Generally avoid posting idiotic things this guy says, but as most people know as offensive as this guy is he's been sure not to offend anyone powerful and it seems like he's finally picked a side. Hopefully this will the straw that break the camel back for the Conservatives.

The Conservative leader called for a ban on Chinese software, matching the US.

“We will protect the North American supply chains by keeping the 75% rule in place, harmonise the North American cybersecurity rules by banning Chinese software, and align with our partners on the tariff against China to counter unfair trade and increase our negotiating leverage,” he stated.

19% would be the complacent middle class 🤮

Weeks after it was delivered, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Davos speech is still generating ripples—quoted in think tanks, parsed in Ottawa, and invoked as shorthand for a world tilting away from frictionless globalization.

“We knew,” Carney told that room of elites, high in the Alps in January, “the story of the international rules-based order was partially false.” Just because Canada benefited from it, Carney said, didn’t hide the fact that it was unfair. The rules didn’t apply equally to everyone. “The strongest would exempt themselves when convenient,” he said. Power, not principle, set the terms.

Carney’s argument rested on two ideas that sat—still sit—uneasily together. On the one hand, he spoke of sovereignty, of the need for Canada to secure its supply chains, deepen its industrial capacity, and reduce its exposure to geopolitical shock. On the other, he reaffirmed a faith in the very global systems whose unravelling has made sovereignty newly urgent: open capital flows, integrated markets, and rules-based co-operation led by familiar powers.

The contradiction was not rhetorical; it was structural. Davos itself is built on the promise that global integration can be managed, even as the world that gathers there is busily preparing for its limits. Carney’s speech captured that paradox perfectly. He offered a vision of Canadian independence that still depends, in many ways, on a global system stable enough to respect independence—the very thing he said is eroding.

A pair of Ontario family doctors say they'll have to go back to sending patient prescriptions to pharmacies by fax because a federally funded agency is doing away with an efficient electronic system, with no clear plans for its replacement.

The software allows doctors to instantly send drug prescriptions to pharmacies and approve prescription renewal requests with a click of a mouse. The system brings up the renewal request in an electronic prompt attached to each patient's health record.

It's a crucial tool because Bolzon said he receives up to 35 prescription renewal requests in a typical day while also handling about 30 daily in-person appointments.

So if PrescribeIT is helping doctors manage their patient loads and there's no clear replacement in place, why pull the plug?

In a statement to CBC News, Canada Health Infoway said they worked with governments and system providers to keep PrescribeIT operating. However, the statement said there was no shared funding model and "no viable model emerged that would support the continued operation of a single national service over the long term."

Archive link: https://archive.is/dgZYL

cross-posted from: https://startrek.website/post/36914725

Oscar Best animation picture. Made in Montreal

Archived link

An Ontario judge has thrown out a lawsuit launched against The Globe and Mail by a former Ontario provincial Liberal cabinet minister, ruling there is an important public interest in protecting an investigative journalist’s use of confidential sources.

Michael Chan was claiming $10-million in punitive and personal damages after Globe journalist Robert Fife and Sam Cooper, a former investigative journalist with Global News who now publishes independently, reported extensively on China’s alleged foreign interference efforts in the 2021 federal election.

...

Justice Loretta Merritt of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Wednesday found Mr. Chan failed to provide evidence of a conspiracy and concluded that his lawsuit didn’t seriously challenge The Globe or others’ reporting.

She also found the suit was an effort to obtain the identities of the reporters’ confidential sources.

“Mr. Chan’s lawsuit is what the Supreme Court has recognized as a SLAPP lawsuit: a tactical action that seeks to suppress expression on matters of public interest,” Justice Merritt wrote.

SLAPP stands for strategic lawsuit against public participation.

...

Mr. Chan complained in his suit that The Globe was provided “unfounded and inaccurate” information by the confidential sources when they said segments of CSIS were of the view that he was improperly associating with people who might be intelligence actors on behalf of the Chinese government on matters that were election-related.

In February, 2023, The Globe reported that then prime minister Justin Trudeau and senior aides had been warned that government MPs should be cautious in their dealings with Mr. Chan because of alleged ties to China’s consulate in Toronto. The Globe cited confidential sources who risked prosecution under the Security of Information Act.

...

Mr. Chan has been of interest to CSIS before. The Globe reported in 2015 that Mr. Chan had been the subject of CSIS security briefings in Ontario over fears he was too close to the Chinese consulate. He was a cabinet minister for former Ontario Liberal premiers Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne from 2007 to 2018.

...

Archived link

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has reaffirmed that Canada will continue its sanctions against Russia, including restrictions on Russian oil, even as the United States temporarily eases part of its sanction regime amid rising global oil prices.

Carney made the statement on March 13 during a visit to Norway, where he met with NATO troops participating in a cold-weather military exercise. Speaking alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, the Canadian leader stressed that Ottawa has no intention of relaxing its pressure on Moscow.

The issue was also discussed during a virtual meeting of the Group of Seven (G7) leaders on March 11. According to Chancellor Merz, most of the member countries opposed the U.S. decision to allow limited transactions involving Russian oil for a short period.

“Six out of seven countries believed sanctions on Russia should remain firmly in place,” Merz said, adding that several leaders were surprised to learn that Washington had chosen a different approach.

...

This court case could decide the future of press freedom — and police oversight — in Canada

Archived link

...

Even if Canada mines lithium and builds battery plants, electric vehicles still need a lot of graphite for the anode, and most battery-grade processing is concentrated in China, which refines 90 per cent of the world’s supply.

Now, there is a concrete Canadian move to bring the refining process home.

Canadian mineral exploration company Nouveau Monde Graphite is backed by government funding and has supply deals with major buyers.

“We cannot just once again repeat the model that’s been used in the past, where we extract the resource, send it elsewhere to be refined and then purchase it back,” said Julie Paquet, a spokesperson for Nouveau Monde Graphite (NMG).

...

Last month, the company secured a binding offtake agreement and a US$25 million investment from Panasonic Energy to support its Phase-2 Matawinie Mine and Battery Material Plant in Bécancour, Que.

Panasonic agreed to buy 13,000 tonnes of active anode material per year.

NMG also signed a deal to supply 18,000 tonnes per year of battery-ready anode material to General Motors.

Canada has the world’s 10th-largest graphite reserves, according to Natural Resources Canada.

Those deals matter because they help Canada move faster to build out its own supply chain, says Max Yerrill, a critical minerals analyst at BMO Capital Markets.

He says by increasing its graphite capacity and suppressing global prices, China has kept competitors out. It also used its leverage in the critical minerals markets, specifically graphite, and put export restrictions on it, creating a significant strategic vulnerability for Canada’s green energy goals.

...

In Canada, it's thought those serious (maternal) cases happen at a rate of less than 18 out of every 1,000 deliveries. But that estimate is based specifically on labour and delivery, the relatively short period of time spanning from the onset of regular contractions to the moment the placenta is expelled after childbirth.

New Canadian research suggests close to a third of life-threatening complications also happen to women after that period, during the early weeks following the delivery — a time when mothers typically experience far less medical tracking and support than they did during pregnancy.

From sepsis to severe hemorrhage, nearly 30 per cent of cases of severe maternal morbidity happened within the first six weeks postpartum, according to findings based on a cohort of more than a million births in Ontario between 2012 and 2021.

More than half of those serious cases were during labour and delivery itself, while another 16 per cent occurred earlier during pregnancy.

Comments

Archived link

Canada’s only primary antimony operation, the Beaver Brook mine in Newfoundland and Labrador, remains on care and maintenance under China Minmetals’ ownership, despite nameplate capacity of about 6,000 tonnes of concentrate per year—roughly 5% of global supply. The shutdown follows Beijing’s 2024 export restrictions on antimony, which drove prices sharply higher and exposed Western dependence on Chinese mining, refining and processing. Policymakers now fear the asset could be used to “flood the market” and suppress rival projects, even as the US funds domestic players such as United States Antimony and Perpetua Resources’ Stibnite project.

...

China Minmetals’ 15-year control of Beaver Brook mirrors a pattern in our critical minerals coverage where Chinese state-linked entities hold key upstream positions in North America and Europe, giving them optionality to constrain or release supply without needing to divest assets.

...

Policy debate [in Canada] now centres on whether foreign-controlled critical mineral assets should face security reviews similar to defence infrastructure.

...

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre issued a joint statement during NATO's Exercise Cold Response in Bardufoss, Norway.

The leaders argued that easing restrictions undermines Western efforts to pressure Russia into negotiations and to end the war in Ukraine.

"Canada's position is to maintain sanctions on Russia … including on the shadow fleet, which is moving this oil," Carney said at a press conference. Threats to European security

The Canadian prime minister emphasized that cooperation between Russia and Iran poses a direct threat to European security. He added that such interactions come at a high cost to the Ukrainian people, meaning pressure on Russia must only increase.

Carney noted that Canada, together with European partners, will continue acting within the Coalition of the Willing to counter Russian energy revenues that finance the war.

....

Web Archive link

Two people have been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of Masood Masjoody, a former instructor at Simon Fraser University and an outspoken critic of the Islamic Republic, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) said.

The charges were laid Friday against Mehdi Ahmadzadeh Razavi, 48, of Maple Ridge, and Arezou Soltani, 45, of North Vancouver. Both are accused in the killing of Masjoody, 45, who was reported missing last month.

Masjoody was first reported missing on February 2. According to the Canadian police, Burnaby Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) began investigating after neighbors raised concerns about his sudden disappearance. Officers soon determined that the circumstances were unusual and suggested possible criminal activity.

The case was later transferred to the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT), which worked alongside Burnaby RCMP and several specialized units as the investigation expanded.

...

On March 6, investigators located Masjoody’s remains in Mission, British Columbia.

Authorities say the victim and the two accused were known to each other, though the motive for the killing has not yet been determined.

...

Masjoody was known for his online presence and commentary on Iranian politics. Members of the Iranian-Canadian community say he had spoken out against individuals he believed were linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Masjoody made allegations about individuals he believed had ties to Iranian security institutions. In online posts, he alleged that Colonel Alireza Soltani — the incumbent IRGC commander in the Maku Free Trade Zone in northwestern Iran — is the uncle of one of the accused, Arezou Soltani.

He also alleged that her father, Ataollah Soltani, is a retired member of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Committees and previously served as commander of a committee outpost in the village of Khalakhaleh in Maku County.

...

Web Archive link

@canada Residents of #canada, would you be in favour of your province or territory abolishing annual clock changes and moving to a consistent, year round time?

If yes, what would you prefer: year round daylight savings time (an extra hour of sunlight in the evening) or standard time (an extra hour of sunlight in the morning)?

We share some common security concerns,' Canadian prime minister says.

The leaders of five Nordic countries — plus Canada — have gathered in Oslo for a mini-summit to discuss strengthening defence capabilities in the face of higher international tensions, including recent threats by the Trump administration to take over Greenland.

The meeting Sunday is the last stop in Norway for Prime Minister Mark Carney, who arrived early Friday to witness a major NATO military exercise in the northern part of the country involving more than 30,000 troops, sailors and aircrew.

"We sometimes call Canada an honorary Nordic" country, said Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, who added that when he told the prime ministers of Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland that Carney would be in Oslo this weekend, they all jumped at the chance to talk collective security with him.

...

The report lays out five stark scenarios of potential moves that Russian President Vladimir Putin could make against the Nordic and Baltic countries, if Moscow ever achieves a victory in its long-running war to subjugate Ukraine.

Three of the five scenarios involve Russian forces seizing key islands off Norway, Finland and Sweden in so-called low risk operations in order to test NATO's resolve.

...