The latest obstacle: European protectionism Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up here to get it delivered weekday mornings. The number of the week is zero. For seven excruciating days, that's how many doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will be delivered to Canada. Every day, opposition parties in Ottawa are repeating that number. And yesterday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did his level best to right the ship. He insisted at a press conference that Canada's contract with Pfizer "will be respected," and repeated the target: six million doses by the end of March. (Watch the full presser.) Patricia Treble's latest Vaxx Populi post answers the question on everyone's mind: Why is there a hold-up with Pfizer's COVID vaccines? Trudeau also responded to anxiety about murmurs of European protectionism that, by midday, had evolved into full-blown threats. EU members are peeved with AstraZeneca, which is manufacturing a yet-to-be approved vaccine that could get the green light within days—and recently admitted that production delays would reduce its supply. Germany is pushing for export limits of all vaccines in some form to ensure Europe receives its "fair share." Both of Canada's approved vaccines—Pfizer and Moderna—are manufactured on that continent. Trudeau, who'd been on the phone with the CEO of Moderna earlier in the morning, insisted that his government would "ensure there are not any disruptions to the Canadian supply chain." As ever, he's asking for Canadians to trust his government's projections—even though the specific terms of every signed contract remain a secret. The Prime Minister's office released a 231-word readout of the PM's conversation with John Kerry, the U.S. special envoy for climate. Not a single one of those words was Keystone or XL, so it appears that really is that for the proposed pipeline. Trudeau and Kerry did talk about bilateral cooperation on "attaining net-zero emissions, clean energy transmission, zero-emissions vehicles, methane emissions, and the importance of securing reliable supply chains for critical minerals and the manufacturing of batteries." Trudeau also gave his thumb's up to an Earth Day climate summit. Bill Morneau is officially out of the running for secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. "I do not have support from enough members to continue to the third round of the campaign," Morneau said in a statement. The National Post reports that European representatives were wary of elevating a Canadian to the gig when a different Canuck, Donald Johnston, held the job as recently as 2006. Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny had spent several months outside the country after he was poisoned with a Russian-developed substance and airlifted to Berlin. When he returned on Jan. 17, Navalny was promptly detained by police. Thousands of protesters took to the streets, many of them also detained. G7 foreign ministers have now condemned both Navalny's "politically motivated" detention and "a continuous negative pattern of shrinking space for the opposition, civil society, human rights defenders and independent voices in Russia." Angus Reid polled the people on Keystone XL after U.S. President Joe Biden pulled the plug on the pipeline project. The results: 59 per cent of the country says it’s "time to move on" from Keystone XL. That includes 62 per cent of Ontarians and 74 per cent of Quebecers—but only 28 per cent of Albertans. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives published a detailed breakdown of provincial pandemic spending. The CCPA found that six provinces—Newfoundland and Labrador, P.E.I., Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta—are "sitting on billions of unallocated COVID-19 contingency funds that are built into their budgets." You might remember the name Patrick Muttart from his days as deputy chief of staff to former prime minister Stephen Harper. Well, Muttart has since relocated to the U.K., and he passed along the news that several overseas Tories are launching Canadian Conservatives Abroad. It's a get-out-the-vote machine for a sizeable cohort of expat Tories and a "resource for conservative policy makers" on global affairs. Nigel Wright will chair the executive committee. John Baird will serve as honorary president. (The former Tory government once fought to tighten expat voting rules.) Saving right whales in distress is harrowing work for fearless rescuers. Pandemic restrictions likely hampered efforts to monitor and detect the endangered species. Now, the Canadian Space Agency is teaming up with Fisheries and Oceans Canada to do the work from high above—by satellite. The CSA announced $5.3 million for five companies that will monitor and predict the mammals' movements. It's high-tech stuff: one company will use "deep-learning algorithms, high-resolution satellite imagery, automation, and geoscience computing." Canada's embassy in Paris is stocking up on appliances. Global Affairs Canada is looking for fridges, freezers, ovens, washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, microwaves, vacuum cleaners, flat-screen TVs, DVD players (multi-region, for convenience!), hand mixers, coffee makers, kettles, toasters and blenders. —Nick Taylor-Vaisey | 
