The Buzz April 11th 2026: Turbulence on Earth, Triumph in Orbit

The Buzz April 11th 2026: Turbulence on Earth, Triumph in Orbit

Welcome to the weekend and welcome to The Buzz.

This has been another wild week of stories. The President of the United States said he was going to wipe out a 5000-year-old civilization if they didn’t buckle to his command. They didn’t. And he TACO’d.

A Canadian circled the moon. That’s right, you’re reading that correctly… a Canadian circled the moon. Just think about that for a moment.

And the Liberals grabbed another Conservative to sit with them, now making a majority all but certain.

All these stories deserve some solid journalism, and we saw just that this week. The Buzz is happy to line a few up for your weekend pleasure.

My favourite pieces are always the so-called “untold” stories. Back when I was a daily journalist, I used to love getting the inside details, which allowed me to write about some of the “untold” elements of something that made the headlines. They always needed the best of sourcing, getting to the people who were actually involved in whatever the event was, not those who’d heard things and thought they knew exactly what had happened.

A master class in telling the “untold” story came this week in the New York Times. Two terrific reporters, Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, pooled their sources to put together a “tick tock” as they’re called, on how the US went to war with Iran. It’s clear from what they wrote that this was destined for disaster from the beginning.

Here’s their piece, which will eventually be just a small part of their book:

🔒 How Trump Took the U.S. to War With Iran

That night led to this week and the pathetic and equally disgusting Trump threat to literally destroy Iran – its civilization, its culture, people, and land.

My colleague and coauthor Mark Bulgutch wrote this for the Toronto Star:

🔒 Opinion | The public is being shielded from Donald Trump's deranged blatherings

Opinion | Canada’s Patchwork of Recycling Systems Is Driving Up Costs for Everyone

Walk into any grocery store in Canada, and you will find non-alcoholic beverages produced by companies with deep roots in communities across the country. These beverage manufacturers and bottlers are proud to invest in manufacturing and support tens of thousands of jobs. But now they are absorbing exponentially increasing recycling costs.

Conservatives must be wondering what will hit them next after another week of bad polls and another floor crossing.

Mind you, given what they’ve been saying about their latest loss of an MP, makes you wonder just how bad they really feel. Look at Conservative strategist Fred DeLorey’s Substack:

Opinion | Carney risks creating a Frankenstein caucus

Don Braid has seen a lot of stuff in his time, but the veteran Calgary Herald columnist was clearly trying hard to figure this latest floor crossing out:

Opinion | Braid: Another Conservative MP crosses; Liberals will have their majority Monday

As for Mark Carney and the Liberals, they only see one thing, and it starts with an M: majority.

They keep getting closer to that goal, but Monday could be the clincher. Politico’s Zi-Ann-Lum took a look:

Mark Carney Is on the Verge of a Big Election Win

Now to the moon.

What was this week really all about? There’s no doubt it was exciting and made a lot of us feel good to see Jeremy Hansen up there in a rocket ship to the moon, all the while displaying his Canada patch on his shoulder. But there was a lot more to this mission than that – in fact, it's all about future missions and who does them. The CBC’s Eli Glasner had this piece on air just before Artemis 2 took off:

Why the U.S. wants to get to the moon before China

Time for my weekly plug for our YouTube podcasts.

You can find Tuesday’s Reporter’s Notebook with Althia Raj and Rob Russo right here.

And yesterday’s Good Talk with Bruce Anderson and Keith Boag, filling in for Chantal, right here.

Unlike a lot of people, I am not fixated on the salaries politicians are paid.

Sure, I bet some are overpaid for what they might make in the private sector, but not all. A top cabinet minister, the opposition leader, and the prime minister all work long hours with varying degrees of pressure. That being said, some of them got salary bumps this week, and here are the latest numbers:

🔒 After April salary boost, Carney now earns $435,400, Poilievre $321,300, and Blanchet $291,100

More talk about NATO this week, with Donald Trump playing his “they’ve done nothing for us” card again.

He still doesn't seem to understand what happened in Afghanistan. But for most Canadians, they simply don’t care anymore what Trump thinks when it comes to NATO. That sure is what came out of the latest polling research Bruce Anderson has done and reports about in his Substack:

Most Canadians prefer a NATO without the US, to a NATO that bows to Trump's demands.

So, what are the Russians up to when they’re not killing civilians in Ukraine, giving targeting information to Iran about US forces in the region, and whispering in Donald Trump’s ear about what he should do next on whatever issue interests them?

Apparently, they are also spending a lot of time studying communications cables on the sea floor north of the UK. Check this out from the BBC:

UK says Russia ran submarine operation over cables and pipelines

Close out this weekend with our AI pick of the week.

If you are worried about job losses because of AI, then better not read this. It’s from NBC News:

AI has replaced work for 20% of full-time employees in the U.S., survey says

And that’s going to do it for The Buzz this week. We’ll 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.