing geopolitical turbulence it is not impossible.

Today's News: Some "what the hell?" moments, plus updates on Epstein Scandal-Gate and the Iran War

Some "What the Hell?" moments
When I saw this, I wondered what the hell had gotten into Tom Mulcair?

Tom Mulcair on Pierre Poilievre's Joe Rogan appearance: "I thought it was an outstanding piece of political communication, and it was bookended by ... frankly one of the best political speeches I've heard any Canadian political leader give on Canada-US relations in a long time."

- Scott Robertson

Read on Substack

Today I found out:

Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair's lavish public praise for Poilievre's appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast seems unlikely until you remember Mulcair joined Stephen Harper's lobby firm Wellington Advocacy in January.

— Alison Creekside (@alisoncreekside.bsky.social) March 23, 2026 at 2:47 AM

Sunday Funday: Actual Canadian news and tips on how to be Canadian, plus other funny stuff, Carney Hat Tricks, TrumpWatch and Animal Crackers

First, some Canadian Actual News from Brittlestar:


Next, did you know that the Canadian citizenship rules have now changed, so that people whose grandparent was Canadian can apply for Canadian citizenship now?
We're getting lots of interest too:

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Plus I'm reading about hundreds of health care workers now moving to Canada.
I think that's great -- welcome to all, and hey, I found some good tips on becoming more Canadian:

Canadian Insults #1

Today's News: Back at it, folks - Poilievre, Ayla Lucas, the Iran War, the Coalition of the Unwilling, and Cuba

Ok, lets get back to it -- some updates and oddball posts about this week's news stories.

I thought this was pretty good -- its Trump's map of the world, as drawn by Julian Fiebach for Der Spiegel

Catching up on this week's news:

Reactions to Poilievre on Joe Rogan

While many in the Canadian media were swooning about Poilievre's appearance, some wiser heads also prevailed.

Pierre Poilievre will not rest until he has secured the support of all 75 Maxime Bernier voters.

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— Tabatha Southey🇨🇦 (@tabathasouthey.bsky.social) March 19, 2026 at 6:07 PM