Showing posts with label Greg McFarlane. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Greg McFarlane. Show all posts

Thursday, October 29, 2026

News roundup, 29 Oct 2026

- Scott Gillingham has been easily reelected as mayor of Winnipeg, winning 39.8% of the vote. The second place contender, Kevin Klein, got 20.7%, barely ahead of the progressive candidate, Noah Redden, who got 19.8%. Happily, Mike Vogiatzakis was far behind at 9.7%; I guess many of the kind of people who would vote for a reactionary loudmouth like him already live outside the city like he does (he was only eligible to run because he owns a business in the city). Gillingham will be presiding over a significantly different council than last term; nine of the fifteen councillors will be new,  including four who managed to take out incumbents - Natalie Smith defeated Ross Eadie in Mynarski, Kelly Ryback took out Shawn Dobson in St James, Greg McFarlane ousted Devi Sharma in Old Kildonan, and Lora Meseman crushed sexual assault suspect Russ Wyatt in Transcona. Full results can be found here.

- The Ford government will be appointing chairs for the regional municipalities of Halton, Peel, York, Durham, Muskoka, Waterloo, and Niagara as well as the warden of Simcoe County. Previously, some of them (such as the chair of Waterloo Region) were elected by the public, while others were chosen by the regional council, but under new legislation (Bill 100, dubbed the "Better Regional Governance Act" by the government), the chairs are appointed by the province, and moreover will have powers similar to the "strong mayor" powers in some cities - they will not only be able to veto some council votes, but they will be able to force through changes with the support of only a third of the council. Presumably this is to make sure that regional governments do the bidding of Doug Ford.

- Flavio Bolsonaro, who fled Brazil following his defeat in that country's presidential election, has arrived in the US along with his family. He faced charges of tax evasion and money laundering; for his part he claims to be the rightful president-elect, claiming (without evidence) that the election was fraudulent (for their part, international observers have said that the election was fair, but Donald Trump, not surprisingly, says otherwise).

- The European Union is abandoning the term "associate membership" that had been mooted for Canada following opposition to the use of the term by some member states (notably Germany). The latest draft document calls for an "ever closer association" between Canada and the EU. Mark Carney is not concerned, saying this is merely a change in terminology.

- France is moving the entire town of Miquelon to higher ground on the eponymous island. The move will take place gradually over several decades; rising sea levels mean there is little choice in the matter, though.