dailynewsnblog
About Poilievre and his inept leadership
Two months ago, people predicted that Poilievre would win his leadership vote but actually be weakened by his experience. Now, that is proving to be the case. Stunts like flying to Europe and chatting with Joe Rogan aren’t impressing his colleagues, and neither is his leadership style.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is shuffling his deck, sending Elon Musk-style letters to his shadow ministers asking them to prove their worth.
Monday’s email was referred to by one Conservative as “DOGE-like” — a reference to Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency,” which sent emails to U.S. federal government workers last year demanding that they list their past week’s accomplishments or resign.
This email from Poilievre’s office was met with a shrug by some, but others saw it as insulting — and further proof their leader is out of touch with his caucus.
“It’s ridiculous!” said one MP, among several granted anonymity to speak candidly about internal party affairs. “There’s a lot of malcontents.”
“Pierre has two good weeks in a year and he’s back to default mode of, ‘Prove yourself every five minutes,’” said another MP. “If you are going to do a shuffle, just do one. Don’t play this stupid game.”
The email to Conservative shadow ministers asked them to give examples of their best social media posts, media interviews, and examples of how they have public reach in their portfolios. It also asked if they were still interested in remaining in their roles.
For those who aren’t among Poilievre’s favourite few, the need to showcase media interviews they weren’t given permission to give was seen as particularly bewildering. Even those who don’t believe they’ll be shuffled were annoyed by the exercise and the message it sent.
It’s the latest expression of frustration from Poilievre’s caucus. Since January’s convention in Calgary, which was intended to settle the leadership question — Poilievre received 87.4 per cent of delegate support — the mood internally is bleak, described by several as “dispirited.”
Many Tory MPs have concluded their leader will never win, that he cannot offer an alternative proposal to the one Canadians already rejected.
“How much time and effort do you put into a leader who can’t win?” asked a third MP.
“They’ve got no strategy,” concluded another caucus member.
Conservative MPs are tired of sitting in opposition benches….
Raj predicts more Conservative floor crossings — they know Carney will get his majority so there will not be another election for years, while a Carney Cabinet shuffle could open up possibilities for them.
The fact that Poilievre wants his shadow cabinet to justify their positions based on social media posts says everything about what is wrong with Canadian politics these days.
— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) April 3, 2026 at 7:33 PM
About NATO and Trump
First…oopsy!
This is likely the most embarrassing headline error ever printed in the New York Times:
Does the @nytimes know what NATO stands for? pic.twitter.com/wvD1WxPOnN
— Sasha Issenberg (@sissenberg) April 3, 2026
A correction will appear in tomorrow’s print edition:
“A headline with an article on Friday about President Trump’s threats to leave NATO misstated the full name of the body. It is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, not the North American Treaty Organization.”— NYTimes Communications (@NYTimesPR) April 3, 2026
Shankar Narayan
…Europe now appears to be saying: fine, we know what you can do and what you cannot. So here is the memo — pack your bags and leave whenever you want. We will not ask you to go, but we will help you when you start packing.
….The EU can stand firm and not only get away with it, but most likely damage Trump’s standing further inside the United States.
…Imagine Democrats campaigning on this: Trump did not leave NATO. He got the United States kicked out of it.
Americans will not even need proof. They will see a Western coalition operating without U.S. ships, coordinating with Ukraine, while Middle Eastern states move to protect the Strait and talk to Iran.
…from the reports I am seeing, it looks like Europe, the U.K., Canada, Japan, South Korea, Australia, India, and parts of the Middle East are now done with the United States. They are trying to use this moment to insulate NATO from Washington.
A more polished way to put it is this: the groundwork to push the United States out in the future has begun in earnest. It will not look like a formal decision, written on paper and dutifully signed by every member. It will take the form of a strengthening structure that steadily reduces U.S. influence inside NATO.
A path to irrelevance.
It is good for Europe. It is good for the broader democratic alliance. It is good for Ukraine. It will be painful for the United States in the short term, but beneficial in the long run — after a very long detour.
Meanwhile, Trump’s White House is falling apart:
Wiles, reportedly, issued an edict when she took the job: no firings.
She believes (probably rightly) that the chaos of Trump 1.0 was worsened by the constant firings (and subsequent senate confirmations.)
That Trump is firing again suggests, I think, that Wiles might be losing control.
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— Justin Ling (@justinling.ca) April 3, 2026 at 10:08 PM
Apparently Press Secretary Leavitt will be the next to go.
Women who support and defend the patriarchy are usually it’s first victims. Noem, Bondi, now Leavitt.
I wonder how long it will be before Melania is the scapegoat.[image or embed]
— Pete Hannah 🚫🧊 (@member389.bsky.social) April 3, 2026 at 11:00 PM
This Hour Has 22 Minutes captures Leavitt’s unique charm:
Canada Good News
A fascinating bit of Canadian history. Carney was chair of the Financial Stability Board from 2011 to 2018:
“(Canada) is a stable and good jurisdiction to invest in” -Sasa Jarvis, capital markets and securities lawyer, McMillan LLP (Vancouver office): thelogic.co/news/foreign…
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— Resilient Canada (@resilientcanada.bsky.social) April 3, 2026 at 11:20 AM
One of the ways Canada is changing is by increasing integration and respect with First Nations and Metis. I just saw the Tyee post about this new BC documentary and it is fascinating:
“A lot of people who live here now don’t know us. And they forget that all of this used to be ours, and that this city is still in our territory.” 🎞️
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— The Tyee (@thetyee.ca) April 3, 2026 at 8:34 PM
I hope the film does well, and that the name change succeeds.
The photo to remember
This post describes the angle and content of the photo:
the one thing i really got out of artemis II was learning about “Zodiacal light” which is just illuminated interplanetary s pace dust which is occasional seen from Earth as a false dawn in the sky ahead of the sun and this place we call home is too magical beyond understanding.
— noche. (@chalefoo.bsky.social) April 3, 2026 at 9:00 PM
Now they’re closer to the moon than they are to the Earth:
Before social media, there was no way to find out about this type of contribution in real time:
Press conference
Question from Montreal Gazette:
I thought this was interesting:
NASA Artemis II: Canadian coin celebrates mission share.google/RdNgWoZZpAuN…
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— collectingly.bsky.social (@collectingly.bsky.social) April 3, 2026 at 8:55 PM
