Wednesday Night #2272

The U.S. Government Shutdown
Again, Trump has engineered a shutdown, the first since 2019, when parts of the government were shuttered for 35 days in a standoff between congressional Democrats and Mr. Trump over the president’s demand to fund a wall at the southern border.
Government shutdown takes hold with mass layoffs looming and no end in sight – The White House threatened mass layoffs of federal workers, rather than simply the normal furloughs, in a matter of days, seizing the chance to slash government. Blame was being cast on all sides. No new talks were scheduled after the president failed this week to secure a deal with congressional leaders. Roughly 750,000 federal workers were expected to be furloughed, and some fired, by Trump’s Republican administration. Many offices will be shuttered, perhaps permanently, as the president promises to zero in on programs Democrats like. Trump’s deportation agenda is likely to run full speed ahead, while education, environmental and other services sputter. The economic fallout could ripple across the nation. Democrats believe their health care campaign is what House Leader Hakeem Jeffries called a “moral” issue, but cracks are emerging within the party.

Ron Meisels suggests this video as the focus for tonight
Actor Jeff Daniels offers an unexpected response to a student’s question, “What Makes America the greatest country in the world?

To counter that downer, Doug Sweet -welcome home!- suggests He’s Young, Talented and Openly Religious. Is He the Savior Democrats Have Been Waiting For?
James Talarico, a Texas Democratic lawmaker running for Senate, was supposed to hold the second rally of his nascent campaign on Sept. 10, the day Charlie Kirk was shot. The horror of the killing shook him deeply, and he thought about canceling. Instead, Talarico retooled his speech to make it all about Kirk’s murder and the algorithmically fueled rancor and contempt deforming American life.

Israel, Gaza, Hamas, U.S.
Meanwhile, Trump is polishing his image as peacemaker with the 20 -or was it 21?- point plan for Gaza which gives Bibi almost everything he wants.
In The Guardian, Mohamad Bazzi opines Once again, Netanyahu has outplayed Trump
Ian Bremmer asks Will Trump’s peace plan end the Gaza war? Just days after vowing to “finish the job” of fully destroying Hamas before a largely empty UN plenum, Bibi came out of his Monday meeting with Trump saying the president’s peace plan “achieves our war aims.” Trump even got Netanyahu to call the Qatari emir to apologize for the strike. After almost two years of near-total intransigence and free rein, the turnaround was striking. (See Long reads)
No response from Hamas yet, and today (1 October) Israeli naval forces board pro-Palestinian flotilla 75 miles from Gaza Greta Thunberg arrested and taken into custody after six of the flotilla’s boats were boarded . Not an image-enhancing action.

Canada was ranked the best country in the world to move to and the US got left in the dust
A new global study by money-sending platform Remitly surveyed more than 4,800 people across 26 countries to find out which destinations people most want to relocate to, and why.
Canada took the No. 1 spot as the world’s most desirable country to move to, beating out Australia, Japan and even the United States — which only managed to rank fifth overall.
Reasons given: Quality of life, lifestyle, job opportunities – we are thinking that maybe the 4,800 people have a somewhat ill-informed view of life in Canada – i.e. our excellent healthcare?

Carney pays tribute to outgoing UN ambassador Bob Rae (video)
Prime Minister Mark Carney closed out his remarks at a news conference on Tuesday by paying tribute to outgoing UN ambassador Bob Rae, calling him a ‘steady hand’ and ‘so often Canada’s voice of conscience and conviction.’
Chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton speaks with Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand about her appearance at the recent UN General Assembly and Canada’s push to strengthen international relationships (video)
On the Sunday Scrum, Managing Editor of The Hill Times Charelle Evelyn, Queen’s Park Bureau Chief for the Toronto Star Robert Benzie and Alberta Correspondent for the National Post Tyler Dawson discuss political pressures at home amid a stark financial forecast from the Parliamentary Budget Office (video; start at 20:00)

Breathe a sigh of relief
Moldova’s pro-EU party wins pivotal election in setback for Russia

Jeremy Kinsman writes Canada should support Russian dissidents in their time of need
“Alexey Navalny’s widow Yulia Navalnaya and two of his allies wrote recently to Prime Minister Mark Carney to ask for his support in granting asylum for Russians in the U.S. who are in danger of deportation. … There has been no public response from Mr. Carney, even if only to acknowledge the issue. Instead, a communications officer from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada poured cold water on the request, saying that the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement would prevent most asylum seekers who pass through the U.S. from claiming protection in Canada. It is amazing that the tone-deaf Ottawa bureaucracy could read this moment so wrong. Canada-U.S. agreements are clearly not what they were. But Canada’s economic difficulties with the U.S. cannot be impediments to our principles of solidarity and right and wrong. We don’t need a grand declaration to encourage asylum seekers to come. We just need to arrange asylum for democrats and humanists who merit safety among people they considered friends.”

SCOTUS, US judiciary & justice
As Raw Story points out, The latest target of Trump’s abuse of power has much to answer for — just not this. It would be entirely fair to suggest that [James Comey] brought this illegitimate prosecution upon himself. His new jeopardy is only one facet of the unfolding national disaster instigated by his own actions in October 2016.
However, we suspect that one of the more entertaining news stories may be that of his indictment given the inauspicious beginnings as Genius Trump Attorney Submitted Wrong Comey Indictment Docs to Judge Trump-installed Interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan got a grand jury to indict former FBI Director James Comey on two counts. But Halligan showed her inexperience Thursday as the jurors rejected a third charge, and she submitted the wrong documents to the judge. It was Halligan’s fourth day on the job. She was formerly Trump’s personal lawyer, and recently led the president’s efforts to de-emphasize slavery at the Smithsonian museums.

Canada’s next era of nation-building depends on AI and quantum innovation
The upcoming budget will be critical in charting this country’s course in technological growth.
By Gabriel Miller, president and CEO of Universities Canada
Bloomberg reports that in the U.S.  AI Data Centers Are Sending Power Bills Soaring
Wholesale electricity costs as much as 267% more than it did five years ago in areas near data centers. That’s being passed on to customers.
We have noticed a leap in our Hydro bills – any correlation? 

15-16 October
Kyle Matthews‘ highly successful reinvention of himself and Marie Lamensch, the Montreal Institute for Global Security, is hosting the 2025 Montreal International Security Summit, Authoritarian Resurgence — The Fight for Democracy and Global Security, in cooperation with the Department of National Defense, the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Canada, the NATO Association of Canada, the Conseil de Relations Internationales de Montréal, and the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, CPAC, and Humanity and Inclusion.
The flagship event convenes global leaders, policy shapers, tech innovators, security experts, and human rights defenders from Canada, Europe, Asia. The speakers list is impressive! For information in**@***********te.org

‘Smaller, less multilingual’: Concordia says loss of foreign students threatens Quebec talent pool
By Andy Riga
“How long can we take our universities for granted before we lose our edge? I believe we have reached that critical point,” says Concordia president Graham Carr.
Concordia University’s president is warning that restrictive immigration policies threaten Montreal’s future prosperity, even as the school celebrates national achievements and a fundraising campaign that surpassed expectations.

Varia
The back story
With confidence votes coming, it’s important to keep political strategist Pitfield in the PMO, say some top Liberals
In a minority government, it is critical to have a senior strategist with regular, direct access to the prime minister, says Greg Lyle, president of Innovative Research.
Between July and mid-September, the Prime Minister’s Office had two principal secretaries at the same time.
Liberal sources told The Hill Times on Sept. 16 that since Pitfield had no plans to leave his position or was unwilling to provide a definite exit date, Lametti would be leaving the PMO in frustration. On Sept. 18, Prime Minister Mark Carney appointed Lametti as Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations. Pitfield is staying on in his position as the PMO’s principal Secretary

‘A boy scout’: Canadian icon marking golden anniversary stands up to Trump
Look, up in the sky! It’s a goose. It’s an Avro Arrow.
No, it’s Captain Canuck!
And he’s staring down his nastiest nemesis: a red-tied Republican bent on making the Great White North his 51st U.S. state.

Take heed Canadian towns and cities.
Livestock landscaping: Vermont ski areas employ goats and sheep to clear the slopes
Dozens of animals have been mowing down overgrown vegetation at Jay Peak near the Canadian border. They’re expected to clear 25 acres (10 hectares) over a five-week stint, an experiment officials say is worth a try on part of the 300 acres (120 hectares) that need to be mowed. The goal is to gradually reduce the reliance on gas-powered mechanical mowers.

Good Talk: Taking on the U.S. Ambassador, Was It About Time? (video)
The U.S. Ambassador to Canada was in Banff yesterday for what turned out to be a tense conversation with former Canadian diplomat Colin Robertson. The ambassador, a seasoned American politician, and Robertson, no stranger to Canada-U.S. relations, went at it over some of the things that have been said between the two countries this year. Chantal Hebert and Bruce Anderson have lots to say about it all, too.

Trump Cancels Trail, Bike-Lane Grants Deemed ‘Hostile’ to Cars
Takeaways by Bloomberg AI
The Trump administration canceled grants for street safety measures, pedestrian trails and bike lanes, citing that the projects aren’t designed for cars.
The DOT rescinded grants for projects in various cities, including San Diego, Fairfield, and Boston, stating that they are “hostile” to cars or could “impede vehicle capacity and speed”.

Long reads/videos
Trump’s Grand Plan for a Government Shutdown
The Trump administration might use a shutdown to finish the job that DOGE started.

Will Trump’s peace plan end the Gaza war?

Trump’s Gaza Plan Holds Out Brittle Chance of Peace
It gives enough assurances for Turkey and Qatar to fall into line with key Gulf powerbrokers, although hurdles lie ahead.

Who did Tom Mulcair call ‘one of the worst politicians I’ve ever met?’ (video)
The former NDP leader pulls no punches in his feisty Corner Booth debut.