The Ones Who Walk Away

illustration from Sam Woolfe

So tonight I was reading some Rodger Sherman posts about sports - one of the American journalists I follow because of his wide sports knowledge - and his last Olympic newsletter was mentioned. People liked this part especially:

But you know, I just couldn't accept this statement.

Here we go again -- another Poilievre re-set

Here we go again. Another Poilievre "re-set" is underway.

This time, he's Serious!!! Calm!!! Statesman-like!!! Thoughtful!!!
The occasion was a speech in Toronto to the Economic Club of Canada on Thursday. 

The At Issue panel starts talking about it at the 8:20 mark:

TLDW -
Raj: "good speech, good politics...need to focus on the relationship but this too shall pass. We need to use our leverage... Mark Carney has failed to live up to his promises..."
Hebert: "a lot of Canadians have made up their minds about Poilievre... but its good news about not giving away the country. He's playing the long game, that I'm a serious person, going on trips outside the country..."
Coyne: "it depends on the follow-up...it was a change in tone, it was statesman-like after a week of demagoguery on the refugee file...more emphasis on getting successful trade negotiations...he's overestimating our trade advantages..."

Today's News: SOTU follow-ups, #ETTD, Epstein Scalp-watch, and the war in Ukraine plus other wars

State of the Union Follow-ups

I found some good posts today about that SOTU:

PM Carney about the State of Union address: “I didn’t watch it.” 😂🤣😅 I love this guy 😅🤣

[image or embed]

— 🍁🇨🇦Team Canada Forever🇨🇦🍁 (@teamcanadaforever.bsky.social) February 25, 2026 at 6:50 PM

View on Threads

Definitely the first State of the Union where the president talked about the military killing unarmed fishermen as a laugh line

— Tom Scocca (@tomscocca.bsky.social) February 24, 2026 at 9:44 PM

"Holy shit, did WE ever make the right decision" - The US Women's Hockey Team

— The Daily Show (@thedailyshow.com) February 24, 2026 at 10:01 PM

Today's News: Playing politics against refugees in Canada, the State of the Union and the state of the NHL

Poilievre and the Conservatives have apparently decided their fortunes could improve if they can convince Canadians to play politics against refugees:

View on Threads

We’re back to the racist and MAGA scapegoating of immigrants and asylum seekers for the failing healthcare systems. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) February 24, 2026 at 1:34 PM

Today's News: Some interesting stuff that isn't politics, plus Olympic Wrap-up

The State of the Union is tomorrow and we do NOT plan to watch even a single moment.
In fact, I am mostly "politicked-out" for now. So I thought tonight it would be interesting to sample a wider range of interesting stuff.

Just as Cory Doctorow invented "enshittification" to describe the inevitable decline of social media, so Ryan Broderick has invented "pre-deplatformed" to describe the new generation's intention to reject social media restrictions of artistic guerilla creativity.
At Garbage Day, Broderick writes The only taboo left is copyright infringement The Future Of Media Is Pre-Deplatformed

....if everything is just attention now, and attention is completely commodified by algorithmic tech platforms, how can you push back against that? Well, I am slowly coming around to a theory on the new cool: You have to essentially pre-deplatform yourself.
Culture right now is determined not by human teams of editors and producers picking and choosing what youth culture gets the spotlight, but, instead, by the unthinking algorithms that power YouTube and TikTok. Which means the only things that have the level of scarcity and danger required to be seen as cool by young people will, slowly, but surely, be whatever is unacceptable on those platforms.
... But politics, left or right, is actually not actually the most subversive thing you can do right now. It’s copyright infringement.
In 2022, filmmaker Vera Drew created a movie called The People’s Joker, which turned the story of The Joker from Batman into a trans allegory. Drew received a cease and desist from Warner Bros. and held guerilla screenings of the film until the rights were worked out. And this trend, of filmmakers using the corpse of the theater system to bypass the world of algorithms, has only continued. The 2022 film Hundreds Of Beavers had a similar renegade quality to how it was screened. Hell, even Taylor Swift was savvy enough to screen the Eras Tour concert in theaters directly through AMC. And you could argue that’s what YouTuber Mark “Markiplier” Fischbach just did with Iron Lung, which bypassed the studio system entirely and caused such a stir in Hollywood its massive ticket sales were removed from box office charts.
In fact, just this week, filmmaker Matt Johnson released Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie. It had the biggest opening ever for a live-action Canadian film and not only is the film itself a massive copyright rats nest, but the web series it’s based on is completely illegal to watch on streaming platforms currently. Johnson, at a screening I attended last week, said he was excited to find out if they were going to get sued once the film debuted this week. (They haven’t yet, it seems.)
... The culture that feels the most dangerous, and, thus, exciting to young people, will be what you can’t see online. And the most dangerous thing for platforms is not racist garbage. It’s unmonetizeable content. The “metric” that will matter most going forward will not be the numbers at the bottom of a post or video, but the human beings in a room that left their house to experience something. Which, of course, will be filmed and put back online. You can’t escape the matrix entirely.

Broderick follows up with a related piece this week An endless feed of celebrities eating chicken wings.
Both articles are worth reading.

Sunday Funday: Olympics Catch-Up, this week's funny posts, plus Carney Hat-trick, Epstein Scalp-watch, TrumpWatch, Animal Crackers

Olympic Catch-up
Hey everyone, if you google "olympics" you can watch Nazgul run across the bottom of your screen!

The Olympics are almost over -- Canada's Day 15 results here. For what is coming up on Day 16, click here.

Canada now has 19 medals at the Olympics after this Ivanie Blondin silver. And with guaranteed medals in curling and hockey, Canada will surpass 20 medals at the Winter Olympics once again. It’s a streak that started 20 years ago in Italy. And continues.

— Devin Heroux (@devinheroux.bsky.social) February 21, 2026 at 10:43 AM

Today's News: That SCOTUS Tariff Decision, Poilievre Doom-Scrolling, Epstein Scalp-Watch, Olympic Catch-Up

First,  a few tariff cartoons that I collected for everyone to enjoy:

KABOOM! That SCOTUS Tariff Decision
How bullies always react when someone tells them to cut it out:

View on Threads

(On a side note, it always amuses me when reporters get so prissy about somebody swearing. Of course, if I had a job where I could be fired for dropping an f-bomb, I guess I'd be pretty careful about it too.)

Today's News: Danielle Smith demonizes Canada again; Poilievre's failed leadership; Epstein Scalp-Watch; Olympic Catch-Up

Danielle Smith is demonizing Canada again
Alberta premier Danielle Smith is desperate to rev up the Alberta Federal Grievance Industry again, in spite of Carney actually doing a lot of what Alberta says it wants. And she is grasping at any excuse to blame someone else for Alberta's likely-huge deficit. 

So on Thursday Smith decided to pander to her MapleMAGA base by announcing a fall referendum on immigration, with a few swipes at federal powers too (subtext: shiftless brown immigrants and Ottawa civil servants are costing you money!!!!)
So where did these "problems" come from? Just two years ago Smith was complaining to Trudeau that Alberta needed thousands more spaces in the Provincial Nomination Program, especially for Ukrainian refugees.
Now, all of a sudden, immigration is a Big Problem that Alberta should be Big Mad about.

The Breakdown describes it as Separatism By Any Other Name...

...Many pundits and observers have clearly stated that Smith wants, and maybe even needs a campaign. She’s at her best when she’s meeting with people directly, not in the legislature.
A polarizing referendum gives her the opportunity to control with certainty what she wouldn’t be able to control in an early election, the election question.
And with a referendum, she gets complete control over what the questions are, how they are framed, where she gets to place herself, and perhaps most importantly, where she gets to place her opponents.
The referendum she announced tonight has two major themes.
The first is immigration.
Even Smith acknowledged that because she is attempting to alter the social fabric of the province so drastically, she needs a mandate to do so.
How does she intend to alter it?
On October 19, 2026, Smith will be asking Albertans for a mandate to...
-Giving Alberta greater control over immigration in order to decrease it and prioritizing Albertan jobs to Albertans first.
-Introducing a law to limit access to services to only Canadian citizens, permanent residents or people that Alberta approves of.
-Introducing a low requiring 12 months of residency in Alberta before accessing Alberta social programs.
-Charging fees for non-citizens or non-permanent residents to access healthcare and education.
-Requiring proof of citizenship, such as a passport, birth certificate, or citizenship card to vote in provincial elections.
So while many Americans are preparing for midterms that many expect will be the first major repudiation of MAGA, Danielle SMith is embracing some of their core principles.
But that’s not all...
Smith is also bringing forward 4 questions on constitutional changes.
Despite the requirements for constitutional change being outside of the reach of a single province, Smith will be asking Albertans if they...
-Believe that provincial governments should appoint all judges at all levels.
-Believe that the senate should be abolished.
-Believe that provinces should be allowed to opt out of federal programs “intruding on provincial jurisdiction such as health, education, and social services, without losing any of the associated federal funding” for use in their own provincial social programs.
-Believe that provincial laws should be given supremacy when they are in conflict with federal laws.
It is the last two that Albertans should be paying closest attention to in this bunch.
Smith has framed the relationship between the provinces and the federal government as one being locked in eternal conflict and is creating a de facto state of administrative separation instead of a literal one that separatists are advocating for across the province (albeit in smaller numbers than they would like to admit).
Again, any of these constitutional changes are outside of the reach of a single province to enact and if Alberta’s last referendum on equalization is any kind of barometer on the direct weight and consequence of what these questions can accomplish, they are likely of little concern in that context.
But that’s far from the real point, or the real risks.
Canada is under attack economically and under threat geographically from it’s former best friend. Donald Trump and his ilk have repeatedly made threats of taking over Canada and making it the 51st state.
At perhaps one of the most important times in Canada’s history for national unity to be a priority, Smith is seeking a mandate to drive a wedge directly into the heart of Confederation.
Make no mistake, with this last batch of questions, the subtext of all of these questions is, “Are you an Albertan first or a Canadian first?” There’s no room in this referendum for those identities to be equally weighted.
And that fact alone shows a fundamental failure to meet the demands of the moment on behalf of the people she has been elected to represent.

Today's News: Carney wins, Poilievre loses; the Epstein files get hotter, Minneapolis is still ICEed; and Olympic Catch-up

Carney wins, Poilievre loses
Wow!

Alberta MP Matt Jeneroux has joined the Liberal caucus, making him the third Conservative MP to break with his party since November – a move that puts the Carney government on the cusp of a majority.
Though they now hold 169 seats in the House of Commons, the Liberals are expected to pick up two more when by-elections are called in two safe Liberal ridings.
To attain a majority government, they would still need a seat in addition to those two. They have a chance to secure one in a third by-election, set to be called in the Quebec riding of Terrebonne. But the Liberal candidate won there by just a single vote in last April’s elections. The Supreme Court recently annulled that result, making the by-election necessary.
Another path to a majority could come about if Prime Minister Mark Carney recruits another MP from a rival party to join his caucus.

But what everyone is talking about tonight isn't Carney's success in (almost) achieving a majority government, but rather Pierre Poilievre's weakened leadership.

View on Threads

Roundup of comments on Canada's Defense Industrial Strategy, those radical mainstream environmentalists, the Epstein conspiracy, and Olympic Catch-up

I found some good posts and commentary today on a random assortment of topics:

Comments about Canada's Defense Industrial Strategy
First, some background - in her February 17, 2026 newsletter on Tuesday, Heather Cox Richardson references the Munich conference and how the world is moving on without the US:

...Foreign affairs journalist Anne Applebaum noted that the word in Munich was that “Europe needs to emancipate itself from the U.S. as fast as possible.” In Germany, Der Spiegel reports plans to bring Ukrainian veterans to teach German armed forces drone use and counter-drone practices the Ukrainians are perfecting in their war against Russian occupation. Canada’s prime minister Mark Carney is working to reduce Canada’s defense dependence on the U.S., ramping up domestic defense production.
Carney has advanced a foreign policy that centers “middle powers” and operates without the U.S. That global reorientation has profound consequences for the U.S. economy, as well. Canada is leading discussions between the European Union and a 12-nation Indo-Pacific bloc to form one of the globe’s largest economic alliances. A new agreement would enable the countries to share supply chains and to share a low-tariff system. Canada also announced it is renewing its partnership with China. As of this week, Canadians can travel to China without a visa.
Today France’s president Emmanuel Macron and India’s prime minister Narendra Modi upgraded Indian-French relations to a “Special Strategic Partnership” during a three-day visit of Macron to Mumbai. They have promised to increase cooperation between the two countries in defense, trade, and critical materials.
Trump insisted that abandoning the free trade principles under which the U.S. economy had boomed since World War II would enable the U.S. to leverage its extraordinary economic might through tariffs, but it appears, as economist Scott Lincicome of the Cato Institute wrote today for Bloomberg, that the rest of the world is simply moving on without the U.S....

Today's News: Olympic Catch-up, plus Canada's trade moves

Olympic Catch-up

Canada's Day 9 results here, and our Day 10 results here. For what is coming up on Day 11, click here.

Gold!


Gold!


Silver!

Sunday Funday: Olympic Catch-up plus some funny and lovely posts, and Carney Hat-trick, TrumpWatch, Animal Crackers

Olympic Catch-up

Click here for Canada's Day 8 results and click here for what is coming up on Day 9. 

Bronze

And some other achievements:

View on Threads

This isn't a Canadian win, but I'm posting it anyway:

What a great photo of Brazilian alpine skier Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, the first South American to ever win a medal at the Winter Olympic Games.

[image or embed]

— Jerad Walker (@jeradwalker.bsky.social) February 14, 2026 at 3:06 PM

Round-up: Tumbler Ridge Vigil; commentaries from Coyne & Smith; observations about US-Canada relations; Olympic Catch-up

First, some posts about the Tumbler Ridge Vigil

CARNEY: "When you wake up tomorrow, and the world feels impossible, know that millions of Canadians are with you ... Because Canada is a community that relies on each other's grace. And may that grace bless us all."

- Scott Robertson

Read on Substack

Pierre Poilievre reads a short poem for the victims of Tumbler Ridge.

- Scott Robertson

Read on Substack

EBY: "Things are going to be different but there are going to be things that are familiar and one of those things is the courage and the bravery and the amazing kids, the students, the young adults, the people of Tumbler Ridge."

- Scott Robertson

Read on Substack

Weekly Wrap: Tumbler Ridge Strong, Minnesota is winning, the Trump administration is losing all over, and Olympics Catch-up

Tumbler Ridge Strong
Stories of courage will be coming

Stories of brave students, teachers emerging after Tumbler Ridge shooting, B.C. premier says

[image or embed]

— CTV News Vancouver (@ctvnewsvancouver.bsky.social) February 13, 2026 at 1:00 AM

Meanwhile, Canada's political leaders are gathering together in Tumbler Ridge.

#CanadianNews - Prime Minister Mark Carney and other federal party leaders will travel to Tumbler Ridge, B.C., to attend a vigil commemorating the victims of Tuesday's shooting. I by CBC news - via The Torontonian Magazine 🇨🇦🍁 www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

[image or embed]

— The Torontonian🍁🇨🇦 🇪🇺 🇬🇱 🇮🇱 🇲🇽 🇺🇦 🏒⚽️ (@thetorontonian.bsky.social) February 13, 2026 at 12:14 AM

Today's News: Mourning with Tumbler Ridge, plus Olympic Catch-up

The people of Tumbler Ridge gathered to mourn together on Wednesday night.

Prime Minister Carney says "All of Canada stands by you":


The BC Government has set up a Condolence Book in the Parliament Building in Victoria, with an online form posted here.
When I was searching for news, I found that the Vancouver Sun has detailed coverage of the tragedy on its main page here ,and also that the CBC has excellent coverage on its CBC main page here.