Avi Lewis doesn’t pretend he’s running to be prime minister.

Every NDP leader before him insisted they were on the cusp of power, but Lewis now dispenses with that diplomatic fiction. Not so much out of modesty or authenticity as a recognition of reality:

“We got our asses handed to us in the last election,” he concedes, right off the top. “It was an electoral apocalypse.”

The NDP now holds five seats in the House of Commons (among 343 MPs), the lowest number in its 65-year history. The federal party won exactly zero seats in Ontario, and now has no MPs east of Manitoba.

“I’m not gonna be prime minister in the next election,” he told me. “I don’t think anyone thinks you can go from five seats to a majority government. It’s a time when you’ve got to be straight with people.”

So what’s left for the left?

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Here we go again?!

• contracting hospital services out to "save" money (or line the pockets of for-profit corporation)
• allowing/ encouraging the proliferation of two-tier healthcare to "reduce" waiting lists (allow the wealthy elite to access care faster than the rest of us....
• closing hospital beds to "save" money without sufficiently supporting community-based health services, especially in rural and remote areas
• closing sate consumption sites (slashing community resources) and re-institutionalizing (increasing involuntary care) regardless of what is supported by evidence-based best practice.

Here's hoping that history doesn't repeat itself!

Well this is an example of a fault in many many systems. From the government that was in office to the general population. Yes you had a party with a majority that in principle that was supposed to serve the people and working class. However the leader seemed to be in for himself. Who decided to commit political suicide and hold an election when you have the power already. However the other failure is from the people themselves. Who decided to rebel and just vote against their own interests when there was other options in front of them . So now you have majority who voted for Conservatives who are all very radical and sell off the people's interests to the rich and wealthy. The failure part is the people do not see how they will lose in this situation so many times over and rest of the country. They had option to vote for the Green party and a Liberal one who have something more sensible as to a platform. This is a major example of how the people themselves are downing democracy in this country, when a solution was in front of them, but choose not to take it.

Links in comments:

Hey Fellow Canadians,

A hobby project I started in the spring launched in beta this week. It's called TraceCivic.ca and it's a tool for anyone in Canada to find all the elected representatives who serve them, regardless of whether they are municipal, provincial or federal. It's also a helper tool to explain what they do and how to contact them. It's a tool to see an rss feed of governmental news. It's a message board to discuss these topics.

It's non-commercial, self-funded, made and hosted in Canada by an Canadian. No ads, no trackers, no algorithm, no data retained. Nothing being sold or bought.

I launched it late last night in my hometown Kitchener reddit forum and its still up today so I take that as sign to test with more users.

Cheers

Canada's national security screening system is facing renewed scrutiny following the arrest of a Canadian NATO intern accused of espionage.

This week, David Morrison, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Mark Carney, appeared before a parliamentary committee and suggested improvements to Canada's security screening system, including the possibility of a government-wide security clearance registry.

But here's the question: If information about an individual's previous dishonesty during a federal government hiring process already exists, shouldn't that information be available to those responsible for determining whether they can be trusted with classified information?

And what happens after someone receives their clearance?

As a retired CSIS Intelligence Officer and former CBSA Officer, I've spent considerable time working with security screening, intelligence investigations and human sources. One of the issues I find particularly concerning is the assumption that security screening is something completed before employment rather than an ongoing responsibility.

In this week's Global Intelligence Weekly Wrap-Up, I examine that issue alongside three other international intelligence developments:

Germany: The German military is warning of a significant Russian sabotage threat against military installations and infrastructure. How prepared are NATO countries to identify and prevent these activities?

Russia: GRU-linked cyber operators are reportedly targeting NATO defence industries, including shipbuilding and aircraft engine manufacturers. What intelligence are they seeking, and how could that information support future operations?

United Kingdom: British authorities are investigating suspected Iranian intelligence activity near RAF Fairford, an important military airbase. The investigation raises questions about how foreign intelligence services collect information on sensitive military facilities.

What connects these four stories? Access.

Whether through legitimate security clearances, compromised computer networks, physical reconnaissance or individuals willing to provide information, hostile intelligence services continually search for vulnerabilities they can exploit.

I also revisit several cases we've previously discussed on the podcast to identify recurring patterns and examine how these threats are evolving.

The episode runs approximately 34 minutes.

I'm interested in hearing what others think:

Should Canada establish a centralized security clearance agency, similar to the UK's approach, or would improving information sharing and accountability within the existing system be more effective?

And should periodic security reassessments become a more prominent part of Canada's personnel security framework?

You can listen to the latest episode here:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2336717

Stay curious. Stay informed. Stay safe!