This firearms petition has 200,000+ signatures Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up here to get it delivered weekday mornings. Whatever the merits of the Liberals' bold move to ban "assault-style" firearms in Canada, it's clear a sizeable chunk of the country is begging to differ. An e-petition launched by Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner two weeks ago has netted well over 200,000 signatures—about as many people as fit into two average-sized ridings. If the list of names reaches 380,000 or so—a not-unreasonable total—that'll mean one per cent of Canadians put their name to this formal request to drop the ban. When thousands of shuttered small businesses sounded the alarm in March about their inability to pay their next month's rent, strict jurisdictionalists said Ottawa couldn't do anything about what was clearly within provincial jurisdiction. The Department of Finance didn't see it the same way and started hacking away at a rent relief program. Your newsletter correspondent stitched together the story of the federal-provincial plan whipped together in a matter of weeks that may still be too flawed to be useful. Some landlords said they were confused about what was on offer. Tenants complained they qualified, but their landlords weren’t keen to sign up. And small business advocacy groups continuously sounded the alarm about a crisis of shuttered shops that might not be saved in time. Where the Canada Emergency Response Benefit was celebrated for how quickly and efficiently it buoyed Canadians’ bank accounts, the rent relief program has exposed some of the perils of pandemic policy-making—especially when the feds get mixed up in landlord-tenant matters typically left to the provinces. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did announce more help for small businesses yesterday. He expanded eligibility for an emergency loan program that'll now be available for sole proprietors, family-owned corporations and businesses that relied on contractors that were previously shut out. Advocacy groups applauded the move. Doug Ford had a message for kids and their parents yesterday: it's not safe for them to be back in Ontario's classrooms. "It is clear that we cannot open schools at this time," he said. "I’m just not going to risk it." The premier said at-home learning would continue, but summer overnight camps would remain closed. (Read Ford's full remarks.) Ontario's PC government also announced an "independent commission" into long-term care homes, the details of which would be announced down the road. iPolitics reported that the opposition wanted a public inquiry, which affords the sitting government less control over the process of scrutinizing what's being scrutinized. The 'ethical oil' argument is dead: When Norway dropped its investments in Alberta oil companies, Jason Kenney was none too pleased. How could an oil-producing Scandinavian country get out of the oilsands and not, he mused, come out a hypocrite? Max Fawcett, writing in Maclean's, calls out the premier for his silence on who has been buying shares in oil sands firms recently: Saudia Arabia. If Saudi Arabia’s oil is a conduit for its anti-democratic and values, as ethical oilers like to argue, then what about its money? That money comes from the sale of its own ethically-challenged oil. Suncor and Canadian Natural Resources can’t prevent Mohammed bin Salman or the Saudi Public Investment Fund from buying their shares, but those who have been more than happy to bang the drum about Saudi Arabia’s moral and ethical failings could speak up here. "Appeasement": That's the word Andrew Scheer used yesterday to describe the Liberal government's China policy. Scheer said the PM's recent decision to offer Taiwan a seat at the WHO table was "phony," and a response to polling, not principle. For his part, Trudeau said Canada will join its allies in critically reviewing China's role in the pandemic. But he couldn't have been more careful with his words: "There will be some real questions around China, of course, in the coming months and years that need to be answered, and we will be part of that." Trudeau also defended the World Health Organization after U.S. President Donald Trump gave an ultimatum to the organization: enact major reform to the satisfaction of the White House within 30 days or face a permanent end to American funding. What's $9 million between (Facebook) friends? A certain social media giant agreed to pay the multimillion-dollar fine, plus $500,000 in costs, for making "false and misleading claims" about its Canadian users' personal data. A Competition Bureau investigation found several violations of the Privacy Act. Facebook said it disagreed with the conclusions but wouldn't contest them. —Nick Taylor-Vaisey | 
