Marc Spooner

Trump raises tariffs on some Canadian goods to 35% Executive order does not apply to exports that fall under Canada’s free-trade agreement with U.S. and Mexico

“Fentanyl tariffs”
The guy’s off his rocker
There’s simply no dealing with this kind of nonsense

www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/art...

Authoritarians are attacking universities. Here's how it's going at one public school. I'm publicly documenting an event timeline to help bring order to the chaotic nature of events and help other schools plan the responses they are likely going to need.

To document and make sense of the executive overreach at her university, @jenvictor.bsky.social provides a timeline of key events. Transparency is the best disinfectant.
misofact.substack.com/p/authoritar...

Terrible idea. Give not an inch!

Columbia and Brown have struck deals with the Trump administration. This is just the tip of the iceberg

www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

I gave a campus talk last night on Trump's first 100 days for the WUD Society & Politics group. A student asked me if I thought that, at some point, we might start to describe the US as a competitive authoritarian regime. I said that we were already there, it's just that most folks haven't noticed:

Columbia’s Administrators Are Fooling Themselves Columbia’s Administrators Are Fooling Themselves July 23, 2025, New York Times By Suresh Naidu Mr. Naidu is a professor at Columbia University “In 1672, Charles II unilaterally suspended repayment o...

docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Opinion | Columbia’s Administrators Are Fooling Themselves

A must read for anyone who cares about higher ed

Columbia’s Administrators Are Fooling Themselves www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/o...

YouTube video by Bloomberg Television Trump Clashes With Powell During Renovation Project Tour

youtu.be/YZ_d3NHVCAs?...

Opinion: The targeting of a Globe reporter needs to be fully investigated Journalists have been targets of intimidation forever, but unfounded attacks on the fourth estate have become more common in recent years

Bully authoritarians in all their forms must be stomped now

"It's a one-party state," Ms. Phillips told me. "And folks behave with impunity as a result. Also, it's much easier to break the rules and norms of democratic society when your target is a woman."

www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

Video: Powell Corrects Trump on Cost of Fed Renovations During a tour of the Federal Reserve’s headquarters, President Trump debated with Jerome H. Powell, the Fed chair, over the cost of renovations to the central bank’s headquarters.

We need a whole lot more of this!

Face to Face, Powell Told Trump He Was Wrong About a Construction Project
Trump is used to world leaders bowing down to him, & to cabinet members fawning over him. Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, took a different approach.

www.nytimes.com/video/us/pol...

Should You Be Worried About Ticks? Experts share advice on how to assess your risk.

Tick populations are increasing, possibly a result of climate change, and tick-related ER visits are spiking across the U.S. Experts share advice on how to assess your risk.

YouTube video by Chappell Roan - Topic The Subway (Preview)

Time to get rid of Bill 137 & get moving on a Pink Pony Club!!!

youtu.be/aj24OPnZlf8

#YQR #Saskatchewan @bestofchappell.bsky.social

elmo from sesame street standing in front of a wall ALT: elmo from sesame street standing in front of a wall

Funny, I never heard a peep out of these Convoy civil rights folks when the largest arrests in Canadian history were going down at the 2010 G8/G20 meetings in Toronto?

“I’m not a partisan” LOL

I didn’t think I could like Zohran more!

Ozzy Osbourne, one of the inventors of heavy metal who became known as “Prince of Darkness,” died on Tuesday. He was 76. The news comes after he gave his final concert this month, closing out his career by reuniting the original lineup of Black Sabbath. https://trib.al/BmFKeBR

Where will the federal government cut to pay for military spending and tax cuts? - CCPA Supports to First Nations, veterans, new Canadians, and international aid could be on the chopping block—just for starters

University friends, Carney cuts could be $190 million to SSHRC, $597 million to all Tri-council funding. @profsmithsask.bsky.social @drmarcspooner.bsky.social www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...

Maybe no picnic for us in the woods today!

National Public Health Groups Sue RFK Jr. Over Vaccine Policy

JUST IN: The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Physicians and other major national public health groups just filed a lawsuit against RFK Jr. to defend science-backed vaccine policy. www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...

Happy July 4th to the aspirational USA

I don’t think anyone is prepared for what they just did w/ ICE.

This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.

It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.

Young Europeans losing faith in democracy, poll finds Support is lowest in France, Spain and Poland, while 21% back authoritarian rule under certain circumstances

“Among people who see themselves as politically to the right of centre and feel economically disadvantaged, their support of democracy sinks to just one in three.
“Democracy is under pressure, from within and without.”

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Concentration camps and armies of fascist thugs are expensive.

When democracy teeters, where do universities stand?  - University Affairs University of Regina Professor Marc Spooner analyzes the threats to academia’s public mission.

When democracy teeters, where do universities stand? 

universityaffairs.ca/news/when-de...
#AcademicFreedom #AcademicTwitter #Universities #Democracy

When you attempt to censor you just might get kneecapped

The dark side of public visibility: How academic authors perceive and cope with anti-press hostility From Facts&Frictions/Faits&Frictions, a journal about journalism

Study of Canadian academics who venture into writing for the general public finds online threats/abuse they get in return are "leading to self-censorship":

• 19.9% avoid expressing their viewpoints
• 13.4% avoid writing about certain topics
• 26.9% reconsider their "knowledge mobilization efforts"

Hey @leaderpost @TheStarPhoenix you need to hire more people. Many of us are trying to support local reporting & content, but there’s so little left now

NEW YORK (AP) — Andrew Cuomo concedes New York City Democratic mayoral primary to Zohran Mamdani.

Quand la démocratie vacille, que peuvent encore les universités ? - Affaires universitaires Lors d’un entretien mené dans le cadre du Congrès 2025 de la Fédération des sciences humaines, Marc Spooner, professeur à l’Université de Regina, a livré une analyse des menaces qui pèsent sur la miss...

Quand la démocratie vacille, que peuvent encore les universités ?
Lors d’un entretien mené dans le cadre du Congrès 2025 de la Fédération des sciences humaines, Marc Spooner, professeur à l’Université de Regina, a livré une analyse des menaces
www.affairesuniversitaires.ca/actualites/q...

The National Post is in full court press (more than usual) against universities I’ve noticed of late