US ambassador to Canada Kelly Craft receives suspicious package and death threats

A package containing a suspicious substance and death threats was sent to Kelly Craft, the U.S. ambassador to Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was one of at least two Canadian officials who immediately expressed support for Craft.

A white powder in the package was determined to be harmless. The parcel was discovered by a mail-room employee at the ambassador's residence and police were contacted. A letter full of expletives and with death threats directed at Craft, Trump and Trump's family was also in the package. Officials did not go into further details as to what was in the letter.

Tensions high between Canada and United States

There have been several events that have raised tensions between the two countries. Trump's decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum on the grounds that Canada is a security threat is one important source of tension. Canada has responded by imposing equivalent tariffs on US goods including whiskey.

Another, is Trump's failure to support the final communique after the recent meeting of the G7. Trump criticized Trudeau as dishonest and weak after his refusal to sign the joint statement.

The two countries are also unable so far to reach a NAFTA agreement with the US along with Mexico. Trump had been using the threat of tariffs against Canada and Mexico in order to put pressure on the two countries to reach an agreement. The US also has placed tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber and has even threatened to put tariffs on the auto sector. Trump regularly complains about Canada's supply management system in the dairy sector. Trump regularly threatens to leave the pact.

The US has also placed tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber and has threatened to add tariffs in the auto sector.

The situation was not helped when the White House trade adviser, Peter Navarro said in a Fox News interview on June 10 that there was a special place in hell reserved for Trudeau. He later apologized for his wording. Larry Kudlow, Trump's economic adviser, also supported Trump by claiming that Trudeau "kind of stabbed us in the back".

Trudeau and Freeland react

Trudeau's office said that he called Craft today to check on her welfare Chrystia Freeland, the minister of foreign affairs, in a tweet expressed her support:“I also expressed my support for the Ambassador following the wholly unacceptable threat made against her.She does an essential and difficult job and Canada respects her service.”

Some media members to boycott Craft's 4th of July party

The ambassador's 4th of July bash for US Independence Day typically attracts up to 5,000 people. It will be the first party for the event to be held by Craft who took up her post last October. Usually many MPs and government officials attend. However some prominent Canadian media members say they will not attend and suggested cabinet ministers do likewise.

This year the party celebrates "Red, White, and Bourbon" in deference to Craft's home state of Kentucky noted for its bourbon whiskey. This is somewhat ironic in that the party takes place just a few days after Canada's whiskey tariffs are to go into effect on July 1.

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau demands Facebook address "fake news" problem

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned social networking behemoth Facebook the that it must address its "fake news" problem or it would face stronger regulation by the Canadian government.

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Trudeau's meeting with Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg

Back in November Trudeau had told Sheryl Sandberg chief operating officer of Facebook that he was concerned that the company was not doing enough to address the problem of misleading information on Facebook.

Trudeau is said to have made the comments during a meeting with Sandberg at the Asia-Pacific Economic Forum in Vietnam last November. The source said that the conversation was constructive. Trudeau was particularly concerned about identifying the origin of partisan "news", posts or ads.

Neither the PM's office nor Facebook would discuss the specifics of the meeting. However, Kevin Chan Facebook's policy chief in Canada said in a statement to the Star newspaper: “We stand with the lawmakers around the world, including in Canada, in their efforts to protect the democractic process.”

Facebook has been under increasing pressure for allowing false information to masquerade as legitimate journalism. Russia has been accused of using ads on Facebook to influence the recent U.S. election that saw Donald Trump win over Hillary Clinton.

Facebook has also faced criticism for lack of transparency as to who is buying ads appearing on it.

The Trudeau government and social media

Trudeau appears to be concerned that there will be material on Facebook designed to influence the upcoming 2019 Federal election.

The federal government, including Trudeau and his cabinet ministers, issue constant Twitter posts, Instagram statements, and announcements on Facebook. At the same time, the government worries about the use of these platforms by opponents and foreign countries to influence Canadian elections using social media.

CSIS concerns

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) that deals with cybersecurity and espionage has warned that it is quite likely that outside groups will attempt to influence the elections.

CSIS even held a workshop for researchers that talked about the possible responses to "information warfare" and disinformation in the fall of 2017. Elections Canada has already taken steps to ensure cybersecurity. Global Affairs has also been taking an interest in the fake news phenomena.

Katrina Gould, Democratic Institutions Minister claimed that social media have plenty of work to do to address the problems of “cybersecurity, hate speech, and the dissemination of misinformation.” Gould said: “We encourage all social media platforms to think critically about their current practices and how they can create spaces for informed public dialogue.”

Facebook's response

Facebook points out that it already employs 10,000 people working on "safety and security" globally and plans to increase the number to 20,000.

The company also launched a "Canadian Election Integrity" initiative late in 2017. It provides a guide to MPs, candidates and parties to prevent "mischief" on line and gives a direct link to Facebook's security team. The company claims it is also providing more transparency as to who buys ads and who they are targeting.

Facebook's head of global policy management, Monika Bickert told the Canadian House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee that it had deleted thousands of fake accounts in the run-up to 2017 elections in the UK, France, and Germany. Many politicians have little faith that tech and social media companies will address the issues themselves.

Rise of tech media giants creates economic and other issues

Carolyn Wilkins, senior deputy governor of the Bank of Canada said that the rise of giant social media companies has resulted in a relentless appetite for users' data. This raises questions about privacy of the data, security and also intellectual property.

Wilkins said: “If user data are an important source of monopoly rents in the digital age, how should we regulate who owns the data and how they're shared?. We're going to need to judge wisely when it’s best to use public policy tools to manage the risks and when it's best to let private enterprise work its magic.”

The problem of "fake news" Facebook versus Twitter

There are many views of what constitutes fake news. President Trump appears to consider any report fake news if it is critical of him and his administration and he rejects it as not true. Wikipedia describes fake news as follows:Fake news is a type of yellow journalism or propaganda that consists of deliberate misinformation or hoaxes spread via traditional print and broadcast news media or online social media.[1] Fake news is written and published with the intent to mislead in order to damage an agency, entity, or person, and/or gain financially or politically,[2][3][4] often using sensationalist, dishonest, or outright fabricated headlines to increase readership, online sharing, and Internet click revenue. In the latter case, it is similar to sensational online "clickbait" headlines and relies on advertising revenue generated from this activity, regardless of the veracity of the published stories.[2] In

However, what some might consider fake news others might consider basically true if somewhat biased. In propaganda there may be many true statements. Russian ads meant to divide Americans often contain true but perhaps exaggerated accounts of race relations in the US. To expect social media companies to filter out fake news will just increase the power of the powerful to the detriment of free speech and repression of viewpoints that don't fit in with the mainstream views.

Facebook takes the view it has the responsibility to intervene to block fake news. In contrast Twitter has decided that it will not be an arbiter of what is true or of fake news.

The Facebook view

As noted earlier, Facebook already has thousands filtering out fake news from Facebook.

It has also announced a plan to crowdsource credibility ratings for news outlets. It has assembled a team of fact checkers in Italy just ahead of parliamentary elections there next month. Before the French presidential election last year in France, Facebook took out full page newspapers ads that featured tips on identifying fake news.

The Twitter view

Nick Pickles head of Twitter's public policy for the UK said in testimony in Washington said: We are not the arbiters of truth. We are not going to remove content based on the fact this is untrue. The one strength that Twitter has is it's a hive of journalists, of citizens, of activists correcting the record, correcting information.”

Pickles was among executives from Twitter, Facebook, and Google who fielded questions about fake news at George Washington University. The UK held its first ever public hearing outside the UK.

Pickles also said: "I don't think technology companies should be deciding during an election what is true and what is not true, which is what you're asking us to do. I think that's a very important principle.”

Accounts can still be cut off at Twitter if they violate terms of use. Trump seems to stay on even though many argue he constantly violates the terms of use.

Greater transparency as to who places ads and who is targeted seems to me a laudable goal and would help the reader assess the likely veracity of a post.

Previously published in Digital Journal

Opposition to Canadian government's Iraq mission appears not to change support for Liberal party

Both Liberal leader Justin Trudeau who is leading in recent federal polls and Thomas Mulcair of the New Democratic Party(NDP) voted against the bombing mission of Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Iraq.

Two recent polls indicate that a majority of Canadians support Canada's Iraq mission and also Stephen Harper's judgment on the matter. Yet, as an article by Eric Grenier indicates, the results do not clearly show that Trudeau's position on Iraq has had any negative effect on support for the Liberal party. An EKOS research survey shows that 58 per cent of Canadians strongly or somewhat support Canada's Iraq mission while only 39 per cent are opposed.
As usual with such results the polls actually show that most Canadians 58 per cent favor a "non-military response such as aid and assistance to refugees" a position supported by both opposition parties. 21 per cent favored limiting the response to airstrikes where another 23 per cent wanted a "fuller military response including airstrikes and ground combat". The last two positions favoring a military mission add up to only 44 per cent, less than a majority.
 Another poll by Abacus Data showed that 54 per cent thought that Prime Minister Harper showed good or at least acceptable judgment in dealing with the IS threat with only 23 per cent thinking that he had shown poor judgment. Note that a considerable number in these polls said they did not have sufficient information to make a judgment. For both Mulcair and Trudeau 39 per cent of respondents said that they had shown good or acceptable judgment. However, more thought Trudeau's judgment was poor, 28 per cent while just 19 per cent thought this for Mulcair. Opposition to the Canadian mission in Iraq was strongest among New Democrats at 60 per cent.
 Support was strongest among Conservatives at 90 per cent but Liberals showed a slight majority in favor with only 45 per cent opposed according to an Ekos poll. The EKOS poll showed that the Liberal party still had the support of nearly 39 per cent, almost the same as the last two polls. The support for the Conservatives and New Democrats remained about the same. This suggests that the issue has had little or no impact on support for any party.
As often happens with polls however, the results of the Abacus survey indicate a drop this week in Liberal support to 32 per cent, six points lower than the 38 per cent they had back in September in contrast to the EKOS poll. Yet these results when looked at in depth make the situation even less clear. The fall in Liberal support was worst in Ontario where they dropped from 41 per cent to 32 per cent just two per cent more than the Conservatives. However, the New Democrats are the party that gained nine points, and they are also the party most opposed to the Canadian Iraq mission.
Over the last five months Liberals averaged 43 per cent in Ontario polls with the NDP at only 18 per cent. Surely the conclusion one could draw from this is that opposing the Iraq mission is the way to gain support since the NDP are most opposed. Detailed descriptions of the surveys is given at the end of this article.
 The next federal election in Canada is scheduled for Oct. 19 2015 almost a year away. The three main party standings in the most recent Abacus poll on October 17 in percentage support were: Conservatives 30; NDP 25; Liberals 32. In contrast the EKOS poll just two days earlier showed: Conservatives 26.4; NDP 25; Liberals 38.5. If the present trends continue it looks as if the Conservatives will lose their majority government but not to the NDP who are at present the main opposition but to the Liberal party. The Iraq mission so far seems not to be much of an issue.

Canada: Son of former prime minister Trudeau scores TKO over Conservative Senator favorite

Justin Trudeau a Liberal Member of Parliament and Conservative Senator Patrick Brazeau fought for charity in an Ottawa event. The event raised $230,000 dollars for a local cancer research foundation.

Brazeau was the favorite. He tried to finish off Trudeau with a very aggressive first round. However , this is what Trudeau expected and he was able to survive the round. Brazeau seemed to have worn himself out and by the third round Trudeau was landing a lot of punches. As can be seen on the enclosed video the referee decided to stop the fight in the third round with Trudeau scoring a TKO. Brazeau has military and martial arts training.

Trudeau said:"It feels really good. I had a game plan that I was going to stick to,". "I knew he would come in heavy and hard right off the bat, but I also knew that I was going to be able to take anything he threw at me. And when he did, he emptied himself out, and I just kept going."I'll be absolutely honest: He hits really hard."

Before the fight Trudeau and Brazeau duked it out on Twitter. Brazeau said that his ego suffered the worst blow.. For more see this CBC article. Brazeau will now be forced to cut his hair which will mean his pony tail will probably be gone!