News roundup, 18 July 2025

- The IDF shelled a Catholic church in Gaza on Wednesday, killing at least two people and injuring several others. The church was providing shelter to hundreds of people, both Muslims and Christians, who had been displaced by the ongoing conflict.

- Daniel Martindale, an American missionary who was living in Poland at the time of Russia's invasion of Ukraine decided he needed to do something. So he crossed the border into Ukraine, set himself up in a village near the front lines, and secretly passed intelligence over to the Russians. Once the village was captured by the Russians, they spirited him out of there and have now given him Russian citizenship as a reward for his service.

- CBS is cancelling the Late Show once Stephen Colbert's contract runs out next year, saying that this was a "financial decision". The most charitable interpretation the folks in this Reddit thread could come up with was that CBS could have to pay a lot more legal fees fighting the roadblocks the Trump regime could throw up for their business if they keep Colbert on the air.

- At a town hall event in Edmonton, Danielle Smith faced a lot of hostile questions from the crowd regarding such matters as schemes to withdraw from the Canada Pension Plan and to create a provincial police force. Notably, though, while the majority of actual speakers on the issue were opposed, a show of hands indicated that the majority of those attending were in favour of both policies.

- An independent candidate in the Alberta riding of  Battle River-Crowfoot, where Pierre Poilievre is running to pick up a seat, has stopped going door-to-door due to receiving death threats.

- Three candidates have registered so far for the byelection in the Winnipeg ward of Elmwood-East Kildonan. The byelection was necessitated by the death of incumbent councillor Jason Schreyer in April. Emma Durand-Wood, a community activist, was the first to register; she has the support of a lot of urbanist types, however the Winnipeg Labour Council has endorsed CUPE activist Carmen Prefontaine. Most recently, a 25 year old candidate named Zekaria Selahadin has entered the race; the byelection will be held in October. 

- The Rural Municipality of Alexander in eastern Manitoba has a serious problem with trolls on their Facebook page. Reportedly some councillors are thinking twice about running in the next municipal election due to the amount of abuse and threats directed at them. A cursory glance at their page failed to bring up any examples (presumably the moderators have been removing them as fast as they can) and the only thing I can see there that might have provoked this is a fire ban (since lifted) that was imposed due to the risk of wildfires. I can easily see the freedumb crowd wanting to stir the pot on such an issue. 

- Police in the Indian state of Karnataka found an undocumented Russian woman living in a cave with two of her children.

- The Oakbank detachment of the RCMP, whose jurisdiction includes Bird's Hill Provincial Park, are investigating after a Tesla Cybertruck parked at the Winnipeg Folk Festival parking lot had a naughty word written on it in marker. They've gone so far as to distribute a photo of the suspect. I have to wonder why anyone driving a Cybertruck would expect that not to happen; of the thousands of people attending a festival like that, there's sure to be at least one who would think you're enough of an asshole to warrant having your truck vandalized. 

The Alberta tail wags the federal dog

It seems that Alberta's opposition is enough to convince the Harper government to shelve the proposed expansion of the CPP:

Provinces are planning to fight for enhancements to the Canada Pension Plan at a key meeting on Monday, setting up a showdown with the Harper government over how Canadians will fund their retirements.

Just days before federal and provincial finance ministers meet in Kananaskis, Ottawa made a surprise move to reject CPP enhancements for now in favour of a new privately run savings vehicle.

The shift in federal priorities on pension reform comes as the Bank of Canada heightens its warnings that Canadians are borrowing too much and saving too little, putting some households at risk when interest rates inevitably climb back from near-record lows.

Ottawa’s critics insist long-term pension problems must be tackled now and premium increases can be phased in, but the Harper government is aligning itself with Alberta in arguing the economy cannot absorb a new hit on the take-home pay of Canadians.

From the Globe. No doubt the feds (and Alberta) like the private-sector nature of the new proposal; from the average citizen's point of view, though, the most significant feature is the fact that it would be a defined contribution plan, unlike the defined benefits provided by the CPP. It's trendy these days to call defined benefit plans "gold-plated pensions"; I suggest that a more appropriate term would be "galvanized", since they protect your pension from corrosion.