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Political Upheaval In Canada

Political Upheaval In Canada

Your unbiased daily news brief

James Kratch
December 17, 2024

Good Tuesday morning. A Russian woman who stowed away on a flight from New York to Paris earlier this month was caught trying to sneak into Canada on a Greyhound bus. Have a great day.

In Today’s Brief

Maine: National monument
Fiji: Alcohol poisonings
Trump: Hush money ruling
SoftBank: $100B pledge
NBA Cup: Final tonight

... and more

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Top Tips

1) Shock exit

Canada took a stunning step toward snap elections.

The news: Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland abruptly resigned after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau moved to replace her as the nation's finance minister. The two reportedly clashed on how to handle President-elect Donald Trump's threatened 25% tariffs and other issues. Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, a Trudeau ally, has been named Freeland's replacement.
Key context: The wildly unpopular Trudeau has survived parliamentary non-confidence vote pushes and resisted calls to resign from inside his Liberal Party. But Freeland's departure and pointed resignation letter could be the event that finally costs Trudeau his job and leads to early elections.
Big picture: Canada has to have an election by Oct. 20. And when it does, the Conservative Party is expected to post a landslide victory that propels its leader, Pierre Poilievre, to the premiership. Trudeau is merely trying to run out the clock at this point. He's been able to do so because the center-left New Democratic Party has refused to align with the Tories on a non-confidence vote. But there are signs NDP will finally torpedo Trudeau if he does not resign soon.

2) Another tragedy

Two people were killed in a school shooting in Wisconsin.

The news: A 15-year-old female student opened fire at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison. The teenager killed a teacher and another student before apparently dying by suicide (police said they did not discharge their weapons in the incident).
More details: Six other people were injured in the shooting -- five students and a teacher. Two of the students were last listed in critical condition with life-threatening injuries. Cops do not have a motive, but believe the shooter used a 9mm handgun and was already in the school when the shooting occurred.
Big picture: The incident is at least the 203rd instance of gunfire on school grounds this year in the U.S., according to Everytown for Gun Safety. There have been at least 58 deaths and 153 injuries in those incidents.

3) Helping hand

New York's embattled mayor may get help from an unlikely source.

The news: President-elect Trump said he would consider pardoning Mayor Eric Adams. He made the revelation during a rollicking press conference yesterday at Mar-a-Lago where he also defended polio vaccines, threatened more media lawsuits and discussed foreign policy. Adams faces federal corruption charges tied to alleged campaign donations and gifts from foreign nationals; he is still running for re-election next year, but the case has complicated that effort.
The context: Trump said he believes Adams was "treated pretty unfairly" and downplayed the charges. He suggested President Joe Biden's administration targeted him because Adams spoke out against its migrant policies. Trump claimed he privately predicted Adams would be indicted before charges came down (Adams had been the subject of several probes and several people in his orbit also face charges).
Long odds: Prediction market Kalshi has started trading on notable names Trump could pardon during his first 100 days in office. Adams' chances have jumped, but his odds against being pardoned remain roughly 2-to-1.

Quick Tips

U.S. News

President Joe Biden signed a proclamation to establish the Frances Perkins National Monument in Maine. The late Labor Secretary was the first woman to join a presidential cabinet, serving for 12 years under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (More)
Hannah Kobayashi has returned to the U.S. after being located in Mexico. The Hawaii woman disappeared in November after purposely missing a flight in Los Angeles, sparking a massive search; police later learned she voluntarily crossed the border (More)
Former cable news personality Carlos Watson received a 10-year federal prison sentence following a conspiracy conviction. He committed wire fraud in conjunction with his failed Ozy Media startup; he plans to appeal (More)

World News

Seven tourists, including an American, were hospitalized in Fiji after drinking tainted cocktails. The incident comes weeks after six backpackers died of suspected alcohol poisoning in Laos; at least one patient has already been released (More)
A U.S. Navy warship docked in Cambodia for the first time in almost a decade. The port call comes following a recent thaw in diplomatic relations with the strong Chinese ally; Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet graduated from West Point as a foreign cadet (More)
Germany will have snap elections in February. Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a parliamentary confidence vote yesterday, weeks after his minority governing coalition collapsed; he will remain the leader of the Social Democratic Party (More)

Political News

A New York judge ruled President-elect Trump's hush money conviction cannot be tossed on presidential immunity grounds. But Judge Juan Merchan did not weigh in on whether it should be dismissed now that he will be president again (More)
Congressional negotiators are expected to strike a deal to fund the government before Friday's partial shutdown deal. Talks are reportedly underway to strike a deal that extends into mid-March (More)
Florida Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Democrat, is reportedly a contender to lead FEMA. He served in a similar role at the state level under Gov. Ron DeSantis; his exit would boost the GOP House majority and a special election for his seat would likely be a toss-up (More)

Business & Markets

Major indexes closed mixed yesterday. The Nasdaq hit a new record while the Dow Jones had its eighth consecutive losing day ahead of this week's Federal Reserve meeting (Dow -0.25%, Nasdaq +1.24%, S&P 500 +0.38%).
SoftBank Group pledged to invest $100B in the U.S. over the next four years. CEO Masayoshi Son made the announcement with President-elect Trump at Mar-a-Lago, claiming the Japanese holding company's initiative will create 100K jobs (More)
Fubo's antitrust lawsuit against Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery can proceed. A federal judge denied a dismissal motion; the streaming service is challenging the media giant's proposed joint Venu Sports platform on competitive grounds (More)

Entertainment & Sports

The NBA Cup in-season tournament title game is tonight. The Milwaukee Bucks and Oklahoma City Thunder will square off in Las Vegas at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC (More)
A Barbie sequel is reportedly in early development, although filmmaker Greta Gerwig and Warner Bros. denied The Hollywood Reporter's scoop. The summer blockbuster made $1.4B at the box office last year (More)
Next year's U.S. Ryder Cup team will be paid; each player will receive $500K each with $300K earmarked for charity. It will be the first time in the golf event's 98-year history that players will be compensated (More)

Quick Hitters

Fun Stuff: Want to smile? Watch this video of a Jack Russell terrier riding atop a miniature horse that does show jumps.
Be Safe: Over 40K Christmas tree light controllers have been recalled due to a fire hazard. The devices were sold at major retailers like Walmart and Target.
Go Deep: Sleep divorce has become a popular strategy to help stave off an actual legal separation. Here is a look at why couples are embracing sleeping in different beds.
History Lesson: A secret CIA plane crashed in Death Valley National Park in 1952. The wreckage still sits in the California desert.
Life Hack: Traveling during the holidays is rough. Here are some secrets that flight attendants swear by.

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