Rewarding Bad Behaviour 👎

Looking to read The Feed in French (aka Le Fil)? Subscribe to Le Fil and get weekly editions right to your inbox!

Applications close May 24 at 11:59 PM EST. Don’t miss your chance to:

• Build skills in civic engagement, community building & project design

• Attend a jam-packed conference Aug 7–9

• Work on meaningful community projects in your city, and more!

Apply now and refer a friend!

Construction of an oil pipeline to the West Coast could start as early as September 2027, after the federal and Alberta governments reached an energy agreement. Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced the deal Friday, building on the memorandum of understanding that the governments signed in November. The plan includes an increase to Alberta’s industrial carbon price — considered Canada’s most important policy for cutting greenhouse gases — but at a slower pace than originally planned. The announcement comes as the federal gov pushes changes aimed at speeding up approvals for major projects; find a detailed explainer on the proposed changes here. Environmental groups criticized the agreement, while B.C. Premier David Eby said the federal gov is rewarding bad behaviour, pointing to the possibility of a separatist referendum in Alberta. Related: a judge recently ruled the petition calling for a referendum on separation shouldn’t have been issued, a decision the Alberta gov says it plans to appeal. Alberta politics refuses to chill.

Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen returned to Canada last week for a series of public events, bringing with him his Artemis II crewmates who journeyed to the far side of the moon. The four astronauts met with PM Mark Carney and exchanged gifts, visited a group of students at the Canadian Museum of Nature, answered audience questions at the National Arts Centre and got a full hero’s welcome at Canadian Space Agency headquarters in Quebec. Along the way, the astronauts were asked about how they reconciled the awe of seeing Earth from space with the war and destruction happening down here. Hansen responded by talking about the choice all of us have when we get up, and why our job in life is joy. Honestly, hard to argue with the guy who saw the far side of the moon.

Global Pressure: Nearly 200 former senior Canadian diplomats are calling on PM Carney to impose robust sanctions on Israel. In a letter sent to media outlets, they argued that without international sanctions, the Israeli government will continue disregarding international law and human rights. The letter also points to the high civilian death toll in Lebanon as a serious violation of international law.

Airport Drama: Should Canada’s federally owned airports be privatized? That question is back on the table after the Liberal gov floated the possibility in its spring economic update, with Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne saying it’s about modernizing how Canada views its public assets. Not everybody is sold on the idea, though. This pod digs into what happens when public infrastructure moves into private hands.

Privacy Spiral: A Canadian security bill that proposes giving police and spies easier access to information during investigations is getting attention in the U.S.…and not the good kind. Bill C-22 is the Canadian gov’s second attempt at passing lawful access legislation, and some American tech companies, including Apple and Signal, are raising concerns about it. But Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree says they are misinterpreting the bill.

In a landmark case, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled Friday that intimate partner violence can be the basis for lawsuits. The case focused on whether someone can claim damages for the tort of intimate partner violence. Wait, what’s a tort? It’s a legal term, referring to a civil legal claim where someone seeks damages because another person caused them harm. In a split 6-3 ruling, the court sided in favour of creating a new tort of intimate partner violence, calling it “a pernicious social ill deserving of the full attention of the law.” Advocates for victims of intimate partner violence are calling the judgment historic.

And now it’s time for dessert...your weekly crossword! A little hint for you: make sure you review last week’s edition to complete the crossword:

YOUR SWEET TREAT

Share Your Feedback!
Fill out this survey to tell us what you think of The Feed.

Got a question? Want to collaborate? Have any feedback?
Get in touch at thefeed@apathyisboring.com.