Kamala Harris makes history as the first VP to have a tangible Canadian connection journalists can milk for days Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up here to get it delivered weekday mornings. You don't need this newsletter to inform you of the biggest news from the weekend: Joe Biden won the presidency of the United States on Saturday morning. But you'd be forgiven for missing the flurry of Canadian angles that sprung up in the hours since. It's noteworthy that Justin Trudeau was the first international leader to congratulate the former vice-president. He tweeted his well wishes within a couple hours of various media outlets' announcements. (It seems a tad over-eager, but then again, can you blame the guy?) Less stoically diplomatic was Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, who appeared on CTV's Question Period the following day to call Biden's victory "good news" for Canada. He specifically referenced climate change, COVID-19 cooperation, economic rebuilding and trade relations. Notably absent from his praise was the Keystone XL pipeline, which Biden has promised to scrap, and which many expect will become a flashpoint within the next year. And then there's incoming Vice President Kamala Harris, who—as many Canadian media outlets would love to remind you—lived briefly in Montreal. Her election brings a barrage of "firsts" for the vice presidency: first Black person, woman, Asian-American and, most crucially, as per CTV's adorably silly headline, the first Westmount High alumnus. (She is not, it should be noted, the first person of colour to hold the office: Charles Curtis, a Native American, was elected as veep in 1928.) Harris's high school years didn't with just a mention. Dutiful Canadian journos scoped out former classmates like Hugh Kwok, a self-described "car guy" who doesn't follow politics and hasn't spoken with Harris since they graduated in 1981. But still: he wishes her the best! So that's news, of a sort. If you want some more substantial analysis of the election, Maclean's has you covered. You can read the full transcript of Biden's victory speech (or watch it instead, if you're so inclined), and check out analysis by Shannon Proudfoot on the psychological toll of the Trump era and Paul Wells on how the man might rise to the challenges before him. About that pandemic... While liberals on both sides of the border celebrated an electoral victory, the coronavirus ravaged worse than ever before. Ontario broke its peak single-day cases two days in a row—2,460 between Saturday and Sunday—with the majority in Toronto, Peel and York. Alberta broke its own record on Saturday with 919 new cases. British Columbia's officials announced new lockdown restrictions to staunch a surge raging across Vancouver, while Manitoba is also seeing a major spike. On Friday, Canada's National Advisory Committee on Immunization, an arm's-length agency that is offering guidance to the government on COVID vaccination strategies, came out with a plan for vaccine implementation. The gist: seniors, frontline workers and essential services should get it first, and we'll play the rest by ear. Specifics are still unknown, because the vaccines are still being tested and clinical trials have yet to draw any results, so the committee can't very well make solid recommendations since we don't even know which vaccine will cross the finish line first. A lesson Whole Foods will never forget. Here's a whirlwind news cycle for you: on Friday morning, media reported on an employee at a Whole Foods store in Ottawa who blew the whistle on their employer for not letting them wear poppies on staff uniforms for Remembrance Day. The outrage came fast. Ontario Premier Doug Ford called it "absolutely disgraceful" and "disgusting," and said he'd introduce legislation prohibiting companies from banning poppies on uniforms; Trudeau called it a "silly mistake" but noted that something like this happens every year and is usually resolved after public outcry. Lo and behold, hours after Whole Foods doubled down on its policy, the company reversed course before the end of the workday. Poppies prevail. While the House of Commons is on hiatus this week, cabinet ministers are making the rounds to announce new investments across the country. This morning, Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault will reveal funding to help Quebec export its cultural productions worldwide; Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna will appear in a Zoom call alongside P.E.I. Premier Dennis King to reveal new "green infrastructure" in the Atlantic province; and Economic Development Minister Mélanie Joly will announce federal support for a manufacturing project in Windsor-Essex and an infrastructure development in Nunavut. People's Party of Ontario, anyone? Back in July, the Ontario Progressive Conservatives booted Cambridge MPP Belinda Karahalios from caucus for not voting to approve Bill 195, which would let the party extend their emergency orders without legislative consultation. Karahalios called it government overreach. Now she's starting her own political party with her husband, Jim Karahalios, who was twice disqualified from his leadership bid for the federal Tories. The blacklisted conservatives are dubbing their party " New Blue ," and have collected the 2,000 necessary signatures to register with Elections Ontario, though they've yet to be approved. In memoriam. Alex Trebek passed away Sunday at the age of 80 from pancreatic cancer, which he'd been battling for several years. Maclean's Jamie Weinman parses the Canadian game show host's long-lasting legacy: During this immensely long run, he became known for qualities that weren’t associated with men who gave out fabulous prizes: his reserve, his emotional coolness, his biting humour at the expense of people who played poorly. Odd, then, that when he announced that he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, there was an outpouring of love from his public. He didn’t try to act like he loved us, and we loved him for it. —Michael Fraiman | 
