Wednesday, September 8th 2021
Secretary of State flies commercial after 757 plane breaks down
Rome — US Secretary of State August Adair flew to Rome aboard Aegean Airlines Flight 3654 today instead of in his Air Force Boeing 757 after it was grounded due to a leak in an auxiliary fuel tank. The secretary was in Greece, meeting with Greek leaders over the situation in Cyprus, before he was scheduled to fly to Rome to meet with Italian prime minister Manuel Boschetti to discuss Italian and European Union plans to establish refugee camps for those displaced from the conflicts in Libya and Cyprus.
The discovery of the leak postponed the meeting with Boschetti for a few hours, but the secretary seemed to take the delay in stride, joking that "negotiating over who gets the window seat" was a welcome change of pace.
The 73 year-old secretary has been forced to cancel several scheduled appearances in the past two weeks after the invasion of Cyprus by Turkish forces. The diplomatic and political crisis, as well as the disintegration of central authority in Libya, has resulted in him "making the rounds" in capitals around the Mediterranean, moving back and forth between Rome, Athens and the Turkish capital of Ankara in an effort to find a diplomatic solution to stop the fighting. Visits to Libya's neighbors of Egypt and Tunisia have also been on the agenda of the nation's top diplomat. Adair also visited the Holy Land to re-affirm the United States' commitment to the Ankara Agreement as religious and ethnic conflict has been reignited on an island less than 300 miles away.
---------------------------------------
Canadian election 2021: Van Merhalls kicks off election campaign
PM says Canadians will make "a pivotal decision about the direction of our country"
September 8, 2021
Canadians will make a "pivotal decision about the direction" of the country, Prime Minister Leslie Van Merhalls said today after confirming the start of the federal election campaign. Van Merhalls travelled to Rideau Hall to ask Governor-General Luc Doucette to dissolve Parliament, triggering Canada's 43rd general election. The vote will be held on October 18th, per the fixed term provisions of the Elections Act.
Speaking outside Rideau Hall after announcing the start of the campaign, Van Merhalls argued that an experienced leader was needed to re-ignite a struggling economy.
"Now is not the time to enact risky plans that jeopardize our future," Van Merhalls warned. "This is a time to stay the course."
Van Merhalls' Conservatives will spend the next 40 days pitching themselves to Canadians on the party's accomplishments, including strong economic growth through much of their 11 years in power.
The party hopes that this message will resonate with voters, who have ranked economic issues high on their list of priorities according to recent CBC polling.
Liberal leader Kate Sansellfort launched her party's campaign from Vancouver, speaking to voters seeking a change.
"If people are seeking change, it is because this economy isn't working for them," Sansellfort said in a speech. "We must make our economy here in Canada work for everyone."
James Addison, the longtime head of the NDP, criticized the government for its "failure" on the economy, and the Liberals for offering "toothless" solutions, from a rally in Saskatoon.
"Fixing stagnant wages, rising inequality and economic uncertainty requires more than doubling down on failed policy or producing nice soundbites," Addison told partisans. "It requires a willingness to look at the fundamental problems in our economy, and the courage to challenge even the most powerful interests."
Bloc Québécois leader Maxime Brossard, speaking in Montreal, asked Quebeckers to think of where they wanted to go "not as a province, but as a nation." The Bloc leader, who was elected in January to replace long-time party head Jean-Marc Beaumont, dedicated the election campaign to his predecessor, who had led the party for two decades by the time he retired.
The Greens, the fifth party represented in Parliament, kicked off the campaign at leader Dzifa Peters' campaign headquarters in Toronto. Peters, the first visible minority to lead a federal party, is running in Toronto Centre. She unveiled the party's ambitious, but uncosted, plan that, among other things, would achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, end the use of fossil fuels, and establish free university.
Polling hazy heading into campaign
According to CBC's Polling Tracker aggregator, an aggregation of all publicly available polling data, the campaign will begin with polls showing inconsistent numbers. In terms of party support, the Conservatives maintain a incredibly narrow lead over the Liberals with the NDP within ten percentage points of taking the lead. However, Sansellfort has a wide lead over Addison and Van Merhalls in polls asking Canadians which party leader they would prefer to be prime minister.
Finally, there are wide disparities in seat projection models, with most forecasting a minority government of some kind, equally divided between those models projecting the Liberals to be the ones who would form a government, and others the Conservatives.
Should the Conservatives win a fourth term in office, it will be the first time a non-Liberal party has won four elections consecutive elections under multiple leaders.
