Welcome to The Feed, your weekly resource to Canadian politics and policies broken down into itty bitty (super witty) bite-sized knowledge by Apathy is Boring.
Pun intended.

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WHAT'S THE SCOOP? 

Surprise tactical moves, playing games and procedural nonsense … things continue to be spicy in the House of Commons. What’s going on? First, the Conservatives had a cheekily worded non-confidence motion designed to use NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh’s own words against him. But just before the motion was set to come up, the NDP made a surprise tactical move and forced a debate on abortion access. When the Conservatives tried to return to their motion, the Liberals and NDP voted against them — a series of events a Conservative MP called procedural nonsense. Then the next day, the Conservatives turned to their own procedural hijinks, stalling debate on an NDP motion calling for the gov to extend the upcoming GST holiday and expand the proposed $250 rebate. Expect more shenanigans before MPs head home for the winter holiday break next week. 

It’s not just our southern border that’s attracting attention. Amid the growing presence of Russia and China in the Arctic, a new foreign policy for Canada’s Arctic was launched Friday — and it promises a lot. Like what? Canada will open consulates in Alaska and Greenland, appoint an Arctic ambassador (who will be an Indigenous person), initiate Arctic security talks with foreign affairs ministers in other northern countries, and support science and research coordination in the Arctic. Meanwhile, Canada continues to respond to proposed tariffs from incoming U.S. president Donald Trump, who has identified the Canada-U.S. border as a problem. Ontario launched a multimillion-dollar U.S. ad campaign that touts the economic and cultural ties the province shares with its southern neighbour, while Quebec Premier François Legault met with Trump in Paris and discussed border control and tariffs.

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NEWS NUGGETS

Stop Now: A new report from human rights organization Amnesty International says that Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip constitutes the crime of genocide under international law. It’s the first time a major human rights org has made such a determination during this ongoing violence. “Our damning findings must serve as a wake-up call: this is genocide and it must stop now,” Amnesty International’s secretary general says.  

In Jeopardy: As the Canada Post strike surpasses the three-week mark, calls are growing louder for the federal gov to force an end to the walkout. The Retail Council of Canada is the latest organization calling for intervention, saying the strike puts businesses and their employees in jeopardy. Listen to this pod for more on what’s going on, including what the strike says about the labour movement and unions’ right to strike. 

Gun Control: One day before the 35th anniversary of the massacre at École Polytechnique de Montréal, the Canadian gov announced it’s expanding its list of banned firearms. Hundreds of additional makes, models and their variants have been added to the list, effective immediately. These firearms can no longer be legally used, sold or imported in Canada, said Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc.

WHAT ELSE WE'RE NIBBLING ON

To Syria, where a rapid offensive by rebels ousted President Bashar al-Assad, forcing him to flee and ending his family’s decades of rule. Under al-Assad, Syria faced 13 years of civil war. More than 500,000 Syrians died and millions more fled their homes. Head here for everything we know so far about the toppling of Assad. World leaders are reacting to the news, with PM Trudeau saying decades of brutal oppression has ended and a new chapter for Syria can begin that’s free of terrorism and suffering for its people. Listen to this pod for more on the fall of Syria’s dictator and what happens next.

CROSSWORD

And now it's time for dessert...your weekly crossword! A little hint for you: you can find all these words in last week's newsletter!

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