Roundup: Endorsing the Brexitshambles

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In case you haven’t been paying attention, Britain is currently in a state of utter omnishambles as they try to deal with Brexit. A potential deal that was reached resulted in Cabinet resignations, and some very real threats not only to Theresa May remaining as PM, but possibly toppling the government as a whole. It’s lunacy over there right now. Back here in Canada, Andrew Scheer has decided that this was the right time to reiterate his support for Brexit. Because “sovereignty.”

While Scheer can bang on about how much control the UK gave up to the EU, and repeating falsehoods like the canard about the EU having regulations around the curvature of bananas, he both ignores that the EU has created a peace that has been unknown in Europe for centuries, and the fact that much of the Brexit campaign was fuelled by straight-up xenophobia. It’s this latter aspect that is particularly relevant because it’s part of a pattern we’re seeing with Conservatives, as John Geddes pointed out a couple of months ago – that they have this inability to orient themselves in a plausible way with the current nationalist populist trends in conservatism globally. Add to that, there is this naïve notion that they can somehow play with just enough extremism without it going into outright xenophobia or racism (and we’re especially seeing this playout with Maxime Bernier who blows the xenophobia tuba and then acts bewildered that white nationalists start showing up in his new party). But you can’t play with “just enough” extremism, because you can’t actually contain it. And when you wink about things enough times, you can’t act shocked and surprised when your adherents spell out what you were saying – like that post from a riding association Facebook account that posted Harjit Sajjan’s photo with the tagline “this is what happens when you have a Cabinet based on affirmative action.” They’ve only stated repeatedly that ministers in the Liberal cabinet are only there to fill quotas (whereas everyone in the Conservative Cabinet was there “on merit,”) but the moment someone puts Sajjan’s face next to that, well no, that’s totally not what they meant at all. Sure, Jan. And that’s why you can’t actually claim that Brexit is all about “sovereignty,” because it absolutely wasn’t. You can’t divorce the inflated sovereignty concern trolling from the xenophobia – it’s the same mentality as trying to assert that you can use “just enough” extremism for your political ends, but not go all the way.

Meanwhile, Andrew Coyne remains boggled by Scheer’s continued endorsement of Brexit, and wonders if he’s trying to appropriate some of its populist nationalism (the aforementioned “just enough” extremism).

Good reads:

  • Fresh from the ASEAN meeting in Singapore, Justin Trudeau is now off to Papua New Guinea for the APEC summit.
  • Bill Morneau’s office is strongly signalling that they won’t match those US corporate tax cuts, and they won’t raise the GST to pay for them (as some have suggested).
  • Said fiscal update could include measures to help struggling media (which may mean regulations allowing them to be classed as not-for-profits).
  • The backlog of irregular border crossers’ files at the IRB is now sitting around 28,000, despite new resources given to the board.
  • At the Halifax Security Forum, American senators are insisting that they’re still committed to the global order, despite the rhetoric of their president.
  • A number of Republican congressmen are demanding that Trump not sign the New NAFTA unless the enshrined LGBT protections are excised.
  • Canada Post is halting any importing of international mail until they can get their backlog caused by the labour dispute dealt with, which is running out of time.
  • The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that not offering court services in one’s official language of their choice is a violation of their rights.
  • Jagmeet Singh has found a rental property in Burnaby while he campaigns there.
  • Chantal Hébert writes that Doug Ford’s inattention to Francophones in Ontario is going to put Andrew Scheer in a tight spot, and not only in Ontario.
  • My weekend column looks at the current debate in the Senate over how to construct their audit and oversight committee.

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