Why tinker with tacit two-timing entente?

Carney’s ‘counterweight’ summit strategy

Modern summit diplomacy had very inauspicious beginnings. Winston Churchill is widely credited with coining the phrase “summit” in 1950 to describe a conference of global leaders. But it was another British prime minister, Neville Chamberlain, who initiated the first actual summit meeting 12 years earlier — with Adolf Hitler, no less.

It didn’t go well.

Over a one-month period, the two leaders met three times over the fate of Czechoslovakia. Hitler threatened war. Chamberlain threatened appeasement. Guess who won?

Chamberlain was so desperate for a peace deal and so convinced he alone could convince Hitler, that he swallowed his inhibitions and flew in an airplane for the very first time in his life. “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” he told reporters, explaining his tenacious summit activity. Skeptical of the spectacle, British Foreign Office wags quietly amended it to, “If at first you don’t concede, fly, fly again.”

Faces of the aboriginal community

MatonabbeeBorn in 1737 at the Prince of Wales fort, he was taken in by the chief factor to live there after his father died. He became a "leading Indian" of Churchill and became the middleman between the Hudson's Bay Co. traders and the aboriginal people. He guided Samuel Hearne to the Coppermine River in the Northwest Territories from 1770 to 1772 and was credited with making the expedition a success because he helped the explorers live off the land. He committed suicide in 1782 after he witnessed the French destroy the fort.

Chief PeguisHe was born in 1774 near present-day Sault Ste. Marie before leading his people west to settle at Netley Creek. He was a friend to the Selkirk Settlers and warned Governor Semple about plans by the Nor'westers to destroy the Red River Settlement, advice that Semple ignored, costing him and 20 others their lives at the Battle of Seven Oaks. Peguis later helped Lord Selkirk make treaties with the Cree and Saulteaux and was presented with a treaty medal for his help. He later was given an annual pension from the Hudson's Bay Co. A missionary persuaded Peguis and some of his people to settle in the St. Peter's area north of present-day Selkirk. After being baptized into the Anglican Church, he took the name William King, and his children used the last name Prince. He died in 1864.

New chapter for Yellowquill University College

Sometimes, a milestone is about much more than a degree. It is about opportunity, recognition and the doors that open for the people who come next.

Yellowquill University College reached a historic milestone on Oct. 1, when new Manitoba legislation came into effect formally recognizing the institution within the province’s post-secondary education system and granting it authority to award degrees.

Established in 1984, Yellowquill is now Manitoba’s first fully recognized First Nations-owned and operated post-secondary institution with degree-granting authority.

It is an achievement worth celebrating, not only for Yellowquill and the communities it serves, but also for what it represents about education, career development and the future of Manitoba’s workforce.

Adam Duncan

The threat from outside Canada

The 10-question referendum being held in Alberta on Monday, Oct. 19, is not the first time the unity of Canada has been threatened by a vote within one province. It is, however, the first referendum of this type to take place in an age of unfettered social media misinformation and deliberate foreign interference.

From mischievous comments by U.S. President Donald Trump about making Canada the 51st state to technology trillionaire Elon Musk’s urgings to Quebec and Alberta to separate, there are clear signs foreign interests are trying to influence Monday’s vote. But there are also less-obvious efforts at work to influence the referendum and destabilize Canada.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and independent think-tanks such as the Centre for Artificial Intelligence, Data and Conflict at the University of Regina have documented incidents involving Russian-linked automated content farms posting thousands of misleading articles about the referendum campaign on social media platforms. The content, CSIS has said, focuses on erroneous claims about the benefits of separation and the liabilities of remaining in Canada.

In the face of all that activity, Prime Minister Mark Carney has been alarmingly unconcerned. Campaigning in Alberta this week, Carney said Ottawa is closely monitoring disinformation campaigns. He added that, in his conversations with foreign governments, all have agreed to stand down from any activities that might be perceived as threats to democracy.