Welcome to the weekend and welcome to The Buzz.
I remember my first overseas assignment. It was in the mid-seventies, and I’d been sent to London - for what reason I can’t even remember. In any event, I was born in London, so I didn’t really feel like I was far from home. Until I got in a London hackney carriage (translation: black cab) and the cabbie looked at me and said, “Are you American?”
“No,” I answered and told him I was from Canada. As soon as he heard that, he only had one question and I learned over the years it was a common question when I travelled out of the country.
“What’s that Pierre Trudeau fellow really like?” PET was an international celebrity of sorts. More popular out of the country than inside.
It didn’t matter whether I was in London, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Tokyo, Rome, Paris, Beijing, Moscow, Istanbul, Jerusalem or Amsterdam I’d often get the same question. And the responses were usually flattering about the former prime minister – they liked his style. That continued even for years after he left office. I don’t recall that ever happening with the main PMs who followed him, whether it be Mulroney, Chretien or Harper.
And then Justin Trudeau came along. For a while, the same kind of response happened. The celebrity son of the celebrity father. There were bumps – like the time in Scotland two years ago when I saw a Scottish garbage truck coming at me on the roadway and the guy had an upside-down Canadian flag and a sign in his front window labelled “F-Trudeau.” Really? In Scotland?
Anyway, we found out this week that the much disliked at home JT, is still a celebrity of sorts outside the country.
The Toronto Star’s Susan Delacourt had some thoughts on that:
Things are tough for Justin Trudeau at home, but the world stage is a different story 🔒
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Turns out that Pierre Poilievre has outside-the-country fans too.
Including one who has some controversial ideas. Jeremy Appel of the National Observer spent some time looking into that this week:
'That guy's fantastic': American far-right strategizer Christopher Rufo praises Pierre Poilievre 🔒
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Much more on the state of play in Ottawa on this week’s Good Talk with Chantal Hebert and Bruce Anderson. Included this week, Chantal’s four options that face Justin Trudeau right now. You can get our YouTube episode by following the link at nationalnewswatch.com
The big issue south of the border this week is the same one that it has been for the last six months or so.
The election. And what’s the focus these days? It’s all about the swing states: those few states where the voting will make a difference and likely decide who the winner is going to be.
So, what’s important for campaign strategists to know about the swing states in these final weeks? It’s what these people are thinking about and what will sway their votes. The NY Times spent some quality time trying to determine the answer and here’s what they discovered:
Inside the Minds of Swing Voters
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There hasn’t been much discussion about it yet, but this coming Tuesday may be the last major national debate before the US election.
It’s the vice-presidential debate. Could it make a difference? Possibly. Here’s the ABC News take on the Walz-Vance face-to-face:
How to watch the vice presidential debate between Walz and Vance
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It’s been a few weeks since I included a climate change piece but this one stuck out to me as timely, important and worth reading.
It’s from Andrew Phillips, a former colleague at the CBC, and now an opinion writer at the Toronto Star:
The rest of the world knows the best tool to fight climate change. Canada is abandoning it 🔒
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As one gets older, and at 76 I know this feeling well, you worry about every sign that you could possibly be losing more than a step.
Sure, the odds are your eyesight might need some assistance, your hearing may too. I’ve had to deal with both of those issues. Getting reading glasses is no big deal, hearing aids, at least for me, are another question. I either forget to charge them or to put them in before going out to meet friends, or I’m convinced they’re going to fall out if I look down. So instead, I end up saying, “Sorry what was that again?” a lot.
But that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about cognitive decline. That’s what really worries people like me. Just kind of losing it to the point where people look at you like many are looking at Donald Trump these days. A rambling, incoherent, out-of-touch, boring old fart. And those are just the nice things his critics say.
Anyway, let’s get to the point Peter. Hmm. What can one do to stay relevant? Here is the answer from one of my favourite websites, studyfinds.org :
The power of leisure: How everyday hobbies stop cognitive decline
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Now you know why I do newsletters and podcasts! Great hobbies.
If there’s one thing I’m really sick and tired of, it’s reading the endless list of stories you can find almost everywhere that focus on the lowlifes of society. Those dead-enders who make other people’s lives miserable.
This is not one of those stories. Instead, this is one that will truly make you feel like there’s good out there. Real good:
Woman, 79, fell while hiking. A stranger carried her for hours on his back.
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We all wish we could be Troy May, at least I know I wish I could. But I don’t think I could carry someone for five metres let alone five kilometres. Good for you Troy, we all salute you.
That’s the Buzz for this week. We’ll be back in seven days. Have a great week.
The Buzz is a weekly publication from National Newswatch that shares insights and commentary on the week’s developments in politics, news and current affairs.