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PM Mark Carney's Canada

UtakataNoAnnex said:
That's the scary thing though, if Russia moves on Poland then the world goes boom. And we think it's bad now. /bleh
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England would definitely be on Poland's side. Polish is the second most commonly spoken language in England and Wales, with over 612,000 speakers, following English. During and after WWII, many Polish immigrants ended up in England. It has become prominent due to significant Polish migration to the UK in recent years, because of the war in Ukraine.
 
Canada Post and CUPW have reached tentative agreements in late 2025, with ratification votes scheduled for early 2026, but the exact dates depend on finalizing language for short-term disability and personal days, expected by January 16, 2026, after which the vote process will commence.

The workers have to look over their shoulders at this...

Digital age brings Denmark’s postal service to a historic end​

From https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/30/europe/denmark-postal-service-letters-intl-scliv

Denmark’s state-run postal service, PostNord, will deliver its last ever letter on Tuesday (December 30, 2025), as the digital age brings its 400-year-run to an end. This makes Denmark the first country in the world to decide that physical mail is no longer either essential or economically viable.

The precipitous decline of a national postal service is a familiar story, one echoed elsewhere in the Western world as we rely ever more heavily on digital means of communication.
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Denmark’s postal service delivered more than 90% fewer letters in 2024 than in 2000. The US Postal Service delivered 50% less mail in 2024 than in 2006.

And as our correspondence has moved largely online – transfiguring into WhatsApp messages, video calls, or just an exchange of memes – our communication and language have changed accordingly.

Letters themselves “will change status” too, often coming to represent more intimate messages than their digital counterparts, said Dirk van Miert, a professor at the Huygens Institute in the Netherlands who specializes in early modern knowledge networks.

The knowledge networks that letters facilitated for centuries are “only expanding” in their online form, expediting both access to that knowledge as well as the rise of disinformation, he told CNN.
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No more mailboxes​

PostNord has been removing the 1,500 mailboxes scattered across Denmark since June. When it sold them off to raise money for charity on December 10, hundreds of thousands of Danes tried to buy one. For each mailbox, they paid either 2,000 ($315) or 1,500 ($236) Danish krone, depending on how worn they were.

Instead of posting letters, Danes will now have to drop them off at kiosks in shops, from where they will be couriered by private company DAO to both domestic and international addresses. PostNord will continue delivering parcels, however, as online shopping remains ever popular.

Denmark is one of the world’s most digital nations; even its public sector utilizes several online portals, minimizing any physical government correspondence and making it much less reliant on postal services than many other countries.

“Almost every Dane is fully digital, meaning physical letters no longer serve the same purpose as previously,” Andreas Brethvad, PostNord Denmark’s public affairs and communications director, told CNN. “Most communication now arrives in our electronic mailboxes, and the reality today is that e-commerce and the parcel market far outweigh traditional mail.”

That may explain why it is the first country to make these changes, though it seems likely others will eventually follow. Van Miert, who lives in the Netherlands, said he had to go to a shop to post letters because there are no longer any mailboxes in his town.
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Still, the need for physical correspondence continues around the world, even if it is diminished. Almost 2.6 billion people remain offline, according to the UN-affiliated Universal Postal Union, and many more “lack meaningful connectivity,” thanks to inadequate devices, poor coverage and limited digital skills. Rural communities, women and those living in poverty are among the worst affected, it added.

And even in countries like Denmark, some groups who are more reliant on postal services, like older people, may be adversely affected by the changes, advocacy groups say.

“It’s very easy for us to access our mail on the phone or a website… but we forgot to give the same possibilities to those who are not digital,” said Marlene Rishoej Cordes, a spokesperson for the DaneAge Association, which advocates for older people.

She told CNN that DAO, the new postal courier, has a service where it will collect mail at a home address but “it still demands you are digital because you have to pay for this service and you can only pay digitally.”
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Monarch Butterfly said:
England would definitely be on Poland's side. Polish is the second most commonly spoken language in England and Wales, with over 612,000 speakers, following English. During and after WWII, many Polish immigrants ended up in England. It has become prominent due to significant Polish migration to the UK in recent years, because of the war in Ukraine.
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...er..I think my point was that attacking a NATO ally (to which Poland is part of) is declaring war on all NATO allies to my understanding. It would be the same thing if the US used militarily force to take over Greenland (also a NATO ally). Since both Russia and the US are heavily nuclear armed countries I am not sure I need to explain what will happen in the inevitable if NATO sticks with this principle militarily. So let's hope this will never happen. Ever.
 
UtakataNoAnnex said:
...er..I think my point was that attacking a NATO ally (to which Poland is part of) is declaring war on all NATO allies to my understanding. It would be the same thing if the US used militarily force to take over Greenland (also a NATO ally). Since both Russia and the US are heavily nuclear armed countries I am not sure I need to explain what will happen in the inevitable if NATO sticks with this principle militarily. So let's hope this will never happen. Ever.
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We have been on a proxy war since Feb 22 2022. Putin continues to escalate in Western Europe… Poland, Latvia, Estonia, the Baltic areas. His ambitions are pretty transparent and NATO countries are responding militarily. Emboldened by Trump, his proxy President, we will see how the next 12 months play out in the Putin playbook. Add the Chinese and North Korean cards and this is a very dangerous time. No one should be fooled about what should be a very large concern for all.
 
just east of the creek said:
We have been on a proxy war since Feb 22 2022. Putin continues to escalate in Western Europe… Poland, Latvia, Estonia, the Baltic areas. His ambitions are pretty transparent and NATO countries are responding militarily. Emboldened by Trump, his proxy President, we will see how the next 12 months play out in the Putin playbook. Add the Chinese and North Korean cards and this is a very dangerous time. No one should be fooled about what should be a very large concern for all.
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And they seem to be back in the cable cutting game. With the Baltic essentially turned into a NATO lake with the exception of their little slice at Saint Petersburg, they're not happy.

www.bbc.com

Finnish police seize ship suspected of sabotaging undersea telecoms cable

Police arrested 14 crew members on the ship sailing from St Petersburg, Russia, to the Israeli port of Haifa.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com

Apparently a Russian 'shadow fleet' ship was monitored in the Irish Sea as well.
 
just east of the creek said:
We have been on a proxy war since Feb 22 2022. Putin continues to escalate in Western Europe… Poland, Latvia, Estonia, the Baltic areas. His ambitions are pretty transparent and NATO countries are responding militarily. Emboldened by Trump, his proxy President, we will see how the next 12 months play out in the Putin playbook. Add the Chinese and North Korean cards and this is a very dangerous time. No one should be fooled about what should be a very large concern for all.
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Sorry, I didn't want to be alarmist...but yeah.
 
https://twitter.com/x/status/2007576683084169728




One of the first actions taken by Canada’s new government in March 2025 was to impose additional sanctions on Nicolás Maduro’s brutally oppressive and criminal regime — unequivocally condemning his grave breaches of international peace and security, gross and systematic human rights violations, and corruption. Canada has not recognised the illegitimate regime of Maduro since it stole the 2018 election. The Canadian government therefore welcomes the opportunity for freedom, democracy, peace, and prosperity for the Venezuelan people.Canada has long supported a peaceful, negotiated, and Venezuelan-led transition process that respects the democratic will of the Venezuelan people. In keeping with our long-standing commitment to upholding the rule of law, sovereignty, and human rights, Canada calls on all parties to respect international law. We stand by the Venezuelan people’s sovereign right to decide and build their own future in a peaceful and democratic society.Canada attaches great importance to resolution of crises through multilateral engagement and is in close contact with international partners about ongoing developments. We are first and foremost ready to assist Canadians through our consular officials and our embassy in Bogotá, Colombia, and will continue to support Venezuelan refugees.​
 
From https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2026/01/canada-reacts-to-the-situation-in-venezuela.html

Canada reacts to the situation in Venezuela​

From: Global Affairs Canada

Statement​


January 3, 2026 - Ottawa, Canada - Global Affairs Canada

Today, the Honourable Anita Anand, Minister of Foreign Affairs, issued the following statement:

“Since 2019, when Canada closed its embassy in Venezuela, we have refused to recognize any legitimacy of the Maduro regime and opposed its repression of the Venezuelan people, including the persecution of dissenters and particularly political leaders opposed to the regime.

“In keeping with our long-standing commitment to uphold the rule of law and to democracy, Canada stands by the people of Venezuela and their desire to live in a peaceful and democratic society. Canada also calls on all parties to exercise restraint and uphold international law.

“Canada is engaging with its international partners and monitoring developments closely.

“Canada stands ready to assist Canadians in Venezuela in need through our consular officials and embassy in Bogotá, Colombia.”
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