Wednesday Night #2309

It has been a tough week, but first, Congratulations to Sylvia Martin-Laforge, Doug Sweet and the many others involved in the organization of the successful TALQ AGM (despite a number of technical difficulties)  and the  event held on Driday morning with the new Official Languages Commissioner Kelly Burke New federal language commissioner vows to defend Quebec anglophones’ rights
Cause for Celebration
CAQ’s controversial Quebec constitution bill dies as parliamentary session ends
Quebec constitution bill will die on the order paper
The Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government is in the final stretch as it seeks to pass several key bills in the last legislative session prior to the provincial election on Oct. 5.
On Thursday, [Quebec Justice Minister Simon] Jolin-Barrette confirmed to reporters he was abandoning his plan to create a Quebec constitution, saying that given the time remaining in the parliamentary session, the opposition’s consent would have been required for the bill to be passed.

As feared  by many, the Gordie Howe International Bridge did not open on Friday, thanks likely to intense  lobbying by Ambassador Bridge owner Michigan billionaire Matthew Moroun, aided and abetted by the unlovely and unloved by all but Trump US ambassador to Canada. former Michigan politician, Pete Hoekstra.
Peter Frise “authored” Why Canada Needs the Gordie Howe Bridge (see Long reads) for Maclean’s. He recoounts:
“- they contacted me on Thursday morning last week just as I was leaving on a business trip
– a ghost writer called me in the car about an hour later and interviewed me for about 10-15 minutes on the importance of the new bridge to industry
– he wrote a draft which he sent to an editor for “punching up”, I am told, on Friday
– she sent it to me on Monday afternoon (two days ago) with a short deadline for my edits (which, I was assured, would be final)
– I sent back my edits about 20 minutes later (my key changes were to cut down on the colloquialisms they had in the original draft)
– some, but not all of my edits appeared in the article that went on line this morning without a final review by me…..
For the record, I did not say “damn” good bridge – I corrected that to read “darned” good bridge (much as that may surprise some of you) and every instance of “Trump”, I corrected to “Mr. Trump”. ”

We survived (mainly by ignoring it) Trump’s 80th Birthday aka Flag Day. The latter’s  story was overwhelmed by  coverage of the ghastly spectacle of the UFC Cage on the White House Lawn. To refresh our memories, This Day in History traces the origins and evolution of the Stars & Stripes, first sewn (legend has it) by Betsy Ross at General Washington’s request.
June 14, 1777: During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress adopts a resolution stating that “the flag of the United States be thirteen alternate stripes red and white” and that “the Union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.”
Congress adopts the Stars and Stripes (See Long reads below)

G7 2026 Summit
The G7 has ended and the exchanges appear to have been surprisingly cordial. Despite early concerns about Donald Trump’s position, the G7 leaders agreed on a statement declaring their “unwavering support for Ukraine in defending its freedom, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.”
Trump did not leave in a huff. On the contrary, the wily Macron invented a state dinner at Versailles to keep him in France to sign the Iran ceasefire MOU.
Prume Mnister Carney appears to have “worked the room(s) assiduously -and successfully- Prime Minister Carney secures new partnerships in defence and critical minerals at the 2026 G7 Leaders’ Summit

U.S.-Iran Gulf War III
CNN addresses many questions surrounding the ceasefire announcement
The true test of Trump’s Iran agreement will come only if the fighting stops
Any agreement to end conflict — especially one that rocked the global economy, killed 13 US service members, an unknown number of Iranian civilians and revived Lebanon’s grim lot of being caught in other peoples’ wars — is a welcome development.
But a dearth of details and the terms that are known left Trump facing three immediate questions that will dictate the future strategic balance of the Middle East; the war’s place in history; and how all of this affects Trump’s presidential legacy:
Robert Reich calls it The Non-Victory, noting that Compared to where we were before February 28, it’s a terrible failure and The Atlantic‘s Tom Nichols echoes the refrain: Trump Celebrates While America Capitulates –The peace deal with Tehran is an Iranian victory.
Not so fast with the exhaling:
US and Iran presidents sign ceasefire agreement, but Trump says he could still resume attacks

U.S. President Donald Trump warned on Wednesday that he could resume bombing Iran if he was unhappy with how the peace process unfolds, even as G7 leaders gathered in France to welcome the framework deal and back efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. “If I don’t like it, we’ll go back to shooting at them,” Trump said at the summit in Evian-les-Bains, where allies also called for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon. The memorandum of understanding, due to be signed in Switzerland on Friday, extends an April ceasefire by 60 days to allow negotiations toward a permanent truce — though Iran’s nuclear stockpile remains intact, its government in place, and the fate of Lebanon unresolved.
Peace With Iran Is All About Lebanon Now) the world asks Will Bibi queer the deal? It looks increasingly likely that he will try. Iran’s top envoy says peace deal with US dependent on Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon
Iran’s top envoy says peace deal with US dependent on Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon
As the Trump-Netanyahu Bromance fades, (see Netanyahu Finally Learns the Truth About Trump – An alliance with the president was the Israeli prime minister’s selling point. Now it may be his downfall.
By Yair Rosenberg

Andrew Caddell devotes his column to the history of Vive le Quebec Libre, citing Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon who endorsed the expression last June, “attempting to divorce it from its terrorist etymology, and linking it to Quebec’s fight against Canadian “colonialism.” On June 24, the phrase will likely be repeated, and in July 2027—the 60th anniversary of de Gaulle’s speech—Plamondon, if elected premier in October, will lever it for propaganda value.” He concludes with “a serious question: should a terrorist slogan be given respectability? I believe this is a sign of the intellectual vacuity of the independence movement that a terrorist slogan is now acceptable in defaming one of the most admired countries in the world.” Excellent column, Andrew.

Event
On Facebook, Fréderic Serre reminds all Friends of Alan that “a group of us will be hosting a 5 à 7 scrum this Friday at 5 p.m. at Chez Alexandre on Peel Street to remember our friend, colleague and notorious journalist and boulevardier Alan Hustak, who passed away last month. This will be an opportunity for friends and foes to share their stories and roast the hell out of our departed friend, while raising many glasses – because that’s how Alan rolled.”
No RSVP required

The first trillionaire
The first trillionaire — much less a trillionaire known for erratic personal behavior, online trolling and support for global right-wing politics — will likely reignite discussion of the diverging fortunes of wage earners and those with market-based wealth, as well as their growing political power.
Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire – good or bad thing? Will it cause an anti-tech backlash? Or just anti-Musk (already a thriving sentiment)?
Elon Musk’s trillionaire status is an American success story | Opinion
Democrats see Elon Musk’s trillion dollar fortune as a problem to be taxed. They’re missing the bigger picture.
OR
Is it bad that Elon Musk has a trillion dollars? Yes, and here’s why
Just as the ‘poverty line’ determines what’s required for basic living, we need a ‘wealth line’ to show when extreme wealth becomes harmful
10 things Elon Musk can — but probably won’t — do with $1 trillion
He is the world’s first trillionaire. Here’s the good that money could do.

Varia
1946 birthed three presidents — and remade the world For better and worse.
Joe Klein reflects on the generation that turns 80 this year
(WaPo) The winter holidays of 1945-46 must have been a jolly time for the Greatest Generation. Many of them had just come home from the war and were reunited with honeys who had been waiting, hoping, delaying. … Three American presidents were conceived around that time. They were born the following summer: Donald Trump on June 14 (technically late spring but well past Memorial Day), George W. Bush on July 6, Bill Clinton on Aug. 19. … the advance guard of the baby boom. … The generation — we — who grew up in unprecedented prosperity and safety would become notorious in our own minds. We certainly talked, wrote and sang a lot about ourselves. Clinton, Bush and Trump would be our presidents (Barack Obama, too, technically, but not really; Joe Biden was a few years too old to count, officially). And, because of our demographic heft, there would be an arrogance to us. Marketers would target us; they still do. … Above all, there was a freedom born from the absence of threat.

One City Might Have Just Cracked the Housing Crisis
The Canadian government has returned 10 acres in the middle of Vancouver to the Squamish, the First Nation whose ancestors lived there. On that land, the Squamish are building the densest residential neighborhood in the country. It’s called Senakw, after a village that once stood in roughly the same place, and it will eventually include 6,000 homes in 11 towers. The first tenants moved in at the end of May.
Senakw, by itself, will make a modest dent in Vancouver’s housing crisis. The city estimates that it needs 83,000 new homes by 2033. Its importance, however, extends beyond the unit count. Senakw’s striking presence on the Vancouver skyline is a rebuke to the surrounding city, and a constant reminder that the thing preventing us from building is … us.

It  is good to see how little attention Canadian media are paying to Justin Trudeau’s antics. Would that he would simply disappear with dignity absent such headlines such as Trudeau responds to critics after skipping Canada game for Katy Perry. Is there anyone who cares? Has any other former PM behaved with so little respect for the office after leaving it?

Long reads, videos, podcasts
Peace With Iran Is All About Lebanon Now
Trump is already fed up with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It was Netanyahu who advised him in 2018 to abandon the nuclear deal then-President Barack Obama had reached with Iran three years earlier, putting Trump on the hook to deliver a better one.
Netanyahu also convinced Trump to launch the current war by touting a heady vision of the world’s two most powerful air forces quickly annihilating the Islamic Republic’s military and nuclear installations and toppling a regime that had long been a thorn in their sides. Now, Netanyahu is the last obstacle to a deal that would allow Trump to leave the resulting nightmare behind.

Strait of Hormuz Update: Is It Actually Open? (YouTube)
What’s Going on With Shipping
While political announcements suggest a breakthrough and an immediate end to the naval blockade, the reality on the water—tracked by AIS data and maritime insurance rates—tells a different story.

Congress adopts the Stars and Stripes
On June 14, 1877, the first Flag Day observance was held on the 100th anniversary of the adoption of the Stars and Stripes. In the years after the first Flag Day, several states continued to observe the anniversary, and in 1949 Congress officially designated June 14 as Flag Day, a national day of observance.

Why Canada Needs the Gordie Howe Bridge
By Peter Frise

Trump Does Not Understand the War He Lost
The president’s comments at the G7 summit revealed that he doesn’t understand the war he started—or the words that come out of his own mouth.
… None of this makes any sense, except as desperate rationalizations from a man who cannot face facts and admit defeat. Trump has always had a tenuous relationship with the truth, but evidence is mounting that on the most important questions of war and peace, the president of the United States seems to be losing his grip on reality itself.

Bob Rae: How Canada Should “Play Its Own Game” with Trump
Steve Paikin is joined by Bob Rae, to discuss Trump’s negotiating style, how we’ve “seen this movie before,” and if America First doesn’t mean America alone. They then discuss the deal with Iran, how it is not a victory for Trump, the diverging interests of Israel and America, the possibility that Netanyahu may step down and not run for another term, and the expansion of the Billy Bishop Airport.