Relocating one’s family for a month just to write a feature story seems a bit extreme, but that’s what New York magazine writer Simon van Zuylen-Wood did this spring. 

“In May, I reoriented my algorithms to flood me with Canadian content, turned on push notifications from The Globe and Mail, and temporarily moved my family north of the border,” leads his cover story in the June 14 edition of New York magazine, “The Canadians Are Furious.” 

In his more than 6,300-word essay, van Zuylen-Wood distills for his American readers the reasons—both historical and from the latest news cycle—why Canadians are cancelling their trips across the border, snubbing U.S. products, and are on “a quest to redefine a national ethos distinct from American influence.”

It’s a report from the front lines of a trade and culture war of which most U.S. residents may be only vaguely aware, while it’s the main crisis for Canadians.

Van Zuylen-Wood notes he encountered anti-American sentiment “as soon as I landed,” from the newsstands to grocery store shelves, but yet during his month here, he also encountered helpful Canadians keen to enlighten him on this country’s history vis-a-vis America.

The writer was in Ottawa for King Charles’ throne speech— “since [United States President Donald] Trump has a thing for the royals, it was a flex that the nation could summon its king on short notice”—and spoke with a variety of people—including one of the perennial demonstrators outside Parliament: “Even the most anti-Canada Canadians I met couldn’t work themselves up for annexation.”

He visited a Canadiana-themed bar in Toronto; and stopped in at the Rideau Club, and the Lansdowne Farmers’ Market, both in Ottawa; chatted with business owners and the mayor of Edmunston, N.B.; quoted writer Paul Wells and Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet; noted former NDP leader Jagmeet Singh’s mea culpa of attending a Kendrick Lamar concert—“Celebrity affiliation cuts the other way, too,”—and a gave the essay’s literal last word to former NDP MP Charlie Angus—who “has remade himself as a de facto leader of the ‘Elbows up’ movement.” He met Angus for a few beers in Toronto at the Grizzly Bar and went to see his event in Oshawa. “You think I’m going to let that fucking criminal take my country? Not a chance,” Angus told him. “So suddenly we go from being really easygoing to a nation of hockey goons.”

“Even if a truce is reached to end the trade war, the national resistance against America will persist,” is van Zuylen-Wood précis of the whole situation. “With friends like us, who needs enemies? And if our enemies now include Canada, we probably don’t have any friends left at all.”

Deborah Lyons retires as antisemitism envoy

“It is with a heavy heart that I announce my retirement from the position of Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism,” Deborah Lyons posted on social media on July 17. 

The career diplomat said she’s been “so proud” of her time in the role, one which she “loved dearly but brought forth so many challenges, some deep disappointments.”

Lyons was appointed to the role on Oct. 16, 2023, succeeding former Liberal MP Irwin Cotler, just nine days after Hamas attacked Israel.

“There can be no question that the last two years has been a struggle,” she said in her statement. “It was troubling in the last few years to see our lack of patience, lack of tolerance, and inability to reach out across the gulf to one another. I know we are better than this.”

Prior to her now-former role, Lyons served as ambassador to Afghanistan from 2013-2016, as ambassador to Israel from 2016-2020, and was head of the United Nations in Afghanistan from 2020 to 2022.

Andrew Bevan brings bunch of ex-Hill staffers to new consultancy

Former Liberal national campaign director and longtime staffer Andrew Bevan launched a new consultancy last week, and much of the team is a who’s who from the Martin-era PMO. 

“I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as Chief Executive Officer at Catalyze4!” Bevan posted on LinkedIn on July 16. The Globe and Mail reported the agency’s name is “a deliberate riff off a word Prime Minister Mark Carney used repeatedly during the campaign and since to communicate a promise to accelerate economic growth.”

In addition to Bevan, the Catalyze4 team to date features 12 people, five of whom are former Hill staffers.

On the Liberal side is Brian Guest, Jim Pimblett, and Jean-Michel Picher. Guest was deputy principal secretary to then-Liberal prime minister Paul Martin. Pimblett is Martin’s former senior aide. And Picher has worked on federal, provincial and Liberal leadership campaigns, including advising then-Ontario Liberal premier Kathleen Wynne, and assisting with the respective presidential runs of Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

Erstwhile NDP strategic adviser Anne McGrath is also on board, bringing her deep connections and experience from many years of working for different NDP leaders from Jack Layton to Jagmeet Singh. And from the Conservative side is Rohit Gupta, a former policy adviser to then-Conservative finance minister Jim Flaherty.

Former deputy minister André Juneau brings his 30 years of civil service know-how to Catalyze4, as well as post-retirement experience at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the Windsor Detroit Bridge Authority.

Rounding out the non-political/government team members are two people formerly on the payroll at Payments Canada, Chris O’Gorman and Sharilyn Cyr; David Brook, ex-chief strategy officer at Grand Challenges Canada; Melissa Armstrong, who has worked on strategic policy for both the City of Toronto and City of Ottawa; Jon Lomow, founder and CEO of Fieldless; and Tim Welch, a business strategist with experience at many telcos.

Ex-MP Bryan May joins Waterloo GR firm Bondy

Former Liberal MP Bryan May has landed a new gig. “I am excited to announce I have joined Bondy & Associates as Senior Strategic Adviser,” he posted on X on July 14. May—whose bid for a fourth term as MP for Cambridge, Ont., was foiled on April 28 by Conservative Connie Cody—officially joined the region-based government relations and industry intelligence consulting firm on Canada Day. His new employer is based in Waterloo, Ont.

cleadlay@hilltimes.com

The Hill Times