News roundup, 26 June 2026

- Chinese automakers BYD, Chery, and Geely say they are "willing to explore" the possibilities of joint ventures to enable the production of their vehicles in Canada. This would enable them to sell cars far in excess of current import quotas, while creating jobs in this country. The devil is always in the details with such things, of course; the biggest question is whether they will actually hire locally, or if they'll just bring in workers from overseas who might not know what their labour rights are in this country. For instance, when HD Mining posted their job requirements for a mine in BC a number of years ago, one of them was fluency in Mandarin, and they used the temporary foreign worker program to import labour after not getting enough applicants meeting that requirement. It remains to be seen if that will happen here.

- China has introduced new "ethnic unity" legislation that creates a shared identity among different ethnic groups in the country. What is alarming about this is that it includes a clause saying that groups and individuals outside the country can be held legally accountable for "inciting ethnic separatism" or "undermining ethnic unity"; this is particularly concerning given the country's history of running covert overseas police stations. Of course China is far from the only country to claim the right to enforce their laws outside their borders (the US is guilty of that practice too, most famously in the Meng Wanzhou case).

- The captain of an Air Canada Q400 flying from Newark to Halifax experienced a medical emergency, apparently a seizure, while in command of the aircraft. The aircraft was safely landed in Boston by the first officer; passengers say that the captain was "kicking and flailing" as flight attendants dragged him out of the cockpit.

- The greenhouse emissions from City of Winnipeg operations rose last year; the biggest factor, interestingly, was not heating buildings or the city's substantial fleet of vehicles but methane emissions from the Brady Road landfill. The city hopes to have an organic waste composting program in place in a few years, but it would be nice to be able to do something about the stuff already in the landfill, such as using landfill gas to generate electricity (as Waterloo has been doing since 1999).

- An arrest warrant has been issued for a former correctional officer who was the case manager for a convicted murderer who escaped from a prison in Port Coquitlam, BC. Naila Sheikh is wanted for breach of trust; it's unclear if the charges are directly related to the escape.

- The former finance director for Jesuits in Canada has been ordered to repay $8.8 million after stealing from the organization for many years. I seem to recall there being something about that kind of behaviour in the Bible. No criminal charges have been filed, interestingly.

News roundup, 8 Feb 2024

- A preliminary version of the City of Winnipeg's 2024 budget has been presented. Transit is faring better than I'd feared; the reworking of the system is still scheduled to go ahead and service will be added to some suburban neighbourhoods; on the downside the fares are expected to increase by 10 cents each year for four years. We may also see the ability to use credit or debit cards on buses (something implemented by other cities years ago). There's also more being budgeted towards urban forestry, and they're looking at new sources of sorely needed revenue. On the downside, three city pools and 20 wading pools will be closing.

- The city is also looking at selling landfill gas on the natural gas market, rather than just flaring it as they do now. This could mean a 40% reduction in emissions, as well as $10 million in revenue for the city over a 20 year period.

- Manitoba is making moves towards faster accreditation of foreign-educated healthcare professionals. This is very much needed, both for the sake of our healthcare system and the professionals themselves (lets face it, driving a cab isn't the living it used to be).

- The question of what Justin Trudeau should say about the American presidential election is a tricky one. There's said to be a tradition of Canadian and American leaders not interfering in each other's elections (well, JFK actively worked to elect Lester Pearson but I guess we don't talk about that). The thing is, Trudeau is naturally tempted to draw comparisons between Trump and Pierre Poilievre; this is definitely a bit of an exaggeration but there are similarities in their populist style (and stronger similarities in terms of who tends to support them). This could have short-term benefits for Trudeau if it forces Poilievre to take a position on Trump, but two senior diplomats are warning that this could make things much worse for Canada if Trump manages to win.

- The Conservatives continue to be at the top of the polls nationally. The latest Nanos poll has the Cons at 40%, the Liberals at 24.7%, and the NDP at 20.6%, with the other parties in single digits.

- A private member's motion by NDP MP Lisa Marie Barron, which called for a citizens' assembly on electoral reform, has been defeated, despite the support of all of the NDP, Green, and Bloc MPs as well as 40 Liberals and 3 Conservatives. The only surprise is that so many Liberals did vote for it; most of their colleagues, though, as well as all other Conservatives, voted to protect their own perceived interests.

- The US Environmental Protection Agency is tightening the rules on soot emissions. Industry groups, though, are making angry noises.