Virginia Corner

Retired comms professional; former journalist; good listener; interested in news and opinion about the arts, education, health, politics and sports.

[Canadian Space Agency @csa_asc]

One year ago, on June 4, 2025, former Canadian Space Agency astronaut Marc Garneau passed away at the age of 76. We will always remember his significant contribution to the history of Canadian space exploration. ✨

[Toronto Blue Jays @BlueJays]

Best in the business 👏

Congrats to Hazel and Dan on their Canadian Screen Awards!

[Mark Carney @MarkJCarney]

Steven Guilbeault has devoted his career to protecting our environment and fighting climate change. As he prepares to step down from his seat in Parliament this summer, I want to thank him for his service to the people of Laurier—Sainte-Marie and Canada.

Steven’s many contributions in civil society and public service have always been guided by his convictions and driven by his pursuit of a stronger, more inclusive, and more sustainable future. In government, he helped establish the 2022 Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework to protect 30% of Canada’s lands and waters, implemented Canada’s first emissions reduction plan, and championed landmark efforts to protect Canadian culture and identity, including establishing the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

I am grateful for Steven’s leadership and expertise as a cabinet colleague and a member of our caucus.

Our government shares a commitment to climate ambition, climate competitiveness and the preservation of Canada’s extraordinary natural heritage. We are advancing these missions with the same determination, a new spirit of partnership, and a renewed focus on results that will support Canadian families today and deliver for our kids and grandkids tomorrow.

I wish Steven and his family all the best as he begins this next chapter.

[Scott Robertson @sarobertson_]

PM Carney: "Today, as part of our steadfast commitment to defend Canada and to protect our allies, I'm pleased to announce that Canada has entered into negotiations to procure SAAB's airborne early warning and control aircraft."

[j wall ✡ @jwhaifa]

In 1943, the Gestapo finally caught Raymond Aubrac — one of France's most wanted Resistance leaders. He was sentenced to death. His execution was days away.
His wife Lucie was six months pregnant.
Most people would have hidden. Would have grieved quietly and prayed for a miracle. Lucie Aubrac did something else entirely. She obtained forged identity papers, constructed a cover story, and walked straight into the office of Klaus Barbie — the man history would remember as the Butcher of Lyon — and convinced him to grant her a visit with the condemned man.
She wasn't there to say goodbye.
She was memorizing guard positions. Counting minutes. Mapping the route the prison truck would take.
On October 21, 1943, that truck rolled through the streets of Lyon carrying Raymond and other prisoners toward what should have been the end. Lucie had spent weeks quietly assembling a team of Resistance fighters, planning an ambush with the precision of a military operation. When the truck reached the ambush point, the team struck — fast, coordinated, and without hesitation.
In the chaos of gunfire and confusion, Raymond Aubrac was pulled free.
Lucie — visibly, unmistakably pregnant — had organized every detail of his liberation.
They went into hiding. Weeks later, Lucie gave birth to their daughter in a safe house while German forces searched for them across France. When liberation finally came, the Aubracs didn't merely survive — they rebuilt.
Raymond became a celebrated engineer and entered public life. Lucie became a historian, pouring decades into ensuring that the women of the French Resistance — so often unnamed, so easily forgotten — were written permanently into the record. They raised three children. They traveled the world. They argued and laughed and grew old together.
When journalists asked Lucie, years later, what had compelled her to risk everything that October day, she didn't hesitate.
"He was my husband. What else would I do?"
Lucie Aubrac passed away in 2007 at the age of 94. Raymond — who had once needed a commando team to be freed from a German prison — lived on until 2012, reaching 97 years old. In his final years, he continued speaking publicly about the Resistance, about memory, about the obligation to tell the truth.
They had been married for 64 years.
Not a love story built on grand gestures or perfect circumstances. A love story built in occupied France, in safe houses and forged documents and a prison truck ambush on a Lyon street — forged in fire, and never broken.
True love doesn't wait for rescue. Sometimes, it does the rescuing

[Justin Trudeau @JustinTrudeau]

Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon brought dignity, wisdom, and compassion to the role of Governor General at a time when Canada needed steady leadership and reflection.

As the first Indigenous person to serve as Governor General, she helped our country move forward with greater honesty about our past and greater hope for our future. She carried the stories, strength, and perspectives of Inuit communities into Rideau Hall and into the heart of our national conversations.

Over these years, Canadians saw a leader who listened deeply, served humbly, and reminded us that reconciliation is not a destination, but a responsibility.

To me, you were a source of deep wisdom, an insightful, compassionate elder, and a good friend. As was Whit.

Thank you, Mary, for your service to Canada and for helping shape a more inclusive and compassionate country for generations to come. Nakurmiik, Ningiukudluk.

[Mark Carney @MarkJCarney]

Thank you to Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon for her exemplary tenure as Governor General and for her lifetime of advocacy for Inuit rights, Indigenous self-determination, and the preservation of Indigenous language, culture, and identity.

As she prepares to exit the role, her legacy will endure not only in her service, but in the way she served — with an unshakable belief in Canada.

[Chris Hadfield @Cmdr_Hadfield]

I am so inspired by these people.
They embody what we are capable of when we:
- give ourselves near-impossible goals
- work for decades to change who we are
- are willing to take enormous risks together
- celebrate the magnificence of shared life.
Well done @NASAArtemis team!
@astro_reid @Astro_Christina @AstroVicGlover @Astro_Jeremy
(photos Bill Ingalls & crew)

[Jeremy R. Hansen @Astro_Jeremy]

Avec un lancement le 1er avril, je suis rentré à temps pour mon 23e anniversaire de mariage avec Catherine! J’ai été bien heureux de pouvoir lui montrer en personne cette photo de mon alliance en apesanteur… et de passer un moment à la serrer dans mes bras ici sur Terre.

[NASA @NASA]

These four astronauts are currently on a mission to fly around the Moon—and soon they'll break the record for how far humans have traveled from Earth!

Meet our Artemis II crew 👇

[Nature is Amazing ☘️ @AMAZlNGNATURE]

Shhhh…🤫 Loon Babies Sleeping 💤

📸 Harry Collins

[The Players’ Tribune @PlayersTribune]

Hey guys, it’s Ernie. Before the season starts, I had some thoughts for @BlueJays fans I wanted to share. Thanks for reading https://t.co/aDajNK1kJL

[Jim Rankin @Jleerankin]

Journo jobs alert: @TorontoStar's well-paid, unionized year-long journalist internship program for 2026-27 is open for applications. Current cohort includes eight reporters and two photogs. Deadline for applying is April 15. https://t.co/i6hDPqiJFp

[POLITICOEurope @POLITICOEurope]

EXCLUSIVE: The EU and a 12-nation Indo-Pacific bloc are opening talks to explore forming one of the largest global economic alliances, multiple people with knowledge of the talks told POLITICO.

Canada's Mark Carney is spearheading the discussions.

🔗 https://t.co/govYQA0m9Y

[Mark Carney @MarkJCarney]

To the families in Tumbler Ridge who woke up today without someone they love, Canada mourns with you.

[Anita Anand @AnitaAnandMP]

I am looking forward to formally opening the Canadian consulate in Nuuk, Greenland after stopping in Copenhagen. This is Canada’s diplomacy at work.

[Scott Robertson @sarobertson_]

Prime Minister Carney is killing it here: "I greenlit this thing!"

[Abacus Data @abacusdataca]

New Abacus Data polling shows Canadians are more open to an early federal election than many might assume. Not because they want one, but because they want stability and a Parliament that works.

Full results: https://t.co/c1WodurqKY

[Tom Ayers @tomayers2262]

Diana Fox Carney, the PM's wife, scrimmaged with the Cape Breton Blizzard girls hockey team and the Cape Breton University Capers women's squad today before she officially opened the Kehoe Forum, billed as the first dedicated Home for Women's Hockey in Canada.