Wednesday Night #2311

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

Andrew Caddells‘s column Le Canada, Mon Pays is a delight. Articulating the strengths and weaknesses of our country seems pertinent as this year our celebration of Confederation takes place while two provinces contemplate leaving.
Whilst enumerating Canada’s many positives, he does not neglect the negatives, those areas that need improving, and concludes
Yet when you watch the Canadian team at the World Cup, from every corner and background of the country, working together, embracing each other, with tens of thousands joining in a sea of red and white, it’s a moment for Canadian pride, and it’s who we are: a great country. Bonne fête du Canada.

starting with the good news
We applaud PM Carney’s announcement regarding 24 Sussex Drive and the selection of our old friend and long-ago-colleague Moshe Safdie as chair of the jury that will select the winning proposal. It would seem that many Canadians agree with our enthusiasm for this practical solution to a problem which really should not have ever existed had previous governments (of all parties) acted responsibly; contributions are already flowing in to the 24 Sussex Go-Fund-Me (See Long reads Fundraising goal to restore 24 Sussex Drive set at $50M). This will be a fun file to watch.
Certainly less popular among many Canadian environmentalists, but nonetheless a necessary step is Mr Carney’s justification for  his plan to boost oil and gas exports, and double electricity grid as explained in the second iteration of Forward Guidance (See below), his YouTube version of FDR’s Fireside Chats.

Canada Economy Set for Rebound, Bucking Recession Talk
Canada’s economy is set to rebound sharply in the second quarter amid a spike in oil production, breaking a half-year of stagnation.

FIFA World Cup 2026
While we are mystified by how the Rounds are determined, we are delighted that
Canada keeps historic World Cup run going with dramatic 1-0 win over South Africa
Note: World Cup 2026: U.S. set for Round of 32 match with Bosnia-Herzegovina on July 1 Canada Day.
Canada to face Morocco in Round of 16 at FIFA World Cup Canada’s next World Cup game will be played on July 4th 

Less happy, but not unexpected, is Wednesday’s news that  U.S. declines to extend CUSMA trade deal with Canada, Mexico

Trump Wars 
Ukraine and Putin’s War
We have a theory that sometimes when the US (Trump, Vance, Rubio, Hesgeth, etc.) ignores, or becomes bored with a situation, and follows a policy of not-so-benign neglect, it begins to improve. Such may be the case of Ukraine which continues to foster close relations with the EU, while pursuing its lethal drone warfare against Putin.
Our theory is not always  borne out by the messy situation in the Middle East where the  US constantly interferes, whether the Iran-US Gulf War III, the fracturing of relations with the Saudi Crown Prince MbS -formerly Jared’s BFF- (How the Iran War Ignited a Clash Between Trump and the Saudi Crown Prince ,  or the deteriorating relations with Israel.
We might add that the EU does pretty well when the US is neither looming nor threatening
Venezuela
The destruction and loss of life caused by the dual earthquakes in Venezuela are appalling and the timing is terrible given the country’s political and economic problems. According to Gianluca Rampolla, the UN coordinator in Venezuela, a total of 27 countries have mobilised nearly 40 search and rescue teams. They include more than 2,000 troops and personnel, along with more than 160 dogs. For the US, the scale of the earthquakes far exceeds anything that the administration has faced since the Trump White House gutted the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and put disaster assistance under the state department, laying off thousands of aid workers in the process.
Although  the situation in Venezuela may temporarily  distract the US from its designs on Cuba, we feel sure that with Marco Rubio’s connivance, Cuba will soon be added to the list of Trump’s wars.   So far Cuba’s foreign minister observes ‘no progress’ in US negotiations, but A top Cuban official has accused the US of issuing ‘constant threats’ and attempting to scuttle a UN debate on its trade embargo.
Is Cuba Really Next?
The fallout from the Iran conflict and the approaching U.S. midterms may change Trump’s calculations.

July 4th Independence Day Happy 250th USA
Except that for so many Americans, and other friends and allies around the world, this year’s anniversary is not a great cause for celebration, nor is the  celebration program proposed by the Trump regime one to be proud of.
We must agree with James Poniewozik, the chief TV critic of The NYT:
“This year’s festivities feel as if someone forgot to send out the invites and were scrambling for last-minute gifts. There are dutiful historical documentaries but no omnipresence, no sense of a moment sweeping universally through the popular culture. Even the branding terms — “America250,” “Freedom 250” — are bland and uninspired, as if someone looked at the marching syllables in “semiquincentennial” and just surrendered like Cornwallis at Yorktown.
The most public expression of the birthday has been a gaudy, belligerent spectacle befitting the leader whom history put in the Oval Office in time for the odometer to turn over.”
You may prefer to contemplate what the nation, and world, may look like at the tricentennial. (See Long reads for link below)
John Oliver Dives Into Trump’s Pet Project: A ‘Giant Duck Death Trap’
The “Last Week Tonight” host said the United States was “dealing with a literal swamp of corruption” for its 250th birthday.
…“It’s been plagued by enormous pools of algae, large chunks of blue sealants have been peeling off, and just this week, a trio of dead ducks were discovered there, prompting a spokesperson for the Center for Biological Diversity to say Trump was wasting taxpayer money turning the reflecting pool into a giant duck death trap, which is clearly awful. Ducks shouldn’t have to worry about getting murdered by the reflecting pool…”

A major announcement from Ali and Anyon Systems Inc.
We are proud to announce that Anyon Systems Inc. is opening an office at the Azrieli Center in hashtag#TelAviv, one of Israel’s most iconic business landmarks and a central hub for technology, finance, innovation, and global connectivity.
For us, this is more than a new office. It is a strategic step in building Anyon’s international presence and deepening our engagement with Israel’s exceptional hashtag#ecosystem of hashtag#engineers, hashtag#scientists, hashtag#entrepreneurs, investors, defence leaders, and technology partners.
Israel has long been recognized for its ability to turn complex challenges into world-class innovation. Establishing a presence in Tel Aviv positions Anyon closer to one of the world’s most dynamic technology communities and strengthens our ability to support sovereign quantum infrastructure, advanced computing, national security, and high-impact industrial applications.
The Azrieli Center is a fitting location: visible, connected, ambitious, and built at the intersection of business, technology, and national progress.
This marks another important milestone in Anyon’s hashtag#growth as we continue building hashtag#full-stack hashtag#quantum computing systems for real-world hashtag#deployment. Onward.
Ali adde:
This new office will allow Anyon Systems Inc. to better serve its customers and the great quantum ecosystem in Israel, as well as have access to a great talent pool.
On a personal note:
I am a big believer in making bridges. With all that is happening in the Middle East, it is personally a moving moment for me to make this announcement. I cannot change geopolitics but I will do my best to bring people closer together.
I would like to personally thank all my friends Yossi Vardi, Gilad Zlotkin, Ariel Romano, Robert Sinclair, and Paul-Henri Rouleau who have been a great help making this happen.

Varia
Foreign Policy is offering a no-paywall-week
FP Free Week: 250 years of independence. 7 days of free access.

Ode to Mount Royal Park as it marks 150 years
This summer marks the 150th anniversary of the opening of Mount Royal Park — a masterpiece of urban landscape design and one of North America’s most famous and beloved green spaces. Since its design by Frederick Law Olmsted, the mountain has drawn untold millions of visitors, and we must work to ensure it can do so for years to come.
Landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted called the Montreal landmark “the best opportunity that had ever been presented.”

Having recently gone through Bell Customer Service Hell when I was unable to receive incoming calls on my landline, this CBC piece is particularly timely and relevant, though there is a lot more to be said – and if so many of us are unhappy with the system, why can’t we force companies to revert to customer care from real people?
Is anyone there? Why patience is wearing thin as customer service becomes more automated
Businesses make you wait on hold to save money, experts say. But is it the right move?
We are not reassured to learn that Canada’s public service is working on its own artificial intelligence strategy (Will the AI chatbot wave come for the federal government?)

Higher Education
American Universities have lost the public’s trust – is this true of Canadian institutions?
Seventy percent of Americans told Pew last fall that higher education is moving in the wrong direction. The disdain has become so difficult to ignore that, over the past year, several universities and higher-education organizations set out to study how they lost the public’s trust—and how they might restore it. The reports differ in their diagnoses of where higher education went wrong and, by extension, of what should be done now. But their mere existence proves, if nothing else, that America’s universities have finally gotten the message: People don’t like them very much (See long reads for link)

Concordia University killer Valery Fabrikant dies in prison
The former Concordia professor murdered four of his colleagues in 1992.
He was 33 years into a life sentence he had been serving since June 1993.
On Aug. 24, 1992, Fabrikant fatally shot Concordia University professors Michael Hogben, Matthew Douglass, Jaan Saber and Phoivos Ziogas. He also shot secretary Elizabeth Horwood, who survived.

Long reads/videos
Fundraising goal to restore 24 Sussex Drive set at $50M

Mark Carney Forward Guidance: Canada’s Energy Future. (YouTube)
Today, we face an energy crisis on three levels. An affordability crisis, a security crisis, and a climate crisis. We need an energy transition that really works. The good news is that Canada has the solutions to control our own energy and our future.

Ukraine’s Plan to Unnerve Putin
Over the past two weeks, Ukraine has launched a series of drone attacks on targets deep inside Russian territory—most consequentially in and near Moscow. Last night, near the Russian capital, according to President Zelensky, Ukrainian weaponry attacked the Dubna Space Communications Center, which Russia uses to collect intelligence and coordinate operations by its army units in occupied Ukraine.
Higher Ed Is Very Sorry
Universities are studying how they lost the public’s trust.