Wednesday Night #2256

Our hearts go out to the people of Los Angeles — First the wildfires and now Downtown LA Set for Second Night of Curfew as Trump Crackdown Expands. We are following the LIVE news on AP as we deplore the actions of Trump, ICE and the Department of Defense (Hegseth defends use of troops to protect immigration raids in Los Angeles – of course he does).
David A. Graham writes in The Atlantic The Protests Are Just Starting –Large demonstrations were effective during Trump’s first term. The same could be true now.

SIGH!
The Trump war on education and international soft power continues as Members of the Fulbright scholarship board resign, accusing Trump of meddling.The intervention from the Trump administration undermined the program’s merit-based selection process and its insulation from political influence, the board members wrote.
The administration has expanded the grounds for revoking foreign students’ legal status, and recently paused scheduling of new interviews for student visas as it increases vetting of their social media activity. The government also has moved to block foreign students from attending Harvard as it pressures the Ivy League school to adopt a series of reforms.
We have no idea what to make of the Musk-Trump relationship. It shifts on a seemingly hourly basis. If it were any other two people we wouldn’t care.
From Trump, Musk and the big, beautiful bromance breakup to Musk Called Trump Privately Before Posting Message of ‘Regret’ -It remains to be seen how Mr. Trump will handle the attempted rapprochement and whether the two men’s relationship can be restored.
Canada becoming a grown-up country just in time for the 2025 G7
We are greatly encouraged by the first actions of the Carney administration. Canada is becoming a grown-up nation with serious plans to combat the designs of the Trump administration -whatever they may be this week. The most recent signs of Canada forging ahead lie in the statement on Defense policy
while on Wednesday it was announced that Canada’s Davie Makes $1 Billion Deal for Texas Shipyard Assets From Gulf Copper — Chantier Davie Canada Inc. plans to invest over $1 billion to buy and upgrade shipyard assets in Texas from Gulf Copper & Manufacturing Corp. to supply the US with icebreakers and specialized ships. … [the acquisition] aligns with the 2024 ICE Pact between the US, Canada, and Finland to collaborate on icebreakers.
The 2025 G7 Leaders’ Summit will be held in Kananaskis, Alberta, from June 15 to 17
PM Carney has outlined an agenda of talks around global economic security, Ukraine, the Middle East, artificial intelligence and quantum computing, as well as “wildfires” — a diplomatic entrée into discussions on the environment and climate change –according to the Toronto Star.
We hope that “wildfires” will also include the urgent need to increase the production of Canada’s CL-415 and older CL-215 model water bombers, desperately needed by Canadian provinces along with countries around the world. See Long reads below for Demand for water bombers has ‘skyrocketed’ as Canada grapples with more intense wildfires
It would seem to us that investment in increased manufacturing capacity would be good for the economy, job creation, and foreign buyers. A much better idea than the creation of a Canadian car promoted by Flavio Volpe, Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association (APMA) president. Let’s, please, make sure Industry Minister Joly sticks to supporting the role of automakers in boosting Canada’s defence capacity .

Quebec Liberal Party members are awaiting the results of the vote for the leadership of the PLQ this weekend.
As Tom Mulcair writes in Wednesday’s Gazette Progressive voices from all sides take a stand for Quebec unity
“…the Quebec Liberal leadership race now takes on new significance. Voting has begun to choose a permanent leader, and the stakes are high.
The choice seems to be coming down to experienced Quebec politician and business leader Karl Blackburn and former federal minister Pablo Rodriguez, who sat at the cabinet table for every boneheaded economic decision of Justin Trudeau.
The growing momentum behind Blackburn is worth noting.”
Congratulations to our dear friend Désirée McGraw, who, her Riding Association reminds us, is celebrating her third political anniversary (sic). We believe this means the third anniversary of her election as MNA representing the NDG-Montreal West riding. She has proven to be an outstanding constituency advocate.

Heather Cox Richardson illustrates June 7, 2025 the woeful lack of knowledge of members of the Trump administration :
In April, John Phelan, the U.S. Secretary of the Navy under President Donald J. Trump, posted that he visited the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial “to pay my respects to the service members and civilians we lost at Pearl Harbor on the fateful day of June 7, 1941.”
HCR is determined to spread her knowledge and insights of history. To this end, she has announced the launch of Journey to American Democracy: a series of short videos about American history released on her YouTube channel, Facebook, and Instagram. They will be either short explainers about something in the news or what we are releasing tonight: a set of videos that can be viewed individually or can be watched together to simulate a survey course about an important event or issue in American history.

Friends of Wednesday Night R.I.P.
The shocking news and extensive coverage of the Honourable Marc Garneau’s death last Wednesday overcame the news of three other deaths of interest to Wednesday Night.
Ron Meisels called our attention to the obituary of Brian Aune, the one-time whiz kid of the Montreal investment community who took effective control of Nesbitt Thomson at the age of 30 and our one-time neighbour on Mount Pleasant.
Jon Brian Aune November 12, 1939 – May 21, 2025 We note with great sadness that this brilliant mind was overtaken by Alzheimer’s
Guy Stanley‘s co-author and friend Economist Dian Cohen shared her expertise widely through radio, TV and books. The author of this intimate and heartwarming portrayal of Dian Cohen is Fred Langan, known to many Wednesday Nighters (and a one-time tenant of the 33 Rosemount coach house) –
Remembering Dian Cohen
Pioneering filmmaker Peter Pearson was ‘a natural disrupter’
Peter Pearson was part of the first wave of film directors who in the 1960s and 70s, started to create a distinctive national imagery and a voice for anglophone Canada.

Long reads/videos
Carney says Canada will meet 2% NATO spending target by March
$9.3B in new spending includes military recruitment, pay increases for personnel

Thanks to Peter Frise for Good Talk — Carney and Trump — What’s Going On? Moderated by Peter Mansbridge, Rob Russo and Chantal Hebert comment on the direct/private talks between Carney and Trump (Nothing usually ends well when you get into a relationship with Donald Trump… just what is possible dealing with a guy who doesn’t even believe in the deals he himself signs.), the early days of the Carney government – new triumvirate surrounding the PM: Chief of Staff Blanchard, Principal Secretary David Lametti, and Minister of Energy Tim Hodgson; the exceptionally docile Parliament, and the (potentially unrealistic) time frame for executing the initial mandate dictated by the PM.

We regret not having seen the Broadway play, “Good Night, and Good Luck,” but his thoughtful interview with Anderson Cooper ‘We’ve been in tight spots before’: George Clooney offers up hopeful take on current political climate almost makes up for it.

Demand for water bombers has ‘skyrocketed’ as Canada grapples with more intense wildfires
As Canada is again dealing with massive wildfires, the increasing severity of the natural disasters is having the knock-on effect of spiking the demand for water bomber planes — and it will be years before Canada gets its hands on a new one.