Roundup: The Brexit fallout

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So, Brexit. If you missed how it all went down, here’s the recap of the evening’s events, a look at the Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty regarding an exit from the EU, a look at other countries who may be next, and speculation about how the Queen is faring in the face of this result. There’s a look at the divisions within the UK, and what psychology tells us about feelings toward immigration and how that influenced the referendum vote. And of course, what the Brexit could mean for the Canada-EU trade agreement, seeing as the UK was one of the driving forces behind this agreement. The results of that referendum seem to have made Quebec sovereigntists chippy about the 50-percent-plus-one threshold, while Jason Kenney’s tweets once the results were announced raised a number of eyebrows. The Prime Minister, however, assures us that our economy is strong enough to be able to withstand the market storms triggered by this event. (And do check out Maclean’s full package of excellent Brexit pieces here).

And then there’s the reaction. Doug Saunders notes that this is the first time that a far-right movement and its xenophobia has won a majority vote in a Western Nation, while Scott Gilmore notes that the Brexit could take a multitude of different forms. Andrew Coyne takes the events as a cautionary tale of countries engaging in self-harm. Paul Wells writes about the case that the EU needs to make for itself in the face of referenda like these, while Andrew MacDougall notes that this referendum, along with the Trump phenomenon in the states, is showing the power of demagoguery over fact and expert advice, which is probably the scariest part of this whole sad and sordid affair.

Good reads:

  • It turns out it was a design flaw and not just heavy traffic that crashed the census site during the filing blitz.
  • The leased vessel being converted as our interim naval ship will have the capacity to deliver humanitarian aid.
  • The Privacy Commissioner is trying to convince the government that his enabling legislation needs updating to keep up with new technology.
  • Here is Kady O’Malley’s assessment of the early days of the electoral reform committee in action.
  • Aaron Wherry notes the welcome return of nuance in our parliamentary debates and deliberations.
  • Michael Petrou, on the other hand, smacks down the shallow and pointless debates over ISIS committing genocide.
  • Susan Delacourt looks at the role Facebook played in the last election.
  • Paul Wells notes the uphill battle that Jason Kenney faces if he does make the jump to provincial politics.

Odds and ends:

Minister Joly fired a CRTC commissioner for cause, and he plans to sue.