Last Week Today Episode 196 Show Notes for Tuesday, May 6th, 2025
Carney Meets Trump, UK King Charles to Open Parliament, Censorship Surrounding Intensive Israeli Offensive in Gaza, Canadian Media Censorship + Sunlight, Diet, Skin Cancer and More.
Carney Meets Trump
New Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met with US president Donald Trump on Monday. As outlined in the May 3rd, 2025 The Guardian post, “‘Not everybody who voted for Carney quite knows what they got’: Canada eyes its new prime minister,” it was expected to be a widely watched and commented on encounter.
Legacy media seemed intent on framing this as a high stakes test of Carney’s new government.
As noted in pieces like the May 6th, 2025 Reuters post, “Facing tariffs and uncertainty, Canadian firms look past US markets,” domestic industries, including automotive, pharmaceutical and even media, are quietly attempting to source new, international markets for their products.
This will be difficult for them, since most of those industries have spent the last 50 years serving as branch plants for US and foreign concerns.
For more on the legacy news perspective surrounding Carney’s meeting with Trump, check out the May 6th, 2025 Global News post, “Mr. Carney goes to Washington: How did Canadian PM's meeting go with Trump?”
Canadian industries most likely to weather the current changes include natural resources and industries protected by Canadian tariffs such as Canadian dairy, poultry and eggs, aren’t currently able to absorb the dislocations expected to overwhelm the industries tied to the US and face other problems.
For example, and as outlined by the May 6th, 2025 CBC News post, “Alberta Premier Danielle Smith defends promise of a potential referendum on separation,“ Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is currently running a provincial separation proposal up the political flagpole to see if anyone salutes.
Smith doesn’t want to lose control over Alberta energy, a real concern when the Federal government is looking for new ways to deal with the US and new ways to fund its massive proposed spending plans.
For an overview of the proposed Liberal budget, check out the April 19th, 2025 CTV News post, “'There is no path to balancing the budget’: Le Couteur on Carney’s platform.”
Smith’s core thesis is that Alberta provincial rights supersede Federal powers has more than a little in common with the political thesis laid out in the April 27th, 2025 Freedom Forum post, “Doug Force and The Myth is Canada.”
Force argued that provincial governments like Alberta have more legitimacy than the “de-facto” Federal government, an argument which would surely resonate with the Alberta Premier, even as most of the legacy media attempts to dismiss the concept as a “conspiracy theory.”
Monday’s meeting between Carney and Trump, despite the legacy media hype, was little more that a preliminary skirmish in the upcoming US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade negotiations.
The USMCA is the existing free trade agreement between the United States, Mexico, and Canada which came into effect on July 1st, 2020 and is expected to be “reviewed” in 2026.
The real game starts then. Everything leading up to this, including Monday’s meeting is simply kabuki theatre.
For more on the USMCA, check out the May 6th, 2025 KABB FOX San Antonio on YouTube post, “Tariffs have taken advantage of USMCA agreement, says Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.”
Here’s a good overview of Monday’s meeting between Carney and Trump.
It’s the May 6th, 2025 Toronto Sun on YouTube post, “LILLEY UNLEASHED: Carney survives first visit with Trump.”
Carney’s April election campaign leaned heavily on his economic expertise, negotiating skills and ability to counter US President Trump’s tariff threats with tough rhetoric of his own.
But he now faces immediate challenges. Canada’s economy contracted by 0.2% in February, with economists predicting a recession by fall 2025, exacerbated by Trump’s proposed 25% tariffs on Canadian goods not covered by the existing USMCA.
Carney needed to come away from his meeting with Trump with the perception that he is equal to the challenge of negotiating an update to the USMCA agreement in 2026.
And that didn’t happen.
The meeting ended with the US president “monologuing,” his plans to the audience and media while the Canadian PM reacts with increasing concern, attempting every once in awhile to get a word in, but failing.
Check out the May 6th, 2025 @stephen_taylor on “X” post, “This is Mark Carney's "Elbows Down" moment,” for more.
Also in the News this Week
UK King Charles to Open Parliament
King Charles is coming to Canada to open Parliament with a “Speech from the Throne” on May 27th.
As outlined in the May 2nd, 2025 The Guardian post, “King Charles to open Canada parliament as PM Carney reacts to Trump threats,” the invitation is considered a strategic move to underscore Canada's distinct national identity and independence amid escalating tensions with the United States and US President Donald Trump’s provocative recent remarks about annexing Canada as the "51st state."
As noted in the May 3nd, 2025 BBC post, “Canada's Carney offers strategic invite to King ahead of Trump meeting,” Carney emphasized that the King’s presence, as Canada’s head of state, “clearly underscores the sovereignty of our country,” signaling Canada’s independence and its constitutional monarchy distinct from the US political system.
Even if the May 27th event actually references a past when Canada was simply a colony of a different great power.
For more on this story, check out the May 2nd, 2025 Sky News post, “King Charles to give throne speech in Canada.”
In modern constitutional monarchies, whether by law or by convention, the head of state or their representative (in Canada’s case, the Governor General) reads the speech from the throne before every session of Parliament opens.
The speech is almost always prepared by the government.
It’s considered to be a purely symbolic gesture and its the first time a UK monarch will deliver the speech opening Parliament since Queen Elizabeth II in 1977.
But its also a politically charged move, leveraging Trump’s known admiration for the royal family to diplomatically assert Canada’s position. It aligns with Carney’s broader agenda to unite Canadians and reinforce national pride during a time of geopolitical uncertainty.
Certainly, Canada could use a chance to settle down and reminisce over our history.
Here’s a comedic, but reasonably accurate overview of how many Canadians view the current situation. It’s the April 29th, 2025 kopke613 on YouTube post, “Canadian provinces discuss the recent election.”
Censorship Surrounding Intensive Israeli Offensive in Gaza
In international news this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced an “intensive” offensive against Hamas in Gaza, following his security cabinet’s approval of plans that may include seizing the entire Gaza Strip and restricting aid coming into the occupied territory.
As outlined in the May 5th, 2025 France24 post, “Netanyahu announces 'intensive' Gaza offensive, displacement of its population,” the escalation follows airstrikes on Houthi infrastructure in Yemen and signals broader regional tensions.
Last week, reports surfaced of an “escalating humanitarian crisis” in Gaza, with dozens of Palestinians starving to death during recent food shortages. As outlined in the May 2nd, 2025 Al Jazeera post, “Red Cross warns Gaza aid effort on ‘verge of collapse’ amid Israel blockade,” the starvation began after the Israeli cabinet approved measures designed to intentionally limit aid distribution in Gaza.
Additionally, and as outlined in the May 6th, 2025 Press TV post, “Unconscionable attack on Freedom Flotilla aid ship Conscience,” a humanitarian aid vessel, carrying volunteers and aid destined for the besieged Gaza Strip, remains stranded at sea for the fourth consecutive day after being attacked by Israeli drones in international waters off the island off Malta on May 2nd.
According to the post:
On Monday, members of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (the NGO which operates the ship) said the group was in talks with the Maltese government about allowing the vessel to enter Maltese waters to repair the damage and continue its journey towards Gaza.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which operates the ship, doesn’t publish detailed financial reports, which is typical for grassroots movements, but which also fuels speculation about terrorist backing.
For more on the situation in the Middle East, check out the May 6th, 2025 BBC News on YouTube post, “Hamas says 'no point' in truce talks as Israel plans to capture all of Gaza | BBC News.”
Here’s something else which fuels speculation, recent stories about two dozen US state governments censoring criticism of Israel using anti-boycott, divestment, sanction and related measures or “anti-Semitism” laws that penalize or restrict criticism, legitimate and otherwise, of Israel.
The most recent effort in this area is discussed in the May 5th, 2025 Al Jazeera post, “US bill to ban Israel boycotts faces right-wing backlash over free speech.”
As of 2024, thirty-eight US states have enacted laws or executive orders discouraging or penalizing boycotts of Israel, mostly with bipartisan support. These laws typically require contractors or vendors to certify they do not boycott Israel to receive state contracts or funding.
The laws and executive orders target state-level legislation or executive orders designed to discourage or penalize participation in the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which organizes economic and political pressure on Israel to address Palestinian rights issues.
As outlined in the April 11th, 2025 Dropsite on Substack post, “Leaked Data Reveals Massive Israeli Campaign to Remove Pro-Palestine Posts on Facebook and Instagram,” the Israeli government doesn’t just depend on US state governors to censor stories it doesn’t like.
Once, in a free society, people could buy things from whoever they wanted and speak freely about their preferences.
No longer.
For more on this story, check out the January 4th, 2024 Al Jazeera English on YouTube post, “Israel, Palestine, BDS, and the right to boycott in the US | The Take.”
Canadian Media Censorship
Of course, censorship isn’t just a thing in the US.
The Independent Press Gallery of Canada (IPG) is sounding the alarm after Canada fell to 21st place in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, down 7 spots in just one year, and 13 spots since 2015.
The World Press Freedom Index is an annual ranking compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a France-based non-profit organization, assessing the state of press freedom in 180 countries and territories.
Published on May 2, 2025, one day ahead of World Press Freedom Day, the index evaluates the ability of journalists and media to operate independently and safely, free from political, economic, legal, social, and security-related interference.
As outlined in the May 5th, 2025 Independent Press Gallery press release, “Canada’s Press Freedom Drops Sharply under Carney, says Independent Press Gallery,” the Liberal party media bailouts of the last six years have created:
…a two-tier media system, with subsidized outlets, praised and promoted, and independent outlets, denied access and smeared by state-funded competitors.
At the French-language leaders’ debate, CBC broadcasters misrepresented independent journalists as illegitimate and disruptive, despite their legal right to report and video evidence that independent reporters were the targets of harassment.
The RSF warns that economic fragility and government interference are the leading global threats to press freedom. In Canada, they are government policy.
It’s worth noting that even the best legacy news coverage of Canadian events no longer comes from major Canadian news outlets, but instead originates in regional outlets like the Halifax Examiner, which noted in its May 5th, 2025 post, “Postmedia got $4.2 million in Google money; the Halifax Examiner got $36K,” that it thinks it deserves more government money than Postmedia.
Evidently, this is what legacy media has come to. For more on legacy media in Canada, check out the March 31st, 2025 The Hub Canada on YouTube post, “News outlets have received millions in government cash payments during the election.”
Other News This Week
In other news this week:
The April 30th, 2025 Jerusalem Post story, “Israel ablaze in national emergency believed to be terrorist act,” notes a massive wildfire which broke out on Wednesday in Israel:
…in the forests between Eshtaol and Latrun, west of Jerusalem, forcing evacuations and road closures as thousands gathered across the Jewish state for Memorial Day observances. Fanned by high temperatures, low humidity, and strong winds, the fire, believed to have been set intentionally, spread rapidly through multiple locations across Israel.
The May 6th, 2025 BBC News post, “Farage hails election results, as Labour and Tories digest losses,” notes that Nigel Farage and his Reform UK party (essentially the real UK conservative party) have made "unprecedented" gains in the recent local elections.
The wins came at the expense of the Labour and Conservative parties, which both struggled to explain the results. Farage claimed on Saturday: "In post-war Britain, no one has ever beaten both Labour and the Tories in a local election before."
Legacy outlets, not just pleased with the Canadian Liberals latest win are rejoicing over the return to power of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in the recent Australian election,
It’s a story the wall Street Journal is calling, “the latest left-leaning leader to achieve a comeback victory thanks partly to President Trump,”
India has launched military strikes against Pakistan, evidently in the wake of a tourist massacre. For more, check out the May 6th, 2025 CNN on YouTube post, “India launches strike against Pakistan in wake of tourist massacre.”
Sunlight, Diet & Skin Cancer
And finally tonight, we have the May 3rd, 2025 Mongo Minds on Bitchute post, “Sunlight, Diet, And Skin Cancer.”
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