With just over a month to go until New Democrats choose a champion to carry the orange banner onto the hustings in the next federal election, Canadian Dimension contributor Colin Bruce Anthes — who, according to his bio, “is an artist, educator, and democratic economy organizer” — thinks the high-profile defection of very recently former Ontario New Democrat Doly Begum to the federal Liberals “strengthens the case” for front-runner leadership candidate Avi Lewis, who “embodies the kind of bold change the NDP desperately needs,” he argues.

“After months of too-close-to-call competition between the ‘big three’ candidates of three-time incumbent MP Heather McPherson, journalist and organizer (Lewis), and union leader Rob Ashton, it has gradually become clear that Lewis’s policies, communications, and rallies have gained him the most supporters” — but that doesn’t mean the “race is over,” he notes.

“The leadership ballot is ranked, and while Lewis is almost certainly on track to gather the most first-place votes there are many who remain skeptical about his campaign. His ‘divisive’ opposition to pipeline expansion leaves him at odds with provincial branches of the party and may damage their electoral fortunes, a point McPherson and Ashton have increasingly raised. In the likely event of a second or third ballot, Lewis may well fall off the horse.”

And yet, while Begum’s exit from the Ontario provincial wing “doesn’t eliminate this dilemma completely, but (does) build a stronger case for the Lewis campaign,” he contends.

“The case for moderating the federal party to accommodate provincial branches no longer appears as ‘pragmatic’ as it did a week ago. Indeed, especially after the Begum debacle, it could be a boon to provincial parties to have a more ambitious federal pace setter to keep up with. They cannot afford to become characters in search of a plot.”

Over at The Breach, first-time contributor Simon Spichak, a “a science, health and technology journalist,” files a fresh dispatch on Canada’s current laws on medical assistance in dying (MAiD) — and, more specifically, the controversial move to expand the parameters.

“When the United Nations released a scathing report on Canada’s treatment of disabled people last spring — calling out inadequate financial supports and urging Ottawa to halt the expansion of medical assistance in dying — the federal government was silent,” he notes.

“Nearly a year later, it still is. Internal government emails obtained by The Breach suggest officials anticipated little public scrutiny of the report, even as they acknowledged mounting anger from disability advocates, particularly over the federal government’s decision to eliminate a dedicated minister for disability.”

In fact, “for almost 10 months after the report was released, the Government of Canada did not issue a response,” he reveals.

“When The Breach asked for comment on the report in January, a spokesperson for the Public Health Agency of Canada wrote over email that ‘Participating in the committee’s review was an important exercise in accountability, reflection, and dialogue,’ (and) the recommendations have been shared internally. But they won’t be subject to public discussion, as it isn’t mandated.”

His conclusion: “Government officials guessed right: mainstream news outlets have largely ignored the report’s criticisms of MAiD. Meanwhile, the situation for disabled Canadians — the poverty, health-care inequity, and other systemic neglect contributing to these deaths — remains unchanged.”

In a separate piece, The Breach podcast host Desmond Cole talked to PhD candidate and researcher Megan Linton, who “argues that Canada’s expansion of medically-assisted dying reflects a deeper neoliberal logic — one that narrows how we imagine disability, chronic illness, and the possibilities of a more just future.”

In a brief report filed from Cuba, Queen’s University professor emerita Karen Dubinsky provides Rabble readers with a first-hand account of the impact that the ongoing United States-led blockade on the country.

“Today I met Madame Marianik Tremblay, the Canadian ambassador to Cuba, who generously received my book on Cuban Canadian cultural ties,” she revealed last week.

“The irony of the moment was overwhelming. Two days ago Canada ceased all air traffic to Cuba due to the shortage of oil caused by the Trump administration’s recent blockade. Canada’s actions -the first country to do so – are the exact opposite of the history of cooperative relations in education, music and development assistance my book documents.”

Why, she wonders, “did Canadian airlines not choose the option, as European airlines have, of refuelling in adjacent countries?  When will the Canadian government announce a humanitarian aid initiative? Or send oil?”

As she sees it, “whatever one’s views on the current Cuban government- and there are divergent opinions among Cubans on the need for change – surely it is up to Cubans themselves, not foreign bullies, to decide on their future.”

Also keeping an eye on Canada’s role on the world stage: Press Progress editor Luke LeBrun, who takes a closer look at the Exigent Foundation, a “Canadian-based pro-Israel group that has been organizing trips to Israel for Canadian right-wing media personalities and influencers” — and, he reveals, “was quietly approved for funds worth nearly $175,000 CAD by Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs last year, a source of funding the organization has not previously disclosed.”

Since its establishment in 2024, the non-profit group — which “was co-founded by Toronto businessman Larry Maher, former Canadian ambassador to Israel Vivian Bercovici and Conservative Party insider Georgeanne Burke (to) counter what it describes as a ‘surge of leftist and Islamist extremism following the October 7th Massacre,’” he notes — has “organized ‘fact-finding’ trips with guest lists featuring a who’s who of right-wing Canadian media personalities and social media influencers.

As per LeBrun, those passenger manifests have included “names from the National Post and Toronto Sun, as well as others from right-wing alternative media outlets like Juno News, True North, the Western Standard, the Post Millennial, as well as the pro-Israel pressure group Honest Reporting Canada.”

For his part, The Maple’s Davide Mastracci sounds the alarm over an attempt by Shurat HaDin, “an Israeli lawfare organization,” to “shut down” The Maple.

“On January 25, SH tweeted that it has ‘issued urgent legal notices to Stripe, Apple Pay, and all major credit card networks demanding they cut off services’ to The Maple,” he reports.

“An Israeli media outlet covering the SH campaign reported that the organization has also written to the Toronto Police chief, the Ontario Provincial Police commissioner and Ontario’s attorney general calling for a criminal investigation into The Maple’s journalism and ultimately for ‘authorities to shut down the site.’ Snippets of this article were sent out in a January 26 newsletter from SH along with donation requests.”

As for The Maple’s response, they’ve “filed FOI requests with several other Canadian law enforcement agencies and government departments at all levels, and have yet to receive anything confirming the existence of any other investigation, whether ongoing or closed,” Mastracci writes.

“We have also not been contacted by any law enforcement agency or payment processor, or received a single formal legal complaint from any of the soldiers and institutions featured in the two databases.We stand by our reporting, reject the baseless allegations made against us and will continue our work regardless of these attempts by Israeli organizations to determine what journalists in Canada can and can’t do.”

Rounding out the progressive-left roster, Ricochet podcaster Adrian Harewood talked to Green Party leader Elizabeth May, who “had plenty to say about Carney’s roll-back of Liberal climate policies,” and “expressed particular frustration with the recent Canada-Alberta memorandum of understanding to clear the path for a new pipeline and increased fossil fuel extraction,” which she called ‘a suicide pact’.

Trending on the right-of-centre side of the Canadian activist mediaverse:

• Rebel News reporter Tamara Ugolini digs into the claims underlying a “whistleblower lawsuit in California” filed by a former Pfizer executive, which includes allegations that the company “funneled millions” to government officials, including, allegedly, $11 million “targeting officials (in) Canada.”
• Roving Rebel ‘mission specialist’ David Menzies weighs in on the “massive” police corruption scandal in and around Toronto, as well as the newly launched Rebel campaign calling for the firing of current Toronto Police chief Myron Demkiw, who “has to go.”
• Montreal-based Post Millennial correspondent Roberto Wakerell-Cruz notes that the first meeting of U.S. President Donald Trump’s ‘Board  of Peace’ is slated to take place in Washington, D.C. this week, “and Canada is not invited,” although he acknowledges that “it remains unclear how many of the more than 20 member states will attend.”
• Juno News contributor Quinn Patrick crunches the numbers and concludes that, “when all its spelling variations were counted, (the) name Muhammad topped the list of most popular baby names for boys in Alberta.”