- The BC Conservative Party has announced that leader John Rustad has been removed due to "professional incapacitation", to be replaced by Surrey-White Rock MLA Trevor Halford. However, not everyone accepts this, including Rustad himself; he claims this is a violation of the party's constitution. One thing is clear, though - if the party tears itself apart the way it seems to be doing, the fledgling OneBC is the likely beneficiary, as several MLAs who have left the Conservative caucus have joined the new party already. Speaking of OneBC, they just tried to hold an unsanctioned event on the University of Victoria campus on what they call the "reconciliation industry", without bothering to actually get permission from the university to do so; following a confrontation with protesters one person, reportedly the intended speaker at the event, was arrested on trespassing charges. Probably the party is fine with this so that they can play being victims of the "woke mob". Meanwhile another of their MLAs is calling for a statutory holiday in honour of the clownvoy. Now it's easy for those of us on the left to think it's good news when the right goes crazy, but the troubling truth of the matter is that no matter how good a government (and the BC NDP certainly haven't been flawless), sooner or later people will want to vote them out, rightly or wrongly. If there's no non-crazy opposition, people might hold off a bit longer, but sooner or later they're likely to vote in the crazies. Maybe that's why the NDP is open to revisiting the proportional representation question - under PR, there'd be enough room in the centre-right part of the political spectrum to form a coalition that doesn't include OneBC. You'd hope, at least.
- In Alberta, the United Conservative Party held their annual general meeting on the weekend, and elected a new board. Five of the nine members of the new board are separatists. Awkwardly for them, the Forever Canadian petition campaign, initiated by MLA Thomas Lukaszuk (who served as deputy premier under Alison Redford) has just gotten enough signatures to force a vote on the question "Do you agree that Alberta should remain in Canada?" This means that the government will be required to either hold a full vote in the legislature on that question, or hold a plebiscite on the matter. It is widely assumed that the public would vote overwhelmingly yes on the question; then again, it was widely assumed that Brexit wouldn't happen either.
- Donald Trump has told reporters that a land-based attack on Venezuela will be occurring "very soon". A group of senators, including Republican Rand Paul, have filed a resolution that would block such action unless approved by a full vote of Congress. Whether that will matter is another question; assuming Trump isn't able to win the vote, he might well go ahead anyway, asking "what are you going to do about it?"
- The US has proposed a peace plan for Ukraine that would allow Russia to retain captured territory but Ukraine would retain its sovereignty, including the ability to make its own decisions about its military and its alliances. This isn't enough for Putin, who insists that Ukraine's military must be capped in size and that it must be prohibited from joining NATO. He also insists that the entirety of the Donbass, even parts not held by Russian forces, to be turned over to Russia, and that Volodymyr Zelenskyy step down to allow new elections.
- French far-right leader Jordan Bardella was egged while trying to promote his latest book. A 74 year old man was arrested following the incident. This comes just a few days after Bardella had flour thrown at him at another event.
- A City of Winnipeg planning manager believes that the city is not bound by a recent ruling of the Municipal Board that suggests that the Granite Curling Club could have a veto over a proposed affordable housing development. The club's board, of course, is less than impressed with the ruling; Mayor Scott Gillingham says that the city will continue to work with the club on the issue in any case.
- Animal services officers in Hanover County, Virginia were called to a liquor store in the town of Ashland where a raccoon had gained access, destroyed and/or consumed $250 worth of booze, and passed out in the bathroom. The suspect was apprehended with no difficulty, taken down to the county's shelter to sober up, and then released.
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