1. ABOUT A BUDGET Here’s CBC, the Leader-Post, the Leader-Post again, CBC again, CBC’s Stefani Langenegger, the L-P’s Murray Mandryk and Prairie Dog’s Greg Beatty on yesterday’s budget. I’d normally include a link to CJME but Brad Wall’s first post-budget interview was with radio host and former progressive Conservative MP John Gormley and that’s just lame. No link for you, CJME!
2. MEANWHILE, REGINA MAYOR MICHAEL FOUGERE IS SUSPICIOUS OF “TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGE” Does it mean “downloading”?
3. TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION, ONE YEAR LATER CBC catches up with Murray Sinclair, chair of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, one year after the Commission released its 94 calls to action.
4. CANADIAN PRIDE Yesterday, PM Justin Trudeau raised the LGBTQ pride flag on Parliament Hill for the first time ever. “It hasn’t been easy, it hasn’t been automatic. A lot of people fought for a long time for this day and for the many days that led up to this day to happen,” he said.
5. JOHNSTONE DEFENDS CARBON CAPTURE Hey Paul Dechene, you might be interested in this May 27 Bruce Johnstone column I just noticed — especially after what you wrote earlier this week.
6. BRITISH NEWSPAPER EXPOSE U.S. CITIES’ LEAD-LINED WATER TESTS This is what journalism looks like. Also what a failing country looks like. Also why you shouldn’t trust anyone who complains about “red tape”. Red tape is the stuff that makes sure drinking water gets tested for unsafe levels of lead.
7. CLIMATE CHANGE MAKES WEATHER WACKIER You knew that but here’s an update anyway about facts that only talk show guests and scumbag propagandists argue with.
8. CHINA’S UNELECTED LEADERS DON’T LIKE TOUGH QUESTIONS What a big baby.
9. ARE GORILLAS DANGEROUS TO PEOPLE? TL;DR: Potentially, if they’re feeling threatened.
10. SYRIAN REFUGEES HELP ALBERTANS A nice story about people helping people.
11. ANTI-ABORTION TWITS GET OUTTA MY PROPERTY Look what I found in a Prairie Dog street box this morning! Unfortunately it got torn into little bitty pieces on the way to its photoshoot somehow but I put it back together as best I could.
12. I THOUGHT NEOLIBERALISM SUCKED BEFORE IT WAS COOL TO THINK NEOLIBERALISM SUCKED Business-friendly free trade agreements that export jobs, reckless tax cuts for the wealthy and austerity policies that make people poor and wreck economies suck so very much.
13. SOUNDS LIKE SPIDER-MAN 4 WOULD’VE BEEN GREAT Here are some details of director Sam Raimi’s aborted plans for a Tobey Maguire-led Spider-Man 4 and I love them. The villains would’ve been the Vulture and Mysterio, who would’ve been played by Bruce Campbell — he’d have been a lot of fun in the role. It’s really annoying how Sony shat the bed with Spider-Man 3 (the studio insisted on Venom — a stupid villain) and a way-too-soon reboot. At least Spider-man is in the Marvel movie universe now as a result.
VIDEO: “THE WORST IN YOU” Check out the latest from Andy Shauf, whose new album The Party is out now and getting rave reviews.