The fourth and final round Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up here to get it delivered weekday mornings. No outright winner as of Wednesday night: The election for national chief of the Assembly of First Nations will go to a fourth and final ballot today, after three rounds of voting had Reginald Bellerose of Saskatchewan and RoseAnne Archibald of Ontario in a deadlock, the Canadian Press reports. In a surprise move late Wednesday, Ontario chief Alvin Fiddler, whose work building a police force has given him a national profile, dropped off and threw his support to Archibald. So did Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse of Alberta. If their supporters follow their leaders, Archibald should win, which would make her the first female national chief. Meanwhile, Paul Wells talked to outgoing leader Perry Bellegarde, who had this to say about what he’d put on the new leader’s to-do list: His list starts with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s call to action number 58, the demand for an apology from the Pope for the Catholic Church’s role in running residential schools. He says there’s still room for greater use of restorative justice as an alternative to criminal-code remedies, to reduce the huge over-representation of First Nations in Canadian prisons. And the increased spending of the first two Trudeau governments needs to continue, Bellegarde says, to ensure fragile progress isn’t reversed. Secret bonuses for bankers: The Canada Infrastructure Bank is refusing to disclose bonuses paid to executives despite a unanimous vote by 11 MPs on a House of Commons committee asking that the bank “file all documents detailing the bonus policies and payment of bonuses to executives and the board of directors since the bank’s inception,” the Globe's Billy Curry reports. Last Wednesday MPs received 157 pages of documents in response to the motion, but it does not reveal how much each of the senior managers are paid in bonuses. Trudeau in Calgary: Political foes Justin Trudeau and Jason Kenney bumped elbows in Calgary on Wednesday, before Trudeau and Naheed Nenshi announced a $5.5-billion LRT project, the Canadian Press reports. Prof Duane Bratt thought it was odd that Kenney skipped the announcement. This might hurt a little: The already-unpopular Alberta government has proposed cutting the wages of nurses by three per cent as part of ongoing contract negotiations. Just in time for a campaign: The Liberal government will send $500 cheques during the week of Aug. 16 to anyone who will be 75 by next July. The one-shot cash injection is part of a planned 10-per-cent raise in old age security, providing an estimated $766 in extra benefits to 3.3 million retirees. Pocketbook: The economy, not the pandemic, is the most important election issue for voters, pollster Nik Nanos tells CTV: “It looks like Canadians are starting to pivot away from the pandemic.” The environment was second, followed by the deficit and health care. Green blues: In the Star, Susan Delacourt points out that the Green Party's internal squabbles means the party is "not in good shape for a federal election that could occur within a month or two," which is bad for Canada. Greens, at their best, hold the other, more mainstream parties to account on all things climate-related. They also give voters a powerful, none-of-the-above option on the ballot box; for those who want to register disapproval of the status quo in politics The column follows this unbelievable story from Tuesday, which revealed details about a meeting about planned layoffs that went so badly that the party's interim executive director muted the leader. The Globe reported Wednesday that the party is laying off two people who "were the only remaining staff members directly in her office," which suggests the party executive will not be supporting her in the July 20 confidence vote on her leadership. Réaction en sourdine: Reaction in Quebec to the appointment of a governor general who can't speak French has been muted. On Wednesday there was a column expressing disappointment from Sophie Durocher in the nationalist-leaning Journal de Montreal and a friendly one from Isabelle Hachey in the federalist-leaning La Presse. Hachey points out that Mary Simon is "parfaitement bilingue… en anglais et en inuktitut." Brown envelopes: Former longtime political journalist David Rodenhiser has an interesting column with context on the behind-the-scenes machinations that led Iain Rankin to discuss his two drunk-driving charges. Mesley out: Longtime CBC journalist Wendy Mesley has a column in the Globe giving her side of the story of her departure from the Mother Corp. — Stephen Maher | 
