

Welcome to the weekend and welcome to The Buzz.
It’s been quite a week: a new and violent war in the Middle East, a G7 Summit in Alberta, the Liberals pushing what they think is a national project building bill through the Commons, and, of course, there was the Stanley Cup final. Thirty-two years now since a Canadian team has won the greatest sports trophy in the world. But who’s counting?
But you knew all that already, right? So, let’s move on to stuff that will make you smarter because you may not have read these pieces.
That’s the idea behind The Buzz. Try to bring some good writing to your attention to give you new things to think about. You don’t have to agree with all this; the idea is just to have you think about new angles on subjects.
So first up is this piece I found in Greg MacNeil’s Substack.
Who is Greg MacNeil, you ask? Well, he’s an east coaster now living in Ottawa and he’s in the GR business. Government Relations. And he’s got twenty years of experience understanding how politics works in Canada, so his advice is worth listening to.
Like you, I’m sure, Greg has been wondering how long a honeymoon can last for a new government. Mark Carney’s new government is barely two months old, it’s racking up some major accomplishments and some good numbers, but …. but it’s only two months. So, what should we make of it all? Here’s Greg’s advice:

Most Governments Peak in Year One. Here’s Why
When I was in Calgary last week at a conference dealing with Canada’s energy future, there were lots of areas up for discussion: oil and gas for sure, but just as much time on nuclear, water, solar, wind and the list went on.
Including critical minerals of which we as a country have a lot, much of it untapped. So, how does Canada get at that potential motherlode (sorry, couldn’t resist)? Marisa Beck and Rick Smith did this piece for National Newswatch:

Capitalizing on critical minerals requires cutting timelines—without cutting corners
Okay, I sense some of you want a G7 wrap-up.
That’s so yesterday, but alright, let’s give it a go.
Lisa Van Dusen at Policy tells us what we need to know about what happened and what it may mean:

Kananaskis, Carney, and the Future of the G7
Have you noticed how many people have been trying to give advice to Pierre Poilievre about what he needs to do after he and his party blew a 25-point lead in a matter of just a few months?
And yes, he lost his own seat to boot. Most of the advice centres around talking to his own members, especially those who lost their ridings, about what they were hearing. Was it the party’s policies? Was it him? But would they really be honest in giving him answers?
Conservative strategist and long-time political commentator Tim Powers has a different suggestion, and he wrote about it in The Hill Times:

🔒 Conservatives could use some outside perspective
More thoughts on some of this on our two YouTube podcasts this week. Friday’s Good Talk with Chantal Hebert and Rob Russo can be found here.
And Tuesday’s Smoke Mirrors and The Truth with Bruce Anderson and Fred DeLorey can be found right here.
Yale Professor Timothy Snyder became a bit of a media rock star, at least in some media circles, during the last US election.
He wasn’t shy about the United States that Donald Trump was building and feared what might happen if Trump won. Well, he did win, and it wasn’t long before Snyder and his family headed north to the University of Toronto to start his teaching life anew. This week, The Guardian went to Professor Marci Shore, Snyder’s wife, to get this story:

Why a professor of fascism left the US: ‘The lesson of 1933 is – you get out’
When we were kids in the fifties and sixties, my sister and brother and I used to wonder what it was exactly that our father did.
Sure, he was a senior bureaucrat in Ottawa, but was that what he really did? Sometimes we’d decide no, what he really did was being a spy. A James Bond type. We were wrong, of course, but it didn’t stop us from fantasizing and having fun with it. But after reading this, also in The Guardian, I’m thinking again:

Blaise Metreweli named as first woman to lead UK intelligence service MI6
Because I’m in Scotland this week, and because I’m literally just metres from one of the spots the Vikings landed more than a thousand years ago, I like this story to close with this week.
I’m an all Vikings all the time kind of guy:

'Spectacular' Viking burial site discovered in Denmark
Have a great weekend, enjoy the long days, and know that summer is now officially just around the corner! The Buzz will be back in seven days.
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.