David Akin's Roundup: Ford support. Doctors' bills. Carney's message.

SUN OCT 26

Canada

Canadian unions, business groups scoff at Donald Trump’s sudden 10 per cent tariff over lingering of Reagan ad

“I support Doug Ford’s ads. Canadians have had enough with the Trump circus. The (new) 10 per cent tariff on Canadian imports just exposed Trump’s glass chin,” said USW’s Marty Warren. “If our political leaders can stick together for all Canadians, be patient, we have the ability to land this trade war in a good place.” In a statement via text, the head of Canada’s Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association blasted Trump’s announcement. | TorStar (🎁 link)

A bad week for Conservatives dredges up doubts, worries about Poilievre’s future as leader

“Everything is about the future,” [Poilievre once] told the crowd at the networking conference. More than 15 years after his words emphasizing the future, Poilievre is coming off a week-long controversy over his comments about a former prime minister who has quickly become ancient history to most Canadians. Some in his party believe the Conservative leader ought to listen to his own advice. | National Post

Carney faces historic choice between South Korea and Europe for submarine fleet

Hanwha’s offer to Canada is the KSS-III Batch-II submarine, while TKMS, as part of a joint German-Norwegian project, is offering the 212 CD. Both are diesel-electric submarines because Canada has ruled out purchasing nuclear-powered boats. There’s a lot riding on this bid for South Korea, according to Dae Young Kim, a defence expert with the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy. The country’s military contractors are winning new customers, but their penetration of advanced Western markets such as Canada, Germany, France and the United Kingdom remains comparatively limited, he said.

The Korean campaign for the Canadian sub contract is like “a national team stepping onto the Olympic stage,” Mr. Kim said. Winning the Canadian submarine contract would be a strategic turning point for Seoul’s efforts to become a major player in the arms market, the analyst said. It would represent a significant shift “from a rising exporter to a top-tier global defense power,” Mr. Kim said. | Globe and Mail 🔐

Report 1 of the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs: First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Identify and Participation in Federal Procurement.

The text below was created by ChatGPT under my supervision based on a prompt to create a summary based on INAN’s Report 1- DA

Members of Parliament are urging the federal government to tighten rules and hand more control to Indigenous Peoples over who qualifies as an Indigenous business, warning that fraudulent claims are undermining both reconciliation and economic opportunity.

In a report tabled Thursday, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs says Ottawa’s flagship program to increase Indigenous participation in federal procurement is being abused by non-Indigenous companies that misrepresent themselves to win set-aside contracts. MPs call for a new federal policy to verify Indigenous identity, Indigenous-led oversight of supplier lists, and penalties for businesses that make false claims.

“Pretendianism would not exist without the absolute failure of colonial systems to look at us and tell us who we are,” Crystal Semaganis, leader of the Ghost Warrior Society, told MPs. “There are absolutely zero legal consequences for claiming to be Indigenous.” | ChatGPT

The Provinces

Quebec adopts special bill to impose new compensation system on doctors

Under the new law, a portion of doctors’ compensation will now be linked to performance targets relating to the number of patients, particularly vulnerable ones, they care for. | Globalnews.ca

Pablo Rodriguez implore les médecins: «Ne quittez pas!, ne quittez pas!»

«Ne quittez pas, ne quittez pas!», a lancé le capitaine des rouges samedi matin, quelques heures après que la CAQ ait fait adopter sous bâillon une loi spéciale afin d’imposer un nouveau mode de rémunération aux médecins du Québec. Pablo Rodriguez demande aux docteurs d’attendre un an, le temps que le Parti libéral reprenne le pouvoir. | TVA Nouvelles

Alberta premier responds to threat of broader labour action in call-in radio show

“We’re at a point now where if they don’t voluntarily agree with us to return to work and do that kind of mediation work, we’re just going to have to have them back,” Smith said. “I hope that most people understand that. I hope it doesn’t end up going to a broader labour action.” She said her government is balancing the rights of taxpayers, students and teachers. | CP

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Elsewhere

Carney tells ASEAN summit Canada respects trade rules, as Trump threatens new tariffs

Prime Minister Mark Carney took a veiled shot at the Trump administration’s trade policy on Sunday, highlighting Canada’s reliability and steadiness without naming the United States or calling out the president directly. “We value a rules-based system. We respect trade agreements and the rule of law. We value the free exchange of goods, capital and ideas,” Carney said at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders summit in Malaysia. | CP

ASEAN must not be ‘passive bystander’ amid global power rivalry, says Malaysia foreign minister

“Our continued relevance will be measured by our ability to engage all partners constructively, while resisting the gravitational pull of rivalry and polarisation,” Mohamad added. Also speaking at the joint meeting - likely the first in 26 years - was Malaysia’s Minister for Investment, Trade and Industry Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz, who said ASEAN must remain steadfast in upholding a rules-based multilateral trading system that underpins global stability and shared prosperity. | CNA

Trump eyes trade deal after US, China reach early consensus in “successful” talks

U.S. President Donald Trump said he was confident of hashing out a deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping, whom he is expected to meet next week, after top economic officials from both countries reached a preliminary consensus in trade talks that concluded on Sunday. | Reuters

Leftwinger Catherine Connolly wins Ireland presidential election by landslide

Connolly 68, captured the imagination of many younger people and was backed by an alliance of leftwing opposition parties in Friday’s election. The presidency is a largely ceremonial office but Connolly’s triumph is a humbling rebuke to the centre-right government. She speaks Irish, espouses equality and wishes to ringfence Irish neutrality from what she calls western “militarism”. She has likened Germany’s arms spending to the Nazi era and accused the UK and US of enabling genocide in Gaza. | The Guardian

+ AI-generated deepfake videos target presidential election

A deepfake version of RTÉ News presenter Sharon Ní Bheoláin in studio saying: “In the last few minutes at a Catherine Connolly campaign event, Catherine Connolly has confirmed her withdrawal from the presidential race.” It then throws to an AI-generated package from Political Correspondent Paul Cunningham, in which a deepfake version of Catherine Connolly says: “It is with great regret that I announced the withdrawal of my candidacy and the ending of my campaign.” The fake is embedded by RTE here and, boy, is it scary to think of something like this happening in a close, i.e. a US presidential election. | RTE

Media

Converged identities? How US evangelical journalists negotiate religious identity and journalistic professional identity

Journalism studies scholarship has consistently troubled the relationship between journalists’ professional identity and various aspects of their personal identity. This study explores how a pivotal aspect of personal identity — religious identity — interacts with journalistic identity. Through the case of US evangelicalism, this study explores how evangelical journalists (n = 29) negotiate their identities. It finds that evangelical journalists conceive of their identities as working in harmony, perceiving their journalistic values as both professional and deeply religious. | Journalism

Science and Technology

Microsoft AI chief says company won’t build chatbots for erotica

Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman on Thursday said the company will not build erotica AI services, distancing itself from longtime partner OpenAI. “That’s just not a service we’re going to provide,” said Suleyman, speaking at the Paley International Council Summit in Menlo Park, California. “Other companies will build that.” | CNBC

The Calendar

• 0330 ET : Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - PM Carney speaks at the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit.

• 0400 ET : Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - PM Carney speaks at a reception for business leaders.

• 0730 ET : Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - PM Carney attends a dinnoer hosted by European Council president António Costa

• 1200 ET : Dartmouth, NS - GPC MP Elizabeth May speaks to the Nova Scotia Women’s Liberal Commission

Issued this day …

… in 1984. Sc 1038. Canadian Locomotives (1860-1905) — 2. Design: Ernst Roch.

This stamp features the GT Class E3 2-6-0 type. Between 1886 and 1896, the Grand Trunk Railroad had these E3 class locomotives built in the Pointe-Saint-Charles shops in Montreal and in the Canadian Locomotive Company’s shops in Kingston.