Roundup: The tedious nonsense around food price inflation

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The inflation numbers were out yesterday, which meant that it was time once again for Pierre Poilievre to mislead everybody with a headline number that doesn’t say what he thinks it does, and frankly, The Canadian Press was not helping. Food inflation was not actually 7.3 percent. Not really. Grocery prices are 4.8 percent, but because of last year’s stupid “GST holiday,” the price index for food from restaurants spiked in comparison, so there was a 12.1 percent year-over-year hike in that index, which completely skewed the overall food index. (Incidentally, there’s a reason why the Bank of Canada generally strips out food and energy prices from their “core” measures, because they are volatile and the Canadian government has little influence over them).

Poilievre, however, took that 7.3 percent figure, and called a press conference and published an open letter about the “Liberal Hunger Crisis,” and he is begging the prime minister to do something about it. That something, of course, is to gut environmental policies by destroying industrial carbon pricing, clean fuel regulations, and plastic regulations, each of which has virtually fuck all to do with the price of food (seriously, their impact works out to about statistically zero), but has everything to do with his crusade against any and all environmental regulations, because he believes they’re killing investment. (Just wait until he hears what contaminated groundwater and poisoned waterways does for investment. And votes). But this act where Poilievre insists he’s “trying to help” is just tedious. He’s not helping. He’s lying about the causes (which he should be able to read), and we went through this same song and dance with the consumer carbon levy, and when Carney killed it, prices didn’t change. Just stop.

This is such tedious bullshit.The 7.3% figure is driven by food at restaurants, because a year ago, there was the "GST holiday" and a year-over-year price comparison from that is skewed. Food at stores actually moderated last month.Also, Carney doesn't control Brazil's climate for coffee beans. 1/

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-02-17T19:59:39.814Z

And the worst part of this is that when Question Period is back on next week, Poilievre will keep up this whole act, and he’ll beg and plead for the government to do something, and will the government point out any of the facts in the StatsCan report? Will they even bother to correct that the index on food from stores was actually down last month? Nope. They will instead pat themselves on the back for their enhanced/badly rebranded GST credit, and then talk about the school food programme, and the Canada Child Benefit, and maybe dental care, or OAS for seniors, but they won’t put any gods damned facts on the table and counter any of the lies Poilievre tells to justify his nonsense. Because that’s how they insist on rolling.

— Effin' Birds (@effinbirds.com) 2026-02-17T15:08:04.114Z

In case you missed it:

  • My Xtra column on the federal NDP leadership race and the particular crossroads that the party finds itself at.
  • My latest for National Magazine on Friday’s Supreme Court of Canada decision, upholding Newfoundland & Labrador’s COVID restrictions.
  • My weekend column on the government’s political cowardice in refusing to actually do something about the RCMP (like breaking it up) when the Force is broken.
  • My column on the apparent deal struck between the government and Conservatives on getting the budget bill passed, and why this shows the problems in Parliament.

New episodes released early for C$7+ subscribers. This week, I'm talking about Bill C-4 and what federal political parties want to do with your personal data. #cdnpoli

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-02-17T02:26:33.961Z

Ukraine Dispatch

Twelve Ukrainian regions came under attack as more “peace talks” are underway, while Ukraine struck an oil refinery in the Krasnodar region. President Zelenskyy says that Trump is trying to pressure him to give up territory to Russia.

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Roundup: Disabusing a conspiracy theory

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At the Commons’ heritage committee, there was a bit of a showdown between the Conservatives’ heritage critic, Rachael Thomas, and minister Marc Miller, and it’s an indication of just how stupid the online discourse is right now. You see, a couple of weeks ago, there was a conference in Ottawa for independent film and television producers, and the president of the Canadian Media Producers Association said that they have the prime minister’s back. Immediately, every far-right and bad faith conservative on social media claimed that this was media declaring their bias for the government, when the “media” in question is film and scripted television, not journalism.

Thomas, however, went into this exchange trying to corner Miller to “prove” that this was about journalists being in the tank for Carney. Miller disabused her of that notion, but she kept it up online afterward, completely discrediting herself in the process, but this is part of her shtick—making wildly incredulous claims, which sound absolutely ridiculous to you and I, but to a segment of very online people are absolute catnip. Things like her saying on the floor of the House of Commons that Justin Trudeau was a “dictator.” I wish I was kidding.

There’s a reason why Thomas does this, with Poilievre’s blessing, is because it creates a separate reality for these very online people, which is a darker and more dystopian version of the country that they believe is going to hell around them (often “because woke” or some other such nonsense), but it fuels them with this urgency about how they need to “save” the country from itself, and if that just happens to mean that they need to do it by undemocratic means, well, that’s just what they’ll have to do. Having watched the bifurcated American media create separate news ecosystems that in turn became separate realities for Democrats and Republicans, Conservatives in this country have been salivating at the opportunity to do the same, and Thomas is happy to give them fodder to construct this false reality that they radicalise themselves with. It’s good that Miller is at least one of the very few members of the government to call this out, but also note that in the reporting, The Canadian Press very carefully both-sides her comments rather than simply declaring that she is making shit up, and that is a problem in and of itself, because the Conservatives learned that they can just outright lie and legacy media won’t call them on it. Thomas took that lesson to heart more than most, and this kind of stunt at committee is the result.

— Effin' Birds (@effinbirds.com) 2026-02-12T22:27:02.144Z

Programming Note: I am taking the full long weekend off from the blog.

Ukraine Dispatch

Russian attacks have again left people without power in Kyiv, Dnipro and Odesa, however the weather has been warming, which is reducing the energy deficit. Ukraine says two Nigerians were found fighting for Russia after a drone strike in Luhansk.

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QP: Back to the housing jabs

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The PM was absent, presumably on his way to Tumbler Ridge, BC, while Pierre Poilievre was also absent. That left it up to Andrew Scheer to lead off, and he led off by reiterating condolences for Tumbler Ridge, and asked for an update as to supports being provided. Steven MacKinnon read a statement about their own condolences, and said that at the invitation of the mayor, the prime minister would be there on Friday and that he also invited other party leaders to join him. Scheer thanked him, and then launched into his denunciation into the government’s housing record and demanded the government eliminate the GST on all new homes. Jennifer McKelvie responded with praise for the Building Canada Homes Act before the House currently. Scheer then denounced the state of the auto sector and demanded the government adopt the Conservatives’ plan of removing the tax on all Canadian-made vehicles. Joly first gave her condolences, before reminding him the subsidies are for Canadians. Pierre Paul-Hus took over in French to read the same script in l’autre langue officiel, and Joly reminded him that their auto strategy is about ensuring the sector is still viable in the decades to come. Paul-Hus then blamed increased immigration for making housing unattainable in Quebec City, and Caroline Desrochers read a statement praising their housing programmes. Paul-Hus tried again, and Desrochers read a script about how the Conservatives only have slogans.

Christine Normandin led for the Bloc, and she once again asked about the new pension software, and once again, Stephanie McLean read a statement saying that the project was under budget and that seven million seniors are getting their cheques on time, and to forward any names of anyone affected. Normandin was theatrically outraged that there are 85,000 people not getting payments and demanded a commission of inquiry. Patty Hajdu read a statement about the modernization and that any unresolved cases need to contact the government. Sébastien Lemire mocked the answer that the project was on budget, and got a warning from the Speaker. Hajdu offered him a briefing on the system and stated that the ability for people to apply online relieves the burden on the department.

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Roundup: The Tumbler Ridge fallout

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Overnight, the messages of condolences for Tumbler Ridge came, from the King, as well as world leaders. Prime Minister Mark Carney cancelled his planned travel to Halifax and then the Munich Security Conference, and flags on all federal buildings were lowered to half-mast, where they will remain for seven days. Sittings in both the House of Commons and the Senate were cancelled, as were all other parliamentary business, but both Chambers still met for a few minutes to offer speeches of condolences for the victims.

Slowly, facts started to come out, along with stories of students barricading themselves in classrooms, and eventually, the identity of the shooter was confirmed, but not before a lot of disinformation was spreading over social media. Before any details were known, far-right sources were already claiming that the shooter was trans, because this has become a go-to far-right meme because they are desperate to scapegoat trans people for “far-left violence,” and so on, even though the cases of trans people involved in mass killings are vanishingly small. And when it was confirmed that the shooter was indeed trans, well, you can hear the far-right just salivating over this news. It was also confirmed that the police had previous contact with the shooter over mental health issues, and guns had been seized from the property and then returned, and that the shooter had an expired firearms licence (at eighteen, because apparently you can get a licence as young as twelve), but the investigation continues as to the source of the weapons involved.

Within hours, we already had an elected official—B.C. MLA Tara Armstrong—blaming the Tumbler Ridge school shooting on gender-affirming care.

— Mel Woods (@melwoods.me) 2026-02-11T14:59:47.269Z

Unfortunately, I fear that this is going to turn up the rhetoric against trans people in this country as the American culture war/fascist project leaks over the border and poisons our discourse. The Anti-Defamation League has found search histories to indicate that the shooter has an interest in online gore, guns, and white supremacy, so this could point to the kinds of online nihilism that we have seen in other mass shootings in the US, for what it’s worth. But I just worry that this is going to provide ammunition for the likes of Scott Moe and Danielle Smith in justifying their anti-trans legislation, and that it will give Pierre Poilievre and members of his caucus permission to more gratuitously target trans people more than they already have been, including in the last election. Remember that in the history of fascism, they come for trans people first, then queer people, and down the list it goes. Don’t let them engage in this kind of scapegoating.

It's going to be bad.Really, really bad.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-02-11T23:59:07.097Z

Half-mast over Centre Block.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-02-11T21:04:45.999Z

Ukraine Dispatch

Kyiv is under another massive Russian assault, following attacks on Bohodukhiv in the east, and an attempted attack on Lviv that air defences intercepted. Air defences around Kyiv are being bolstered.

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Words of condolence on a day of mourning

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Things got underway with a moment of silence in the Chamber at the start of proceedings, late as it always is on Wednesdays, and from there, things resolved to the day’s abbreviated proceedings.

Prime minister Mark Carney, surrounded by his BC MPs in the camera shot, spoke about the nation being in shock, and nine people killed, with 25 others injured. There was no speculating, but rather an admonishment that they must allow law enforcement the time and space to do their work. He spoke about Tumbler Ridge, a community of just 2400 people, founded in the 1980s in the promise of the resource economy. He spoke of the first responders, and the RCMP who entered the school immediately, and of the teachers and staff who saved lives. Carney said that he had spoken to David Eby, that minister Gary Anandasangaree is on his way to the community, along with Gregor Robertson, as he coordinates the federal response, and noted that the local MP, Bob Zimmer, was already on the scene. He raised past mass shootings in the country (and we are fortunate that it’s within the single digits and not a constant occurrence like in the U.S.), before saying that we must seek comfort from one another, and that the House mourns with them.

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Roundup: Refusing a pay raise for populism

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Conservative backbench MP Mike Dawon put on a big media show yesterday by declaring that he will be refusing his scheduled pay raise in April, which is something that the party itself is not actually doing a big song and dance about (at least not yet). In his stated reasons for doing so, he says that “the working man (and woman) in this country hasn’t seen a decent raise in decades,” which is not in fact true. Statistics Canada tracks these things, and average hourly wages in this country have been outpacing inflation going on three years now, and while that’s not everyone because this is an average measure, wages are not stagnant.

This being said, I really dislike these particular kinds of populist performances because they are largely designed to denigrate the role of elected officials in public life, and winds up leading to problems in the long term. Poor pay for MPs means it’s harder to attract talent who have professional careers, meaning doctors and lawyers for example, who frequently need to take a pay cut to serve. And frankly, the other side of ensuring that we have adequate compensation for elected officials is that it discourages corruption, so that they don’t feel the need to take bribes to maintain their lifestyle.

Ontario’s MPPs did away with their pensions and scheduled raises for years, and it created problems with MPPs who would ultimately refuse to retire because they couldn’t afford to, and had few options in the private sector, and there was one story about a former MPP whose financial troubles after leaving office left him destitute, which is not something we should want to expose anyone running for office to. Frankly we don’t want a system where only people with previous wealth get into politics because they can afford to, and these kinds of populist attitudes wind up reinforcing that kind of behaviour.

— Effin' Birds (@effinbirds.com) 2026-02-10T15:08:05.641Z

Ukraine Dispatch

Russia struck energy facilities on Odesa overnight, meaning more power cuts in the region. There was also an airstrike on Sloviansk the Ukrainian-controlled portion of Donetsk, killing two. President Zelenskyy says that major changes are coming in the way that Ukraine handles its air defences.

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QP: Ignoring the point of a floating dollar

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The PM was present today for the only time this week, as was Pierre Poilievre and the other leaders. Poilievre led off in French, and he worried that last week, Mark Carney said that food prices were high because of the low dollar, and he insisted that Carney needs to answer for that weak dollar. Carney said that the value of the dollar is rising, and that they are working to build big things. Poilievre insisted that Carney was only just answering in slogans and demanded an answer. Carney said that there is a lag in part because the Conservatives are obstructing their legislation. Poilievre switched so English to raise their Supply Day motion, and accused the government of “obstructing” said motion that would seek to deny anyone accused of serious crimes of claiming asylum (amongst other things), and Carney took this as an opportunity to talk about the Conservatives obstructing numerous bills. Poilievre said the government was obstructing their own bills, and then read their motion again. Carney insisted that they are “taking control” of immigration and that asylum claims are down, and there are also trying to tighten bail laws. Poilievre pointed again, this time to his scripts about subsidies for “American-made” EVs and wanted all Canadian-made vehicles to be made tax-free instead. Carney praised their auto strategy in collaboration with the provinces. Poilievre tried again with added bombast, and suggested he listen to the sector or the conservative premier of Ontario about the value of their auto strategy. 

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and raised the Davos speech, and wondered why, if the U.S. is not a reliable contract, that they would be pursuing the F-35 deal. Carney said that wasn’t in the speech, and that the government was making some expenditures to keep their options open. Blanchet talked around a little before getting to the issue of the Gordie Howe Bridge, and Carney repeated what he told the media earlier about what he told Trump about the facts of the bridge. Blanchet wondered why the government was not protecting the country and scrapping the F-35 contract. Carney said they were still weighing options, including what to will create jobs in Quebec. 

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Roundup: “Breaking ranks” to represent his constituents

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Every news outlet in the country is framing Liberal MP Bruce Fanjoy as “breaking ranks” because he wrote a letter to the government in opposition to the latest return-to-office mandate for civil servants. Why is this language suspect? Because he’s not a member of Cabinet, so the expectation that he must be a compliant sheep and not step out of line is frankly wrong and non-existent. Backbenchers are there to hold the government to account, even if they’re in the same party. In fact, especially if they’re in the same party, because they are no good to anyone if they are nothing more than mindless clapping seals whose only purpose is to stand up and vote for the government and its programme at every opportunity.

https://twitter.com/brucefanjoy/status/2020920966893928589

The thing about Fanjoy is that he worked that riding in order to oust Pierre Poilievre, and part of that was the message that Poilievre took them for granted, and that he was going to actually represent them, and that’s what he’s doing, because there are a lot of civil servants in that riding. After all of the work in his winning the riding, can you imagine the message it would send for him to say absolutely nothing as the government moves ahead with its very ill-thought-out plan for return-to-office? It’s likely he wouldn’t win it again if that were the case. So yeah, he’s going to “break ranks” to deliver this very gentle message to the government.

This being said, I am once again going to absolutely rage at the expectation that this kind of framing devices places on MPs. It’s an old media dichotomy—we insist we want MPs to act more independently, but the moment they do, they have “broken ranks,” or the leader is “losing control,” or any other means by which We The Media police MPs into being good little drones and just following the (presidentialised) leader when that’s not what they should be doing. It’s beyond frustrating that we are worse whips than the actual party whips, which is saying something in this country with our parliament. It’s just ridiculous that this keeps happening, even when the party has room for disagreement (see: Nate Erskine-Smith).

Ukraine Dispatch

Russia launched 149 drones and 11 missiles early Monday, killing four people. Russian forces are also trying to push ahead at Pokrovsk, in spite of previously claiming they had already captured it. Ukraine is opening up sales of its domestically-produced weapons to help finance the war effort.

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QP: Selectively quoting economic doom

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The PM was in town, but wrapping up a working lunch with the prime minister of Luxembourg, while Pierre Poilievre was also absent for reasons unknown. Melissa Lantsman led off instead, and she listed the government’s many economic failings before rhetorically asking how anyone on the government benches could defend this abysmal record. Patty Hajdu responded that the Conservatives merely stand in the way of assistance for Canadians. Lantsman raised the case of a young nurse who feels like she can’t ahead, and Hajdu insisted that they tell young people to help them build big things. John Brassard took over, and accused the government of gorging at the “all-you-can-take taxpayer buffet,” and a Gregor Robertson responded with some back-patting on their homebuilding programmes, as well as the GST rebate. Brassard sanctimoniously listed everything wrong, including accusing the government of not getting a deal with the U.S. John Zerucelli reminded him that we are in a trade war before praising their investments to build Canada. Gérard Deltell took over in French, and he recited the food price inflation script, to which Mélanie Joly declared that the government was in “solution mode,” including the GST rebate. Deltell recounted that he had a conversation with the manager at his local grocery store who lamented the increase in thefts because prices are too high. Joly listed the programmes to help people in need, including an agreement signed with the Quebec government. 

Christine Normandin led for the Bloc, and she once again raised the problems with the OAS payment software, and the figure that 85,000 people have been affected. Stephanie McLean note that this is out of seven billion seniors, and that they are working to help those affected. Normandin raised the fact that the software transformation is $5 billion over budget, and this time, Steven MacKinnon recited that they have modernised the system and to let the government know so they can fix it. Andréanne Larouche took over to demand action from the government, and MacKinnon repeated that seven million seniors get pensions and that the 85,000 was too many, but they are working to resolve the situation. 

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Roundup: His photo-ops were different, you see

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Jamil Jivani has returned from his trip to Washington, and before briefing Dominic LeBlanc or anyone from the government, he turned to the pages of the National Post to pen a self-congratulatory op-ed for the trip that nobody asked for, and that op-ed says pretty much nothing but a collection of platitudes about the GM plant in his riding, and looking for ways to continue the partnership with the US, as though the US isn’t the problem. It’s empty, and has apparently accomplished absolutely nothing

What is hilarious, however, are the fact that conservative posters over on social media have been taking his photos from his meetings with various players in Washington and declaring this to be “leadership,” as opposed to photos that say nothing other than he met with them. And yes, these are the very same voices who denounce the fact that prime minister Mark Carney has travelled across the globe several times over the past nine months and has met with all kinds of world leaders, because of course, that’s just a useless photo op (per Pierre Poilievre’s talking points in Question Period), but Jivani’s pointless photo ops? Totally different. Because of course.

Meanwhile, Kirsten Hillman can’t actually say if she thinks Trump wants to preserve the New NAFTA because his positions change from day to day, and there is no consistency from anyone around him, so that’s fun. Here is more about Hillman’s time in Washington as she wraps up her diplomatic career.

Ukraine Dispatch

There was a massive drone attack on Odesa overnight, which followed a previous massive attack on energy facilities with over 400 drones and 40 missiles earlier in the weekend. The US says they want the war over by summer, but Russia can go home at any point, and these deadlines do nothing but encourage Russia.

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