Good evening, readers.
Sen. Pamela Wallin has resigned from the Senate.
A note from Senate clerk on Monday obtained by iPolitics notified the Chamber of her departure.
A Conservative Senate source also confirmed her resignation.
No reason was provided for the resignation, and her biography on the Senate website listed her on Monday as a former senator.
Wallin spoke earlier this month with national media about upcoming changes to the country’s laws on medical assistance in dying, or MAID. She has been an outspoken supporter of MAID and served on multiple parliamentary committees that have studied the issue in recent years.
She was made an officer of the Order of Canada in 2007, in part because of her accomplishments as a broadcaster.
Canada’s former chief trade negotiator says that while digital issues will continue to be a source of trade tensions with the U.S., Canada can gain strength if it teams up with other allies that have similar interests.
Steve Verheul says the United States won’t simply drop issues like the Online News Act and digital sovereignty that it has identified as trade irritants.
He says the cultural exemption Canada has under the current trade agreement can only go so far because it allows the Americans to automatically retaliate if it is used.
Verheul says the United States views policies targeting big tech companies as discriminatory, and it’s difficult to design non-discriminatory policies because of how many of the largest digital companies are American.
The House of Commons held a moment of silence today over a deadly fire at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright that left four Canadian soldiers dead and sent dozens to hospital with injuries.
Prime Minister Mark Carney says members of Parliament are “united in grief” over a tragedy that touches every corner of the country.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, whose Alberta riding includes the base where the fire struck, says soldiers at the scene ran toward the danger to help their comrades.
Soldiers of the 3rd Battalion of Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry and members of the Army Reserve were training with live munitions for overseas deployment on Saturday when the incident occurred.
In Other Headlines
- McGill law school grapples with fallout after paroles murderer excluded from campus (CBC)
- Cleveland-Cliffs boss criticizes Carney, praises Trump, as conflict with Ottawa over layoffs escalates (The Globe and Mail)
- Union calls out Carney government over cuts to translation bureau (CP)
- ‘You’re paid well, do your damn job’: House rules should stop backbench MPs from ‘moonlighting,’ say current and former MPs and experts (The Hill Times)
- Bank fraud victims want Ottawa to make big banks pay more (CBC)
- Beacon is building an AI empire by fixing Main Street’s software (The Logic)
- Why Catherine McKenney isn’t endorsing Neil Saravanamuttoo (Ottawa Citizen)
- Canada’s immigration levels could soon be increased. Here’s why (CTV)
- Alberta Referendum: Here’s what to know as voting gets underway (Global News)
- Vancouver elects Canada’s first Green mayor (The Globe and Mail)
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Internationally
Elsewhere, partial curfews have been issued for a number of French cities, including parts of Paris, after the government admitted police had “lost control” during violent weekend protests around the country.
Sébastien Lecornu, the French prime minister, said after an emergency cabinet meeting on Monday he was “fully resolved to restore public order” and had called for “local and partial” curfews if needed. There was “no question” of imposing a full curfew on entire cities, he said.
His office later announced partial curfews from 8pm to 6am on Monday and Tuesday nights in four northern cities, including Lille.
Police also imposed a curfew from 11pm Monday until 6am on Tuesday on two locations in Paris: Place de la République, where rioting took place on Saturday; and the shopping neighbourhood of Les Halles, which has been subject to looting.
A statement from police said the orders banned gatherings and demonstrations and prohibited anyone from entering or remaining in the two designated areas.
Stephen Richer no longer runs elections in the fourth-largest county in the country.
But for the rest of his life, he’ll remember the feeling when polls closed on an election night.
More than a million ballots staring at him and his staff. Every moment that passes without them fully counted means another conspiracy theory sprouting online.
“Those days, those were hell for me,” said Richer, a Republican who served as the clerk and recorder for Arizona’s Maricopa County. “You’d have a limited number of workers, and you’d have a limited amount of space, and you’d be doing everything that you possibly could. … And yet you have everyone blowing up your phone, everyone saying that you’re incompetent or corrupt or worse.”
In Other International Headlines
- Australian MP critically injured after being hit by car in apparent attack (BBC)
- Trump says construction to begin ‘immediately’ on golf course despite judge’s order (CNN)
- Russian oil exports by Arctic route jump amid world freight crisis, data shows (CBC)
- Houthi attack on Yemeni government forces kills 53: officials (CBC)
- Ukrainians dying because U.S. restricting intelligence sharing, Zelensky adviser tells BBC (BBC)
- Ebola cases in Kenya highlight U.S. failures amid Trump cuts to key services (The Guardian)
- Federal agents are responding to a reported shooting at a mosque in Columbus, Ohio, officials say (AP)
- Israeli police detain 10 people in rare raid against West Bank settlers (The Guardian)
- Witnesses haunted by what they saw when pickup plowed through a Kansas youth soccer game (NBC)
- Pope Leo to hold Wednesday audience for first time since cancer surgery (Reuters)
- Dutch prime minister expecting first child via surrogate mother (Reuters)
The Kicker
In other news, a familiar face is preparing to sign off: CNN legend Christiane Amanpour will leave the network in June.
Her decades of reporting from conflict zones have made her a household name — and inspired more than a few journalism students to pick up a microphone.
She’ll still reporting in the meantime though, at least until her program ends in May.