Today's News: Ragging the Canadian economy puck. Plus updates on wildfires and Commonwealth Games

So Prime Minister Carney kiboshed the suggestion Canada should retaliate with our oil and gas sales to America because we're mad at Trump over his tariff threats.

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I'm seeing some carping about this from our media. 

Outrage of the day: destroying old books. Plus updates on wildfires and the Commonwealth Games

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All over social media, I'm seeing people furiously angry about this.

"“Project Panama is our effort to destructively scan all the books in the world,” an internal planning document said. “We don’t want it to be known that we are working on this.”" novaramedia.com/2026/07/29/a...

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— Greg Jericho (@grogsgamut.bsky.social) July 29, 2026 at 10:22 PM

Today's News: Poilievre evaporates while Trump circles the drain. Plus updates on wildfires and the Commonwealth Games

Am I wrong or has Poilievre evaporated?

I have seen little or nothing about him ever since his Lethbridge Liberace cos-play at the Stampede.

Maybe because he knows how is popularity is plummeting.

Catching up with the news: Cartoon collection, the Gordie Howe Bridge as metaphor, plus wildfire updates, some World Cup news, and the Commonwealth Games

Cartoon Collection

Wildfires, the Commonwealth Games, and this week's Sunday Funday

Today's Wildfire Update
Lots of posts tonight about the fires in Spain and France

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The Tour de France Stage 21 in Paris has been shortened to 89 kilometers due to wildfires.

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 🇨🇦

Read on Substack

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

- Steve Heise

Read on Substack

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....