Wednesday Night #1791

Kimon must be sitting on a cloud with Scot Gardiner and other old friends contemplating the Brexit  disaster and thinking “if only they had listened to me!”

Thank you, John Evdokias for finding and forwarding this wonderful clip of Kimon at Wednesday Night #1532 It reminds us how very deeply we miss him.

Brexit has dominated not only media, but conversations everywhere. All that is certain is that a number of British voters are exhibiting buyer’s remorse and   nothing is (yet) carved in stone. Opinions range from mildly hopeful (see Cleo Paskal:  5 ways Brexit could be good for the United States ) to bitterly angry (Nick Cohen: There are liars and then there’s Boris Johnson and Michael Gove) to predictably stiff-upper-lip in the face of a serious challenge (see Chris Patten: A British Tragedy in One Act) and somewhat smug (as in the self-justifying argument of Jeffrey Sachs: The Meaning of Brexit).

And, of course, numerous citations of Sir Humphrey explains British foreign policy which would seem to be the only logical explanation of the bewildering vote.
The only things that pretty much everyone agrees on is that David Cameron made a really, really dumb mistake in calling for the referendum and that the vote was a triple protest: against surging immigration, City of London bankers, and European Union institutions, in that order.
Not to be ignored is the possible effect pointed out by Susan Delacourt in The Brexit effect: Referendum chill? Trudeau may be off the hook on an electoral reform referendum

Canada’s official reaction has been suitably ‘correct’, however the tweeted reactions of Jason Kenney and Tony Clement Jason Kenney Tweets Brexit Voters Chose ‘Hope Over Fear,’ are completely unacceptable . As one commentator said: “and these are the guys who said Justin Trudeau lacked judgement.”

How quickly the focus shifts. Today it is all about NAFTA, with seemingly all of Canada (or at least the media and Liberals) garbed  in teen-age enthusiasm over President Obama’s presence in Ottawa for the Three Amigos meeting. We are happy to see NAFTA in a favourable light again, after the Harper Conservatives’ neglect of the trade alliance. On a more frivolous note, we are also delighted to see three attractive leaders maintaining their dignity by eschewing silly ethnic garb.  Of course, Donald Trump seized the opportunity to threaten to leave NAFTA, but that is no surprise. Have Jason Kenney and Tony Clement made any pronouncements?

With intense focus on Europe and the Americas, you have likely not been paying attention to  the meeting of the 48-member NSG (Nuclear Suppliers Group) in Seoul. Our friend Uday Bhaskar, has, however filled the gap for us in NSG row: India-China rift out in open.

As might be expected, ISIS is taking advantage of the confusion over Brexit fall-out to sow chaos and destruction with the horrific attack on the Atatürk international airport   Istanbul airport attack: Isis behind deaths of at least 41, PM says. Sadly, we can expect more.

As July 1^st (Canada Day, but don’t get us started on the silliness of that appellation) approaches, all of this should remind us that despite our complaints about politicians and policies in this country, Canada is one of the best places in the world to live!

Happy Canada Day to all.