dailynewsnblog
Here’s what you may have missed this long weekend.
The Globe and Mail reports there could soon be change at Rideau Hall, with Governor-General Mary Simon and former journalist and husband Whit Fraser preparing an exit.
Mr. Fraser, who spoke with The Globe and Mail ahead of the release of his memoir, was reluctant to provide details about his wife’s plans, but the 84-year-old, whose official title is vice-regal consort, signalled that Ms. Simon is ready to move on.
“I’ll put it this way: that discussion has to happen only between Mary and the Prime Minister and they have talked,” he said. “But I’ll tell you that we’re looking for an apartment.”
Speaking of sovereign representatives…
CBC reports on an upcoming book authored by a prominent royal commentator who says U.S. President Donald Trump was primarily interested in annexing Canadian territory just above the U.S.-Canada border — and his respect for King Charles may have quashed that goal.
British journalist Robert Hardman recounts a conversation where President Trump was surprised to learn that Canada recognizes King Charles III as Head of State.
Moving over to Nova Scotia, tensions flared over the weekend as First Nations and the provincial government clashed over who has jurisdiction in Indigenous communities.
Premier Tim Houston says blocking highways “is never acceptable” after protestors set up multiple blockades in reaction to an RCMP raid on an unregulated Indigenous cannabis shop in Cape Breton.
Houston made the comments after leaders of Potlotek First Nation, where the raid took place Thursday, rejected an RCMP description of the protests as an “illegal blockade.”
Potlotek said in a news release blocking Highway 4 after the storefront raid was instead a “powerful demonstration of unity and solidarity across our Nation” — without giving a specific legal rationale.
CP has more on this.
Looking ahead to the rest of the week, Liberals will soon be flocking to Montreal for their big convention, the first to be held under Prime Minister Mark Carney. As Toronto Star notes, this event will be “an important insight into just how new the Liberals really are; how much Carney and his thinking have put the party on a different course from the Justin Trudeau era.”
Liberals could soon go from minority to majority rule, should they win all three byelections next week. The two Toronto races are considered safe for the Liberals, whereas Terrebonne in Quebec is more of a nail-biter, although pollsters Nik Nanos and Quito Maggi are predicting a Liberal advantage in that riding.
Staying in Quebec, three ministers announced support for Bernard Drainville in CAQ leadership race on Monday, including Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette, Health Minister Sonia Bélanger and Transportation Minister Jonatan Julien.
This comes on the eve of the party’s voting period, set to end on Sunday.
The announcement represents significant support for the former environment minister, as the majority of CAQ ministers rally behind his opponent, former economics minister Christine Fréchette.
CP has that update.
In other headlines:
Internationally:
The Artemis II mission is expected to complete a record-breaking lunar flyby today.
The Canadian Space Agency says astronaut Jeremy Hansen and his three American crewmates are set to become the space explorers who will have ventured farther into space than anyone before, surpassing a record set by Apollo 13 in 1970.
NASA says the estimated maximum distance from Earth during today’s flyby by the Orion spacecraft will exceed 406,000 kilometres, surpassing the 400,171 kilometres set by Apollo 13.
For a little over five hours, the crew is expected to take turns observing and photographing geological features on the moon, like impact craters and ancient lava flows.
It will take them four days to get back, with a splashdown in the Pacific near San Diego concluding their test flight on Friday, nine days after its Florida launch.
Read more from CP.
Some US politicians have reacted with alarm and questioned the US president’s mental state after Donald Trump issued an abusive, expletive-laden threat to Iran in which he called on the regime to “open the fuckin’ strait [of Hormuz], you crazy bastards”, as he threatened to further attack the country’s energy and transport infrastructure.
The US president wrote on his Truth Social platform: “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP.”
It comes as the Trump administration hurtles towards another self-imposed deadline – this time, Tuesday evening – for Iran to reopen the strait of Hormuz. One of the world’s most critical shipping lanes for oil and gas, the strait has been effectively shut since the US and Israel launched war on Iran at the end of February, causing oil prices around the world to skyrocket to record highs.
Trump has threatened Tehran with several deadlines in a bid to reopen the key maritime corridor, and has fixated his frustration on European and Nato allies who have rejected the legality of the US-Israeli war on Iran and refused to intervene in the strait of Hormuz crisis – prompting Trump to threaten to withdraw the US from Nato.
Mehdi Tabatabaei, deputy for communications at the Iranian president’s office, said on Sunday that Iran would only open the strait after receiving compensation for war damages, paid via a “new legal regime” based on transit fees.
The Guardian reports.
In other international headlines:
The kicker:
A great observational LinkedIn post by former clerk of the Privy Council, Michael Wernick:
“The paragraph below contains very strong language.
That is how the BBC chose to handle directly quoting the social media outburst from the President of the United States.
CBC goes with WARNING: This story contains profanity.
CNN goes with the F*** technique. On air Tapper read the post aloud followed with profuse apologies.
Fox News goes with F- – – -.
Apparently American readers might be offended? Strange days indeed.”
