Weekly Quiz: Spies, Super Lice, and Trade War Strategy

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const title = "Spies, Super Lice, and Trade War Strategy"; const date = "August 16, 2025"; const data = [ { image: "https://walrus-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/img/WEB_InterprovincialTradeBarriers_AUG25-1-1536x1024.jpg", title: "Yes, Provincial Trade Barriers Are Silly. No, Fixing Them Won’t Save Us", url: "https://thewalrus.ca/provincial-trade-barriers/", question: "In an effort to compensate for a narrowing trade relationship with the US, Canada is now focusing on making it easier for goods to move within our own borders. But, according to writer Vass Bednar, this effort does little to compete with the dominance of US monopolies in key sectors of Canada’s economy. What sector does she believe is dominated by American companies, at the expense of independent Canadian ones?", options: [ "The digital sector", "The transportation sector", "The energy sector", "The arts and culture sector", ], answer: "The digital sector", correct: "If we’re so hot for better competition and interoperability, then we should extend this ambition to the digital sphere, says Bednar. We continue to rely on outdated economic metrics and have allowed foreign platforms like Netflix, YouTube, Spotify, Meta, and Amazon to become the de facto infrastructure of our digital and commercial lives. Until we address those structural blind spots, no amount of regulatory tidying will deliver the transformation we keep promising. When it comes to e-commerce, Amazon’s marketplace has become a powerful checkpoint. As policy advocate Stacy Mitchell’s latest analysis shows, Amazon now pockets about forty-five cents out of every dollar earned by a third-party seller, generating for the juggernaut roughly $140 billion (US) in fees in 2023 alone. That’s a gatekeeping tax, and it’s exactly what digital trade liberalization could dismantle. While it’s not perfectly identical to a border tariff, these platform fees shape which firms can thrive in Canada’s digital economy and eat into the margins of independent sellers trying to compete.", incorrect: "If we’re so hot for better competition and interoperability, then we should extend this ambition to the digital sphere, says Bednar. We continue to rely on outdated economic metrics and have allowed foreign platforms like Netflix, YouTube, Spotify, Meta, and Amazon to become the de facto infrastructure of our digital and commercial lives. Until we address those structural blind spots, no amount of regulatory tidying will deliver the transformation we keep promising. When it comes to e-commerce, Amazon’s marketplace has become a powerful checkpoint. As policy advocate Stacy Mitchell’s latest analysis shows, Amazon now pockets about forty-five cents out of every dollar earned by a third-party seller, generating for the juggernaut roughly $140 billion (US) in fees in 2023 alone. That’s a gatekeeping tax, and it’s exactly what digital trade liberalization could dismantle. While it’s not perfectly identical to a border tariff, these platform fees shape which firms can thrive in Canada’s digital economy and eat into the margins of independent sellers trying to compete.", }, { title: "Super Lice Are Coming to a Scalp Near You", url: "https://thewalrus.ca/super-lice-are-coming-to-a-scalp-near-you/", question: "Head lice, or Pediculus humanus capitis, have become an almost inevitable rite of passage for many children. But as common treatments lose their effectiveness, professional lice-removal services are cashing in on parents’ panic. In a 2010 survey of lice collected from cities in Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia, what percentage of bugs carried insecticide-resistant mutations?", options: [ "65 percent", "79 percent", "86 percent", "97 percent", ], answer: "97 percent", correct: "Jean-Paul Paluzzi, an associate professor in the biology department at York University specializing in insect molecular physiology, says one 2010 survey of lice from cities in Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia found insecticide-resistant mutations in more than 97 percent of the bugs tested; a more recent meta-analysis revealed that lice in Australia, England, Turkey, and Israel had “100 percent resistant gene frequencies.” Given that the drugs don’t work, the only viable debugging option is mechanical removal and surveillance—that is, adopting a primate’s steely rigour and using a literal fine-toothed comb to tease out both the lice and their future offspring.", incorrect: "Jean-Paul Paluzzi, an associate professor in the biology department at York University specializing in insect molecular physiology, says one 2010 survey of lice from cities in Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia found insecticide-resistant mutations in more than 97 percent of the bugs tested; a more recent meta-analysis revealed that lice in Australia, England, Turkey, and Israel had “100 percent resistant gene frequencies.” Given that the drugs don’t work, the only viable debugging option is mechanical removal and surveillance—that is, adopting a primate’s steely rigour and using a literal fine-toothed comb to tease out both the lice and their future offspring.", }, { image: "https://walrus-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/img/WEB_ToSpyOrNotToSpy_AUG25-1536x1024.jpg", title: "A Canadian CIA? Why We Need a Foreign Spy Agency", url: "https://thewalrus.ca/canada-spies/", question: "As global threats mount, former skeptics are rethinking the case for a Canadian CIA. But Ward Elcock, the longest-serving Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) director, still doubts the need for a foreign intelligence agency. What do Elcock and other doubters fear will happen if Canada gets a new spy agency?", options: [ "They fear two ineffective agencies will be competing for funds.", "They fear that both agencies’ work would overlap too much.", "They fear a potential lack of oversight could erode civil liberties.", "They fear it could make Canada a target for other countries’ spies.", ], answer: "They fear two ineffective agencies will be competing for funds.", correct: "Elcock believes that increased resources for CSIS would be enough to address many of the issues raised by those who support the creation of a new foreign intelligence agency. He fears that a separate service could simply end up creating two ineffective agencies competing for funds—hardly a net gain. As part of CSIS’s mandate, valuable foreign intelligence can be gathered successfully at strategic “choke points” within Canada, such as embassies and consulates. It was CSIS, for example, that intercepted communications between Chinese consular officials and intermediaries involved in suspected foreign interference during the 2021 federal election. These operations also have the benefit of being less risky. It just doesn’t sound as sexy as dispatching spies into hostile terrain.", incorrect: ". Elcock believes that increased resources for CSIS would be enough to address many of the issues raised by those who support the creation of a new foreign intelligence agency. He fears that a separate service could simply end up creating two ineffective agencies competing for funds—hardly a net gain. As part of CSIS’s mandate, valuable foreign intelligence can be gathered successfully at strategic “choke points” within Canada, such as embassies and consulates. It was CSIS, for example, that intercepted communications between Chinese consular officials and intermediaries involved in suspected foreign interference during the 2021 federal election. These operations also have the benefit of being less risky. It just doesn’t sound as sexy as dispatching spies into hostile terrain.", }, { title: "How Canada Can Win a Trade War with Trump", url: "https://thewalrus.ca/how-canada-can-win-a-trade-war-with-trump/", question: "Amid the verbal barrages of the “51st state” and other taunts from US president Donald Trump, former Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole says Canada must respond not with rashness but with a resoluteness grounded in lessons from the past. What is one thing he suggests Canada could offer Trump as a boon during trade negotiations?", options: [ "Expanding US access to Canadian rare earth elements (REEs)", "Lifting restrictions on US agricultural imports like poultry", "A renewed Keystone XL pipeline to the US", "A joint Canada-US infrastructure investment plan", ], answer: "A renewed Keystone XL pipeline to the US", correct: "O’Toole writes that a renewed Keystone XL pipeline to the United States is a strong contender for a win we can offer the president. It would be a way to deal with the psychological aspect of Trump that the Trudeau government simply did not get. Keystone is the only policy Trump mentioned when Trudeau flew down to Mar-a-Lago. It is partly political: Obama cancelled it, Trump reversed, then Biden reversed. It is also strategic, because US refineries need the feed stock of Canadian oil for at least the next fifteen to twenty years. A pipeline expedited and paid for by Canada could even be a victory for Canada if we can leverage the energy security—or a North American Energy Security Pact—as something that can lead the president to allow better terms for sectors like manufacturing, steel, and aluminum.", incorrect: "O’Toole writes that a renewed Keystone XL pipeline to the United States is a strong contender for a win we can offer the president. It would be a way to deal with the psychological aspect of Trump that the Trudeau government simply did not get. Keystone is the only policy Trump mentioned when Trudeau flew down to Mar-a-Lago. It is partly political: Obama cancelled it, Trump reversed, then Biden reversed. It is also strategic, because US refineries need the feed stock of Canadian oil for at least the next fifteen to twenty years. A pipeline expedited and paid for by Canada could even be a victory for Canada if we can leverage the energy security—or a North American Energy Security Pact—as something that can lead the president to allow better terms for sectors like manufacturing, steel, and aluminum.", }, ];