News roundup, 30 June 2026

- Federal heritage minister Marc Miller is bothered by the fact that the Canadian Museum for Human Rights' exhibit on the Nakba does not describe Hamas as a terrorist group. Perhaps he needs to do some brushing up on his history; the Nakba took place in 1948 and Hamas was not founded until 1987. I guess Miller is more concerned about virtue signalling to those who might donate to his campaign (or to his opponents) than actual history.

- Politicians in the US are starting to lose elections over their support of AI data centres. The president of Utah's state senate and a county commissioner were defeated in primaries; both believe that this resulted from their support of Stratos, a large data centre planned for near Great Salt Lake that was backed by Dragon's Den and Shark Tank investor (and former Conservative leadership candidate) Kevin O'Leary.

- The attorneys general of 17 Republican-dominated states are suing California over that state's Plastic Act. The legislation requires an immediate 25% reduction in single use plastics for packaging and requires all packaging to be recyclable or compostable by 2032. The Republican AGs claim that California's law will significantly increase product prices in their own states, and that this constitutes a violation of the US Constitution's "Commerce Clause".

- A data breach at Crime Stoppers has aroused fears that the lives of informants could be at risk. The breach occurred several months ago; the Canadian branch of the organization says that it's unsure if tipsters' info was part of the breach, but there are allegations that this information has been offered for sale on the dark web. Canadian Crime Stoppers Association president David Forster declined an interview and told board members across the country to do the same. Reports from the US say that decades worth of information was stolen, and Portland's police service is warning people not to submit tips using the organization's platform while the matter is being investigated.

- Manitoba's Hanover School Division, which covers Steinbach and surrounding area, has introduced a new policy on student activism that it claims is meant to support "age-appropriate activism". Given that the division keeps getting hauled into the minister's office over possible censorship, this bears close watching.

- Courts are seeing an increase in the use of phony, AI-generated case law. This happens most often with people representing themselves, but actual lawyers have been taken in by this as well.

News roundup, 28 Nov 2024

- The Canadian dollar has dropped to its lowest level in four years following Donald Trump's threats to impose massive tariffs. Meanwhile, many are pointing out that if these tariffs are imposed, the damage will not be limited to Canada and Mexico; the American auto industry is highly integrated with that of its NAFTA partners.

- The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505, which represents Winnipeg Transit drivers, is calling for an expansion of the community safety team, as well as improvements for the shields that protect drivers from attacks. However, there are concerns about whether there's enough money in the budget for this. On a related note, the city is testing shatterproof glass in bus shelters to limit vandalism, something that's long overdue.

- Labour negotiations at Canada Post are not going well; the federally appointed mediator is backing away until the two sides can come up with positions that can be worked with.

- The German government is probably hoping that Benjamin Netanyahu doesn't set foot in their country, as they seem to be tying themselves in knots trying to reconcile their support for the International Criminal Court with their efforts to atone for the Holocaust by their unconditional support of Israel.

- Calin Georgescu, a far-right candidate who is running as an independent, has come out on top in the first round of presidential elections. The second round will be held on 8 December.

- Nova Scotia's Conservatives won their second successive majority government on Tuesday. The opposition Liberals suffered severe losses and have fallen into third place behind the NDP; their leader lost his own seat.

- The Winnipeg couple charged with killing and torturing animals and selling footage on the "dark web" now face additional charges; these include bestiality and accessing child pornography. In addition, there is evidence that they planned to torture a child. I daresay this lends support to my initial suspicion that they are not good people.

- Oddly enough, Winnipeg is the only municipality in Manitoba that is authorized to use photo radar enforcement. The mayor of Brandon would like that to change.

- A city councillor in Sarnia, Ontario has been expelled from a council meeting following an unhinged, profanity-laden rant in which he insulted most of his colleagues. He will not be allowed back until he apologizes, something he has so far refused to do. He apparently intends to run for mayor in the next municipal election; some folks on Reddit fear that his behaviour will help his cause more than it hurts him. Sadly, they may be right; Sarnia is not a big city and its economy is dependent on very dirty industries, both of which make for a lot of the kind of people who see this kind of rude and childish behaviour as a sign of authenticity.