And is the foreign minister quarantining like the rest of us? Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up here to get it delivered weekday mornings. Foreign Minister Marc Garneau published a characteristically cautious statement on the violence that has erupted in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. Hamas's rocket attacks are, the minister says, "absolutely unacceptable and must cease immediately." Garneau "remains gravely concerned" by Israel's continued expansion of settlements. The note ended with a vague, evergreen commitment: "We will always stand ready to support efforts for a two-state solution." NDP leader Jagmeet Singh called on the government to end arms exports to Israel in light of ongoing violence. The Canadian Press found that 0.4 per cent of Canadian arms exports—that's about $13.7 million worth—headed Israel's way. Meanwhile, Garneau's repeated trips abroad and bare-minimum quarantines back home have raised some eyebrows. Nearly unanimous: As the high-stakes drama over Enbridge's Line 5 pipeline awaits its next flashpoint—likely a court order—we can't let a moment of parliamentary unity on the matter pass by unnoticed. On Tuesday, the House of Commons voted on a Canada-U.S. committee report that charted a path forward for the feds. The vote passed 330-2, with only a pair of Green MPs among the nays. Every other party got behind the report's major recommendations. The NDP, defending a pipeline? Politics is a complicated business. Providence Pharmaceuticals, the home-grown drug manufacturer helmed by outspoken CEO Brad Sorenson, boasted positive results from Phase 1 clinical trials for its COVID-19 mRNA vaccine candidate. Participants experienced reactions in line with Pfizer and Moderna's shots. Providence intends to launch Phase 2 trials next month. Sorenson, who recently threatened to relocate operations outside Canada, claims his company's shot is at least as effective as Pfizer's. National debt repayment: Not Canada's, mind you. Tory MP Lianne Rood noted a $53,132,349 line in this year's government spending estimates devoted to "debt payments on behalf of poor countries to international organizations." Rood penned a question on the order paper that sought answers on which countries Canada was helping. Turns out Canada has committed $2.5 billion over 50 years to cancel the debt of at least three dozen countries. Meanwhile, Tory leader Erin O'Toole accused Canada of "stealing" AstraZeneca vaccine doses from the developing world "that Canada usually helps." The feds confirmed 650,000 doses are expected to arrive next week, amid uncertainty on how they'll be administered. Several provinces have stopped providing those shots as first doses. Can I get my second AstraZeneca dose sooner? In her latest Vaxx Populi entry, Patricia Treble explores all the burning questions on the minds of hundreds of thousands of Canadians who received that shot. Here's what she found on the speed at which second doses might be administered: At the same time Ontario officials announced the new shipment of AstraZeneca doses, they also reiterated that the current interval of up to 16 weeks between doses would be maintained. As well, the officials said that as all first-dose vaccinations are recorded in a provincial database, that they would be making sure residents who haven’t been scheduled for second AstraZeneca doses get those appointments booked through the same channels (such as pharmacies or clinics) as those used for getting their first doses. Vaccinomics: Two of Canada's leading academic economists, Trevor Tombe and Blake Shaffer, are currently locked in a chart-based arms race to see who can produce the best COVID-19 vaccination visualizations. Check out Tombe's effort and compare it with Shaffer's work. The pair joined a phalanx of economists in the Globe and Mail to reassure an anxious generation of AZ recipients (five of the six writers received it themselves). Their message: getting the shot was good economics. Defence defence: Rood was also curious about the federal vaccine rollout for Canada's military. Just how quickly, she wondered, will the troops be inoculated? The Department of National Defence reported back that an initial batch of Moderna found its way into military arms in January, and 45,000 Armed Forces members, including most serving overseas, had at least one dose by May 5. The feds expect that everyone in uniform will be double-dosed—all of it Moderna—by the end of June. —Nick Taylor-Vaisey | 
