Canadian Crossing

2023 Manitoba election preview

The writ is scheduled to drop later today for the upcoming Manitoba election, the final provincial (scheduled) election of 2023.

The Progressive Conservatives have 35 seats, down from the 36 seats in the 2019 election. The New Democratic Party is the opposition party with 18 seats, the same number as in the 2019 election. The Liberals have 3 seats in the 57-seat Legislative Assembly of Manitoba. There is 1 vacant seat. 29 seats are needed for a majority.

Heather Stefanson is the unelected premier, serving in that role since October 30, 2021. Stefanson succeeded Brian Pallister, who was premier from 2016-2021 (Kelvin Goertzen served as interim party leader and premier).

Wab Kinew is the opposition leader for the NDP. Dougald Lamont is the Liberal Party leader.

The Progressive Conservatives are trying for a third term in government, having won the 2016 and 2019 elections.

The three leaders all represent ridings in the city of Winnipeg: Heather Stefanson (Tuxedo), Wab Kinew (Fort Rouge), and Dougald Lamont (St. Boniface). Kinew and Lamont were party leaders in the 2019 election. Winnipeg is a major battleground for determining which party will be in charge of the province.

Greg Selinger was the last NDP premier (2009-2016).

Heather Stefanson will be Manitoba's first female premier

NDP vow to make $10-a-day child care available over summer, holidays https://t.co/ZgZROl39ER

— Wab Kinew (@WabKinew) August 21, 2023

One of the strategies of passing the baton to a new leader is whether the election is about the previous premier (Pallister) or the current premier (Stefanson). Costa Rica likely won't come up in this election as Pallister spent an alarming amount of time in that country.

Stefanson is one of 2 female provincial premiers with Danielle Smith (Alberta). Smith was elected from her unelected status earlier in 2023. Kinew is the only Indigenous MLA in such a position as a provincial opposition leader.

Manitoba has similar issues as the rest of Canada from the cost of groceries to housing as well as special issues such as searching for human remains in a Winnipeg landfill. This race will likely come down to leadership concerns, whether Manitoba voters want the same leadership from Stefanson or a new direction with Kinew as the new premier. The Liberals would only be a factor if the NDP won a race by a small margin or a strong minority government.

You raised them and nurtured them. So who better than you—as parents—to know what’s best for your child as you send them off to school?

That’s why our PC Team is fighting for enhanced parental rights in #Manitoba. #cdnpoli #mbpoli pic.twitter.com/EOftvavZTr

— Heather Stefanson (@HStefansonMB) August 17, 2023

While Stefanson hasn't spoken with the fervour of New Brunswick and Saskatchewan on trans rights in schools for those under 16, the dog whistles of "enhanced parental rights" are out. New Brunswick hasn't had a leadership test or a possible election.

The Manitoba Progressive Conservatives have said if the party is re-elected, they will expand parents rights over what children learn in school. This makes a potential new policy on pronouns a campaign issue.

Brian Pallister, PCs lose seats but win a second term in Manitoba

2019 Manitoba election preview

"We want to end homelessness in this province, and that means treating it as the emergency it is. Right now, under the PCs, people have to be homeless for six months to get help," said @DougaldLamont #mbpoli #MBelxn2023 #RealChange https://t.co/Cha1UKixzW

— Manitoba Liberals (@MBLiberalParty) August 25, 2023

Whichever party is in control next month, the new government will struggle with a major concern. This may be the first Canadian provincial election where housing is a major campaign issue.

2023 Canadian politics preview

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Advance voting in Manitoba runs September 23-30 from 8 am to 8 pm except Sundays running from noon-6 pm. Election day is October 3 with polls open from 8 am to 8 pm CDT.

CBC News has notes on all 57 ridings (to be updated). We noted the relatively independent Winnipeg Free Press in our Canada Journalism Guide and CBC News has local CBC Radio One shows on CBW-AM 990 and CBW-FM at 89.3. You can also listen via the CBC Listen app.

We will have a comprehensive summary of the results next month.

photo credit: CBC News
Twitter captures: @WabKinew; @HStefansonMB; @MBLiberalParty

A guide to quality Canadian journalism in lieu of Meta and Google being childish

We sadly get that Canadians get a lot of news from Meta (Facebook and Instagram) as well as Google. We know Canadians are frustrated to have their news sources cut out thanks to a childish reaction to Bill C-18.

Habits are hard to break, especially when relying on social media to get headlines on what is happening. Even if this gets settled like we saw in Australia, the idea of a page with strong, quality Canadian journalism links is a worthy project.

The idea of a page with links is not a new concept. We love rewarding great Canadian journalism but haven't gone to a 1-page idea to help Canadians find out what is really going on in their country.

Our first list is filled with quality Canadian journalism that has no connection to Postmedia and its domination by American hedge funds.

• The Narwhal
• The Tyee
• APTN News
• The Walrus
• The Conversation

There are very few mainstream papers in Canada worth a whole lot. Maclean's is a magazine.

• Toronto Star
• The Globe and Mail
• Maclean's

Canadaland has a lot more than just Canadaland and Short Cuts. There is The Backbench, Commons, Détours (avec Emilie Nicolas en Francaise), Wag the Doug, canadaLANDBACK, and more.

• Canadaland

Unlike most Canadian newspapers, CBC News doesn't have restrictions on reading its news. You can set CBC News to get the news from a specific city.

• CBC News

We don't focus too much on TV news in Canadian journalism because TV news usually has other agendas. Still, The Fifth Estate (CBC) and W5 (CTV) go more in-depth and are worth noting. Marketplace (CBC) has its moments though not on the same level as the other shows.

• The Fifth Estate
• W5
• Marketplace

The Canadian Press is a wire service. Often, you will see a story on The Globe and Mail from the Canadian Press that you can't read on their Web site. You can find other outlets to read a Canadian Press story.

• The Canadian Press

Sports counts as news so we will add links to Sportsnet and TSN for sports news.

• Sportsnet
• TSN

How to save news media from our tech overlords (Canadaland)

Pascale St-Onge is the new minister of Canadian heritage

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Facebook and Instagram users in Canada won't be able to access news on those platforms soon, after parent company Meta said it would shut out news in the country over the next few weeks.

Why is this happening again? What will I notice as a user?
https://t.co/cltG2mhmrx

— CBC News (@CBCNews) August 3, 2023

This guide is for national news sources. The Winnipeg Free Press is one of the few independent daily newspapers in Canada.

You could create a document in Google Docs (ironically enough) where you could list your local and national news sources. Maybe you live in Atlantic Canada and Saltwire is helpful for you. Toronto has a few alternative local news sources that are relevant if you live in Toronto.

Montréal is a strong newspaper city en Francaise with Le Journal de Montréal, La Presse, and Le Devoir.

This is an extra step to find news in Canada. If you can develop a better habit, then you won't have to rely on social media to get your news.

We are including a link to this article that will appear in the Info About Canada entitled Canada Journalism Guide on our front page on the right-hand side. Since CanadianCrossing.com is based in the United States, Canadians won't get shut out of our news and analysis.

If you think we missed an outlet worth noting, please let us know in the comments section. We want to make this last as thorough as we can humanly manage to do.

photo credit: About That/CBC News
Twitter capture: @CBCNews

2023 Civic Holiday notebook: Justin Trudeau and Sophie Gregoire Trudeau get a separation

‘This is really sad’: Justin Trudeau and Sophie Grégoire Trudeau draw attention and sympathy as they announce separation https://t.co/MbPbfDk3qT

— Toronto Star (@TorontoStar) August 2, 2023

Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada, and his wife Sophie Grégoire announced a separation this past week. The couple have been married since 2005. The couple have 3 children: Xavier (born 2007), Ella-Grace (2009), and Hadrien (2014).

The couple met again as adults. Grégoire was a classmate and childhood friend of Trudeau's late brother, Michel.

We are consistent in the sense that a separation is just that and to give said couple respect for the process.

William Lyon Mackenzie King and R.B. Bennett were Canadian prime ministers who never married. Sir Mackenzie Bowell was a widower. Kim Campbell was freshly divorced before taking on the role as prime minister in 1993. You might recall The Twentieth Century was about William Lyon Mackenzie King.

Canadian film review: The Twentieth Century

The most obvious comparison is the prime minister's father Pierre Trudeau. The elder Trudeau was not married when he took office in 1968. Trudeau and Margaret Sinclair were married on March 4, 1971. The couple were separated on May 27, 1977 yet did not divorce until April 2, 1984, a couple of months before Trudeau left office for the final time on June 30, 1984.

As we have seen, comparing the two Trudeau prime ministers is an exercise in failure.

Even before this announcement, there has been speculation as to whether Trudeau will hand the reins over to Chrystia Freeland before the next scheduled election in October 2025. There is no "First Lady" concept in Canada, unlike the United States.

We wish the couple of best of luck in working out a solution, politics aside.

We’re ready for it.

— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) August 3, 2023

Taylor Swift ignored Canada in recent announcement on her Eras tour in North America. Finally, Canada has been included for Taylor Swift fans … just until late in 2024.

The American singer-songwriter will play Rogers Centre for 6 dates in November 2024: November 14-16 and November 21-23.

We imagine that Swifties in western New York might find an advantage in seeing her in Toronto: the tickets would be cheaper with the exchange rate between U.S. and Canadian currencies.

We've written about Ottawa's light rail troubles and Toronto's confusion over light rail thanks to Ford Nation. Montréal has a new light-rail system, the REM. There are a few open stops with many more to come.

So far, you can get from Broussard on the South Shore to Gare Centrale. Eventually, the light rail will serve Trudeau Airport, a welcome addition to the Montréal transportation infrastructure.

The trip into downtown should reduce traffic on the Champlain Bridge, a route known for heavy travel from the south suburbs into downtown Montréal.

The Metro in Montréal is a very good system if where you need to go is along the system. Bus service in Montréal isn't bad but surprisingly sparse in the arrivals.

Construction moves slower than the old Grade B maple syrup in Quebec. At least we have some progress in the light rail in Montréal.

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Meta (Facebook) and eventually Google will deprive Canadians of news from Canada via their platforms thanks to Bill C-18. This should eventually get settled on some level but childish acts need to, somehow, be a part of this. 

We will have more tomorrow on this topic. Stay tuned.

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"Americans" complain that there are no holidays in August. Canada, well, most of Canada, celebrates a civic holiday on the first Monday in August. The name depends on where you are: Civic Holiday in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. British Columbia Day, New Brunswick Day, and Saskatchewan Day are obvious.

The holiday is also Heritage Day (Alberta), Natal Day (Nova Scotia), and Terry Fox Day (Manitoba). There are different names in some Ontario cities, such as Simcoe Day (Toronto), John Galt Day (Guelph), and Colonel By Day (Ottawa).

Enjoy the holiday wherever you are in Canada. Canadian summers are too short.

Twitter captures: @TorontoStar; @JustinTrudeau
photo credits: @JustinTrudeau; Réseau express métropolitain

Pascale St-Onge is the new minister of Canadian heritage

Justin Trudeau did a significant cabinet shuffle on Wednesday. For our American readers, prime ministers shuffle cabinet members every so often. Like the prime minister, all cabinet members are MPs (Members of Parliament).

Pablo Rodriguez, who has served 2 terms as the minister of Canadian heritage, is moving over to be the minister of transportation. Prime Minister Trudeau has selected MP Pascale St-Onge as the new minister of Canadian heritage.

St-Onge has only been in Parliament since September 20, 2021 representing the Brome—Missisquoi riding in southern Quebec. She has served in the cabinet as Minister of Sport and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec since October 26, 2021.

St-Onge is the fourth person to hold this portfolio since Justin Trudeau became prime minister in 2015: Mélanie Joly (November 4, 2015-July 18, 2018); Pablo Rodriguez (July 18, 2018-November 20, 2019 and October 26, 2021-July 26, 2023); and Steven Guilbeault (November 20, 2019-October 26, 2021).

She is Canada's first openly lesbian cabinet minister.

Changing Canadian content definition should help deserving Canadian films

Pablo Rodríguez is back as heritage minister; What that means for a new Bill C-10

The CMA would like to congratulate the newly appointed Minister of Canadian Heritage, the Honourable Pascale St-Onge. We look forward to working with her.

To read the official release, click here: https://t.co/wRLisOnkEE@CdnHeritage @PascaleStOnge pic.twitter.com/OzKVW270Mw

— The CMA | L'AMC (@musecdn) July 26, 2023

The Canada Media Fund weighed in on the new minister.

St-Onge does have cultural experience, being the former president of the Fédération nationale des communications et de la culture. She has a lot of her plate with the ramifications of Bill C-11 (Canadian content) and Bill C-18 (Online News Act).

The bad news is that St-Onge is relatively inexperienced with a lot thrown at her in taking on a major portfolio. The good news is she isn't Pablo Rodriguez, who seemed untrustworthy, particularly on Bill C-11.

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All 4 MPs that Trudeau has selected for this portfolio have been from Quebec. That is generally a good sign since Quebec has a better sense of a film and television heritage than the rest of Canada has (sorry).

Our advice to St-Onge is to listen to those who create Canadian content, read our blog, ask Mélanie Joly for her perspective on the portfolio, and don't be afraid to lead.

We wish the new minister bonne chance | good luck in taking on a tough portfolio at a really rough time to be in charge.

photo credit: @PascaleStOnge_
Twitter capture: @musecdn

Bell Media wants CRTC to allow reducing local news

The concept of Canadian content as applied to television counts local news as part of that Canadian content. Now Bell Media, the largest of the private broadcasters, wants the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to make severe cuts in local news requirements for its CTV, CTV2, and Noovo stations.

The first application asks for the following:

• Requested the elimination of a requirement for English-language television stations in metropolitan markets to broadcast at least 14 hours of local programming per week. In Quebec, Bell also asked the regulator to do away with its obligations to broadcast at least 5 hours of local programming per week at its Montréal and Quebec City stations (2.5 hours in smaller markets).
• Allow for its stations in major markets to no longer have to broadcast at least 6 hours of weekly locally reflective news. For its non-metropolitan stations, Bell wants to be able to broadcast fewer than 3 hours of locally reflective news each week. In Quebec, the requirement for 5 hours of locally reflective news each week on its Noovo Montréal station.
• Waive the requirement for the company to devote 11% of the previous year's gross revenues to the acquisition of or investment in locally reflective news.

In a second application before the CRTC, Bell Media made these requests:

• Reduce its obligation for Canadian content spending on English-language television stations from 30% of the previous year's revenues to 20%.
• Reduce the amount its English-language television stations must spend per year on programs of national interest from 7.5% of the previous year's revenues to 5%.

Steve Faguy reported that the 30% to 20% change could save the company up to $60 million a year. Faguy also noted other applications to the CRTC include one from TVA to eliminate weekend newscasts in Quebec City and Rogers allowing the company to spend less on drama and more on Canada's Got Talent.

The applications by the media companies doesn't mean the CRTC will grant their acceptance. The CRTC would set lower standards if they granted relief, not just to Bell Media.

Bell Media asks #CRTC to eliminate all local news requirements for CTV, CTV2 and Noovo stations https://t.co/Q43NaWmNNp

— Steve Faguy (@fagstein) June 23, 2023

Let's look at CFTO, the CTV station in Toronto. The station runs a 1-hour local newscast at Noon weekdays, a 1-hour newscast at 6 pm, and a 35-minute newscast at 11:30 pm. The station simulcasts the news from CP24 from 5-6 pm. CFTO shows a lot more than 6 hours a week of "locally reflective news."

CIVT Vancouver runs a similar schedule where CIVT produces that hour of news from 5-6 pm.

Citytv is mostly programming produced at the Toronto station with few local programs for individual markets. Citytv in Ottawa, the nation's capital, runs the same regular programming as the Toronto station.

Global has fewer Canadian TV offerings than Bell Media and more than Rogers' Citytv.

Bell Media said they would run local news programming, less than required to do now and more than zero.

The American programming that allows Bell Media, Global, and Citytv to make so much money is supposed to fund what little Canadian programming, news and otherwise, the networks broadcast to Canadians.

"Paramount has taken a number of properties including new Star Trek series and popular older services like South Park from Crave and CTV Sci-Fi and moved them on to its own streamer, Paramount+," said Faguy in his reporting. Presumably, this cuts into Bell Media profits, which are still really high.

The latest round of Bell Media layoffs, including the loss of several radio stations, is not inspiring that the company would make smart decisions about reduced local news coverage. Their late local newscasts get the lead-in of the most watched nightly national telecast at 11 pm Eastern/Pacific.

How to save news media from our tech overlords (Canadaland)

Canadian journalism notebook: Canadian cities losing Monday newspaper editions

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Bill C-18 is designed to give relief to Canadian news outlets, especially large outlets such as Bell Media, with help from tech giants such as Google and Meta (Facebook). The hope is that the financial relief would be applied to providing useful and relevant Canadian content. This move by Bell Media implies they have no interest in spending that financial relief on improving local news.

Bell Media, Corus, and Rogers run over-the-air networks in Canada as well as cable channels. There are obligations, reasonable obligations with the responsibility of over-the-air networks. Local news is one of those services. Bell Media provided figures on how much they are losing on local news. The overall picture is a very robust company, making plenty of money, especially on insanely expensive smartphone services.

2023 Canadian TV upfronts highlights

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Bell Media, Corus, and Rogers should be carrying more Canadian dramas and comedies, fewer ripoff shows (Canada's Got Talent) to sort of balance the tons of American programming on CTV, Global, Citytv, and their cable outlets. The CRTC should have sharper teeth in making sure that happens.

Rogers has 2 Canadian TV dramas on Citytv and they want to spend less on dramas??

Canadian TV creators complain that there aren't a whole lot of options. These 3 companies need to open up space for more Canadian scripted content. If they won't do it on their own accord, the CRTC should step in with strong requirements.

Editor's note: As if Canadian newspapers aren't already monopolized, there is talk of a possible merger between Postmedia and the Toronto Star's parent company. The claim is that the Toronto Star would maintain "editorial independence." This is a potentially backwards move for Canadian journalism.

photo credit: Bell Media
Twitter capture: @fagstein

Olivia Chow will be the next Toronto mayor

Olivia Chow came in third in the 2014 Toronto mayoral election. John Tory became the new mayor. Where would Toronto be if Chow had won in 2014?

The Toronto of 2023 is in a lot worse shape. The Toronto voters finally leaned progressive in voting for a mayor. Chow is the first POC mayor in Toronto history and the first female mayor in the post-amalgamation era.

Ana Bailao finished second in a contest where there were more than 100 candidates.

"I pledge to you I will dedicate myself to work tirelessly in building a city thats more caring, affordable and safe, where everyone belongs," said Olivia Chow in her acceptance speech. "While I’ve been knocked down a few times over the years, just like you, I always got back up."

Chow is well-known to the people of Toronto. She served as a Toronto city councillor (1992-2005) and NDP MP for Trinity—Spadina (2006-2014). We mentioned the third-place finish in the 2014 election behind Tory and Doug Ford. Chow also ran in the 2015 federal election for the Spadina—Fort York riding, losing to then-Liberal MP Adam Vaughan.

Chow is the widow of the late NDP leader Jack Layton and stepmother of former Toronto city councillor Mike Layton.

"Whether you voted for me or not, we’re united in our love for this great city," said Chow in her acceptance speech. 

Ford Nation to take at least a 4-year break as mayor of Toronto

2014 Toronto mayoral race preview: Who will succeed Rob Ford?

Do not underestimate Doug Ford's role in Chow's victory. His destruction of Ontario Place and the Science Centre animated Torontonians and motivated them to seek a new path

— trapdinawrpool (@trapdinawrpool) June 27, 2023

Doug Ford, Ontario premier, was a big loser Monday night. He unofficially backed Mark Saunders for mayor. Ford granted stronger mayoral powers to the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa as well as 26 other Ontario cities as of Canada Day this week. Instead of John Tory, that mayor is now Olivia Chow.

Chow could reverse the move Ford did when first becoming premier by reinstating the wards that Ford eliminated during a city election.

Tory's 2022 election win means Chow will serve until at least 2026. Tory resigned as mayor after admitting to a relationship with a former staff member.

Suddenly really like the strong mayoral powers #FordNation put in place 😂 #Olivia #onpoli

— Kathleen O'Grady (@kathleenogrady) June 27, 2023

Cancer forces Jack Layton to temporarily step down as NDP leader

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The 1998 amalgamation was a political move by then Ontario premier Mike Harris of the Progressive Conservatives to make Toronto more conservative by bringing in suburbs. The rise of Rob Ford and Doug Ford is a direct result of the amalgamation.

June Rowlands was the first woman elected mayor and served from 1992-1994. Barbara Hall was elected in 1994 and served until 1997 as mayor.

photo credit: @oliviachow
Twitter captures: @trapdinawrpool; @kathleenogrady

Canadian politics notebook: Russell Brown steps down as Supreme Court justice

We noted last month that Supreme Court Justice Russell Brown had been on leave from the court over misconduct allegations in a Scottsdale (AZ) area resort in late January.

Russell Brown has resigned from the court. The resignation means a halt to the Canadian Judicial Council (CJC) investigation into the matter since the council can only investigate complaints against federally appointed judges.

Brown's resignation came just before the CJC could have launched an inquiry. In a statement, Brown said the CJC probe "may continue well into 2024." That would be a delay in "nobody's interests — the Court's, the public's, my family's or my own."

"I have therefore decided that the common good is best served by my retirement, so that a replacement judge can join the court in time for its busy fall term," Brown said.

Justin Trudeau will pick his replacement, who must be from Western Canada. That definition could include British Columbia.

Brown had been a controversial pick by Stephen Harper in 2015 close to election time. He served on the high court from August 31, 2015 until June 12, 2023.

Once Brown's successor is picked, Justin Trudeau will have 6 out of 9 appointees to the bench. Stephen Harper ended up with 8 appointees before losing the 2015 election. Andromache Karakatsanis (retirement date: October 3, 2030) and Suzanne Côté (retirement date: September 21, 2033) are the only Harper appointees remaining as puisine justices, though Trudeau promoted Richard Wagner, a Harper appointee, to chief justice in 2017. Harper appointed Wagner to the court in 2012.

2023 Victoria Day notebook: Alberta wildfires starting early

Blaine Higgs wins a majority government for Progressive Conservatives in New Brunswick

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New Brunswick had one of those pandemic elections where the party in power got a larger majority. Blaine Higgs of the Progressive Conservatives (PC) called a snap election that was held on September 14, 2020.

We figured things were rather quiet in a normally sleepy (sorry) New Brunswick. Well, that changed quickly.

Policy 713, designed to protect LGBTQ students, allows for students to be called by names and pronouns that they choose. Premier Blaine Higgs wants to change that policy to require students under 16 to ask parents permission to make those changes.

Higgs has said if students are fearful or object to informing their parents of their change in preferred name and pronouns, they can work with guidance counsellors or school social workers and psychologists.

4 PC ministers and 2 PC backbenchers voted with the opposition for a Liberal motion for more consultations. The motion passed 26-20. Afterward, Dorothy Shephard, minister of healthy and inclusive communities, resigned from cabinet. Shephard got up and left the chamber after the premier said in the legislature that gender dysphoria has become "trendy." She noted his leadership issues in her resignation, not just with Policy 713.

Shephard is the third minister to resign from cabinet: former education minister Dominic Cardy resigned in October 2022 and is now an independent, and former deputy premier Robert Gauvin resigned in February 2020 and now sits as a Liberal.

The current Policy 713 is effective and protects children in those circumstances. We can't imagine New Brunswick has a setup where guidance counsellors, school social workers, and psychologists have that many billable hours to spend with kids on this concern.

We watched the interview (above) with Higgs and Rosemary Barton on Rosemary Barton Live. Barton talks about how Higgs is talking about his personal beliefs as policy. While Higgs denies this, the interview tells us something else entirely.

2023 Canadian politics preview

The Liberals and Conservatives retained 2 seats each in 4 byelections Monday night.

The Conservatives did retain the seat in the Oxford riding in Ontario. The path to get there was a bit unusual. Arpan Khanna won the seat to replace Dave MacKenzie. MacKenzie's daughter Deb Tait ran and lost the nomination to Khanna. There were allegations of wrongdoing and being a "parachute candidate" against Khanna.

MacKenzie and Tait endorsed Liberal candidate David Hilderley in the byelection. Hilderley got a lot more votes than Liberals usually do in the riding.

Anna Gainey kept the seat Liberal in the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce–Westmount riding in the Montréal area. Gainey replaces the retired Marc Garneau, who was minister of transport from November 2015 to January 2021 and then shifted to the minister of foreign affairs from January to October 2021.

Gainey defeated federal Green Party co-leader Jonathan Pedneault in the byelection.

Conservative Branden Leslie won the byelection in the Portage-Lisgar riding in Manitoba. Leslie succeeds Candice Bergen, who had been the MP from the riding since 2008. Bergen served as the interim opposition leader in 2022.

People's Party leader Maxime Bernier ran in that riding, hoping to get enough far right-wing votes.

Ben Carr will take over for his father, the late Jim Carr, as the MP from the Winnipeg South Centre riding. Jim Carr died of cancer in December.

Dennis King, PCs get strong majority in Prince Edward Island election

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Peter Bevan-Baker has been the greatest provincial Green Party leader ever. The party formed the Official Opposition in the 2019 election. Now the Prince Edward Island Green Party needs a new leader.

Bevan-Baker will stay on as leader until a new leader is selected and will remain a MLA. Bevan-Baker said his decision to retire was largely due to personal reasons, how his life has been very unbalanced in recent years.

"This party has a really bright future if we don't panic," Bevan-Baker told Island Morning (CBC Radio) host Mitch Cormier.

I remember the night Bevan-Baker became the first Green to be elected to the assembly in 2015. He was a dentist before becoming a politician. Bevan-Baker ran in 7 federal or provincial elections before being elected to an office. Peter Bevan-Baker will be missed among the party leaders in Prince Edward Island.

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The Toronto mayor race will be June 26. There are too many people to mention, except that Doug Ford has a candidate (Mark Saunders) and Olivia Chow, widow of Jack Layton, is one of the top contenders. The winner replaces John Tory, who resigned over an affair with a staffer. If we don't get a write-up next week, we will include this in our Canada Day notebook on July 1.

photo and video credit: CBC News

Danielle Smith gets a smaller majority government for the UCP in Alberta

Alberta voters did a lot in the 2023 provincial election. They finally elected Danielle Smith as a premier, something she couldn't pull off in 2012. They gave Rachel Notley and the New Democratic Party the strongest opposition in the history of Alberta.

Maybe those Alberta voters gave the Calgary Flames a new arena. Voters might have been more scared of the "boogieman" Justin Trudeau in Ottawa than a conflict of interest charge against its own premier.

Smith talked in her victory speech about wanting the best in education and health care in Alberta, which isn't likely given its track record in both areas. Smith's attacks on Trudeau got more time than what she would do for Albertans.

The strategy for the winning United Conservative Party was "forward," which felt like code for "ignore what I have done."

We refuse on principle to make political predictions but feel confident that the UCP government will last longer than Danielle Smith, based on the pattern of the many conservative premiers in the last decade.

The unofficial count was 51 seats for the UCP and 36 seats for the NDP. There were no serious contenders from other parties in the province.

The NDP improved its lot with about +11 gain in the Alberta legislature. The NDP needed a lot of gains in Calgary as well as more rural areas. The party dominates in the capital city of Edmonton.

The UCP likely won because conservatives were reluctant to abandon the party, even if they disagree with the leader. Perceptions of the economy also played their part.

Usually on election night, there is rising support for the loser to resign. Alberta is not that place. The province now has its 3rd elected female premier and the only province with a female as premier and opposition leader. No other Canadian province has had 3 female premiers much less 3 elected ones.

The NDP went negative on Danielle Smith's leadership, which is like shooting fish in a barrel in a province not afraid of long guns. The NDP had bad luck in terms of the province financially when Notley and the party was in charge between 2015-2019. Albertans care about the perceptions of the economy more than in other Canadian provinces.

Alberta turned to the NDP in 2015 because things were bad enough to look for an alternative. Things to outsiders looked sufficiently bad in Alberta but the mirrors in Alberta don't work the way others think they should.

2023 Victoria Day notebook: Alberta wildfires starting early

The Alberta wildfires, which spread to other western provinces, were thought to be a concern for advance polling for the election. Elections Alberta reported 758,550 advance votes, up from 700,476 in 2019. The office also noted that 21.9% of those who voted early did so outside of their electoral division.

This isn't to say that some Albertans were severely affected by the wildfires in the voting process.

The unofficial turnout was 61.7% in 2023, down from about 64% in 2019. The unofficial vote total was 1,610,947.

Unofficially, the NDP gained 10 seats for women while the UCP lost 3 seats for women, a gain of +7 in the Alberta legislature.

2023 Alberta election preview

We hope the UCP will keep its promise to increase tax credits for films, making filmmaking — Canadian or otherwise — more viable in Alberta.

The NDP supplied tax credits for video games while in power. The UCP took those away when elected in 2019. The NDP promised to bring those back if elected in 2023.

CanadianCrossing.com Alberta coverage

The Washington Post editorial board weighed in on the Calgary downtown revitalization plan as being one of the best. Nice when Canada gets such good praise. A little suspicious given that Calgary was the bullseye of the 2023 Alberta election.

A potential new replacement for the Saddledome is needed on multiple levels. A new football stadium, which likely wouldn't be downtown, is also needed. The 2026 Winter Olympics, which could have easily been in Calgary, would have given that economic boost the city needed. 

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian politics coverage

The results came in a lot slower than normal from Elections Alberta.

photos credit: CBC News

2023 Victoria Day notebook: Alberta wildfires starting early

Welcome to Victoria Day 2023, the unofficial start of summer in Canada. We gathered a few recent items of note and reflect on where Canada is at the moment. You don't have to be at the cabin or cottage to enjoy this notebook. Having a Caesar (or a virgin Caesar) and perhaps a bag of all-dressed or ketchup chips wouldn't hurt.

2023 Alberta election preview

CanadianCrossing.com Alberta coverage

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian politics coverage

This should be a serious concern in upcoming #AbElection2023. Will be curious to see what voters think. #abpoli https://t.co/ytS52WQRpW

— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) May 19, 2023

The Alberta election is a week today. Glad we got the decision that Alberta premier Danielle Smith breached the conflict of interest act. Smith's thought process sadly reminded us of the old Steve Martin joke about how he forgot armed robbery was against the law.

The primary story in the province this month is still the devastating wildfires, even with the election. The conditions are unfortunately ripe for wildfires. We've seen them spread beyond the province in Western Canada.

Can't wait for summer, except when wildfires are involved. Difficult to think about voting for Rachel Notley or Danielle Smith (not directly) when you might have to leave your home or already have evacuated.

We will have more on the Alberta election after we find out the results.

2022 Victoria Day notebook: Alberta in the spotlight

2021 Victoria Day notebook

Victoria Day 2020 notebook: Summer of uncertainty in Canada

Canadian notebook: Celebrating Victoria Day 2019

You likely have read about U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas receiving luxury gifts from billionaire Harlan Crow. Sadly, this will likely not results in charges or removal from the bench.

Canada Supreme Court Justice Russell Brown has been on leave since February 1 over allegations in Arizona that involve a physical altercation and allegations of unwanted touching of women.

Action was swift in that the incident happened on January 28-29.

We haven't seen updates of late as to how long the leave will last or whether action can be taken against Brown.

The incidents are different in nature but you do get the sense that the Canada Supreme Court cares about appearances on the court while the same is not true in the United States.

Russell Brown and Clarence Thomas do have one intriguing element in common: both were highly conservative judges at a really young age with little judicial experience. Thomas had not been a judge while Brown was only a judge for 2½ years in Alberta.

Brown is 57. If he stays on the court, he can be there until September 15, 2040, his 75th birthday.

Canadian TV notebook: A much longer wait for Season 3 of Transplant on NBC

There are a lot of Canadian TV shows coming this summer and fall to the CW. One of those "old" shows is Transplant, where Season 3 will be further delayed, as in 2024. Some of that is the writers strike in the United States. That strike may open the flood gates for more Canadian TV.

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

There is a new Canadian film with a following in the United States. Blackberry is about the Canadian phenomena with a phone with a keyboard.

Matt Johnson directed the film from a screenplay from Johnson and Matthew Miller about the rise and fall of Canadian tech company Research in Motion. American actor Glenn Howerton plays Jim Balsillie while Canadian icon Jay Baruchel plays Mike Lazaridis.

Canadians have great stories that should be told by Canadians. Let's hope for more opportunities like Blackberry and fewer like Argo.

Your humble narrator has not seen the film. Just odd that a lot of Americans can easily see this film in theatres.

The End of Sex played in U.S. theatres for a week. The film played in a couple of Chicago suburbs but not in the actual city, where more likely filmgoers would see this film.

Monia Chokri's new film The Nature of Love | Simple comme Sylvain is the lone Canadian film in competition at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. This film follows a wealthy woman who has an affair with a working class man.

The film is in the Un Certain Regard section, the same place as A Brother's Love in 2019. You might recall that Chokri directed and starred in Babysitter (2022). Chokri wrote and directed the 2019 and 2023 films.

CBC News has a nice wrapup of the overall Canadian presence at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

2023 CFL preseason schedule

The CFL preseason starts today at 4 pm Eastern/2 pm Mountain with the Battle of Alberta as the Elks of Edmonton travel to Calgary to play the Stampeders.

The new CFL Preseason Live means all the preseason games are available online in the U.S. (online for 6, TV for 3 in Canada) though there is no on-demand option.

CanadianCrossing.com NHL coverage

Gary Bettman's pet project has been a colossal failure in the greater Phoenix area. The latest is a sound rejection of a new arena in Tempe last week.

The argument in Glendale was that fans couldn't get to the arena. The local TV ratings are anemic, barely ahead of what a test pattern (ask your grandparents) would get.

The Arizona Coyotes need a new home and not in the desert. Salt Lake City, Houston, and Kansas City have been mentioned as possible relocation destinations.

The obvious choice is Quebec City and the Quebec Nordiques 2.0. Beautiful new arena, hockey history, fans who like and will support hockey. TSN's Pierre LeBrun, among many others, mentions that Quebec City doesn't have enough corporate money. The idea that the arena would be filled, lots more merchandise would be sold, and a great rivalry in La Belle Province isn't as valuable as corporate money in Salt Lake City is highly frustrating.

The potential ownership has been vetted when Quebec City put up a bid for an expansion team, a setup that was rigged for another desert city and away from an actual hockey city. Time to right a wrong and bring back the Quebec Nordiques.

Canada has a bit of copycat with corporate names for stadiums and arenas. Rogers has the MLB stadium in Toronto and hockey arenas in Edmonton and Vancouver. Scotiabank has the NBA and NHL arena in Toronto and the NHL arena in Calgary.

There is a satisfaction of referring to the large stadium in Toronto as SkyDome, the original name for the stadium. Exhibition Stadium was the home of the Blue Jays (MLB) and Argonauts (CFL). Its replacement has a corporate name (BMO Field).

Taylor Field in Regina, the long-time home of the CFL Saskatchewan Roughriders, was named for Neil J. "Piffles" Taylor, a World War I fighter pilot who served as president of the Regina Roughriders, the Canadian Rugby Union, and the Western Interprovincial Football Union.

Ivor Wynne, as in Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton, was athletic director and dean of students at McMaster University.

Mosaic Stadium was also the last name given to Taylor Field. The new Mosaic Stadium is likely to be called that since that field only had that name.

The CFL has corporate names in Regina, Winnipeg, Edmonton (field only), Toronto, Hamilton, and Ottawa.

Vancouver has BC Place and the old Empire Stadium, though one of the Rogers arenas is in Vancouver.

You can find out more about that shirt.

photo credits: Baroness Von Sketch/CBC; uni-watch.com
Twitter capture: @canadian_xing
video credit: YouTube/IFC Films

2023 Alberta election preview

The Alberta election has a very different dynamic than what we've seen in recent provincial elections in Canada. This is a 2-party race: United Conservative Party and New Democratic Party. The race is between 2 women to be premier, though not the first time Alberta has had 2 women running to be premier. The current premier has never been elected to be premier while the other woman was elected premier 4 years ago.

Danielle Smith, then in charge of the Wildrose Party, ran in the 2012 election against Alison Redford, who was then the unelected premier of Alberta and head of the Progressive Conservatives. Smith should have coasted to a win but that didn't happen.

Now Smith is the unelected incumbent against Rachel Notley, who was premier from 2015-2019, snapping the Progressive Conservatives streak.

Welcome to the real Battle of Alberta.

There are 87 seats in the Alberta legislative assembly. The United Conservative Party has 60 seats at the dissolution of the assembly, down from 63 seats in the 2019 election. The New Democratic Party have 23 seats, down from 24 in the 2019 election.

There is an Alberta Party, Wildrose Independence, and the Liberal Party. They may disrupt a close race in some ridings but are not likely to break through. The Liberals had 1 MLA in 2015 and 5 MLAs in 2012.

The NDP will do well in Edmonton. Many rural ridings will stay UCP despite the last 4 years. The parties will do a lot of campaigning for Calgary area ridings.

2023 Stanley Cup notebook: NHL news not related to the playoffs

Calgary voters say no to 2026 Winter Olympics

CanadianCrossing.com NHL coverage

Edmonton didn't get provincial help for Rogers Place. Danielle Smith and the UCP made a tentative deal to help give provincial help to a Saddledome replacement in Calgary. The catch: the UCP has to be re-elected into power.

The NDP says the issue need study. The funding fell in great part due to increased costs in building the new arena and surrounding area.

The NDP only had 3 of 26 seats in Calgary going into the election. The party dominates (19 of 20) seats in Edmonton.

There are differing opinions about whether funding for a new Calgary arena will be crucial in the election or may not amount to much in the election.

Being right isn't as important isn't as significant as being popular enough to win Calgary ridings on May 29.

Quite frankly, there should be a mature approach for all levels to get a new arena and football stadium in Calgary. The 2026 Winter Olympics would have been a good push for both but voters (the ones that voted) crushed that dream.

Let’s keep moving forward! 💙#ableg #abvotehttps://t.co/yOvTvDNUyt

— UCP War Room (@UCPWarRoom) April 30, 2023

The Canadian politics strategy in an election loss is to give consternation to whether the party leader should stay. The NDP in Alberta smartly went: "We have a great leader in Rachel Notley. We should hang on to her."

The circumstances were different. The union of the Progressive Conservatives and the Wildrose Party was a dominant force. No matter how well the NDP did in Alberta in 4 years, the momentum was to go back to where things were.

Jason Kenney spent taxpayer money on a propaganda machine. Kenney picked fights with doctors during a pandemic. Countless violations of pandemic protocols by the government. The steamrolling of the original UCP leadership race.

Smith running for UCP leadership on the Alberta Sovereignty Act, yet the teeth on that legislation aren't as sharp as feared.

Smith is being investigated by the province’s ethics commissioner, a definite campaign issue. She also pulled a page from the Stephen Harper 2015 playbook and limited questions from journalists, especially follow-up questions of any kind.

Danielle Smith completes her political comeback to be Alberta's premier-designate

Alberta Wildrose Party comes up smaller than expected

Danielle Smith, Alberta Wildrose Party gain attention for big 'wheels,' not big ideas

"Let me begin by saying to every girl and every young woman watching tonight: I believe in you and never stop believing in yourself. I hope that we have shown you that in your life, anything is possible. Sometimes it can feel like you take two steps forward and then one step back. But may you never ever stop taking those steps forward." — Alberta Premier Rachel Notley in her concession speech on Tuesday.

2019 brought an end to the final of 5 then premiers in Canada for parts of 2013 and 2014. Canada currently has 2 female premiers, though neither of them elected: Smith and Heather Stefanson (Manitoba). That province is scheduled for an October 2023 election. After this Alberta election, one of the 2 female premiers will be elected.

The Alberta NDP has a plan to take pressure off overburdened family doctors and make sure Albertans can get the care they need.

Learn more here: https://t.co/p0uVcfenoY

— Alberta's NDP (@albertaNDP) May 1, 2023

Health care will be a significant issue. The Kenney Government seemed intent on running doctors out of Alberta during the height of the pandemic.

The curiosity in 2015 was whether the NDP could get voters on the fence to vote orange. The idea of that 8 years later seems less surprising.

As Edmonton radio anchor and reporter David Boles noted, Smith is Alberta's 8th premier since 2006. The only one to serve a full term was Rachel Notley.

Jason Kenney to step down as UCP leader and Alberta premier

Alberta notebook: The legacy of outgoing Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi

Alberta dials back COVID-19 tracking to dangerous levels

The Edmonton Oilers, not the Calgary Flames, are the Alberta team in the chase for the Stanley Cup. Voters might want to get their votes in early in case an Oilers playoff game is scheduled for May 29.

The rhetoric of division in Canada reveals a lack of understanding

Jason Kenney, Alberta United Conservative Party launch Canadian Energy Centre propaganda site

Democracy itself is on the ballot in Alberta's upcoming election.#ableg #abpoli #yyc https://t.co/xz4VctOrtU

— Thomas A. Lukaszuk (@LukaszukAB) May 1, 2023

Alberta goes back to its conservative ways by electing the UCP

CanadianCrossing.com Alberta coverage

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian politics coverage

Alberta Election callout for writers

CBC is accepting pitches for a special opinion project leading up to the spring election. This is a paid writing opportunity open to all Albertans.

Know someone who'd be perfect? Share this with them.

Details at https://t.co/yQB8xzVMic pic.twitter.com/xS6k4ehPnP

— CBC Edmonton (@CBCEdmonton) January 17, 2023

We reserve the right to write more about this election between now and May 29, like we did for the Ontario election in 2022. That depends on what happens and our anxieties. Will be curious how this CBC News project turns out for Albertans.

Those in Alberta can get information on how to vote in the May 29 election via Elections Alberta.

video and photo credit: About That/CBC News Explore
Twitter captures: @UCPWarRoom; @albertaNDP; @LukaszukAB; @CBCEdmonton