Roundup: Bernier goes full tinfoil hat

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Maxime Bernier appears to be going full tinfoil hat, with a Twitter thread about a supposed move to create some kind of UN parliament that will erase borders, and that Canada will be absorbed into, and I can’t even. I literally cannot.

https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/1082829073922093057

As Carvin points out, this is a campaign that is orchestrated by Neo-Nazi sympathizers in Europe, and it’s the very same thing that Andrew Scheer was also have been touting this very same conspiracy theory as part of their attempt to push back against the UN global compact on migration. But then again, Scheer and company also gave succour to racists in order to try and paint Trudeau as some kind of bully, so it shouldn’t be a surprise, and they’re being wilfully blind and deaf to the white nationalists and xenophobes that are infiltrating the “yellow vest” protests that they like to promote, so there’s that.

https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/1082252207234473985

Meanwhile, Bernier has tapped an anti-abortion, anti-trans “Christian pundit” as his party’s candidate in Burnaby South. And he’s being accused of running a campaign in that riding that is trying to depict Jagmeet Singh’s efforts as being one that is running only for the Indo-Canadian community, so, you know, the xenophobia tuba instead of the dogwhistle.

Good reads:

  • In the wake of the RCMP raid on that Indigenous blockade in BC, Justin Trudeau’s planned speech to Indigenous leaders in Ottawa was disrupted by protesters.
  • It appears that federal officials quietly met with officials from North Korea back in late September.
  • Facebook is reviewing death threats made against the prime minister on pages devoted to the wannabe “Yellow Vest” protests. Because they’re about unity!
  • Jim Carr will meet again with like-minded WTO partners on the sidelines at the upcoming World Economic Forum in Davos to discuss next steps for reform.
  • Canada’s bare minimum mission in Mali isn’t making much difference, and Canada doesn’t seem to care.
  • A recent report suggests that the Canadian Forces can buy fighter jets or frigates, but not both at the same time.
  • Jerry Dias of Unifor met with GM to demand they keep the Oshawa plant open. It went about as well as you might expect.
  • Transport Canada is expected to decide on VIA Rail’s proposed dedicated high-frequency rail routes before the end of the year.
  • Oh noes! Eleven percent of offenders in Indigenous healing lodges aren’t Indigenous! How terrible that programming is offered to those who may benefit!
  • Here’s a longread about the so-called “sonic attacks” in Cuba, and gives a likely explanation for just what took place.
  • Kady O’Malley’s Process Nerd column looks at the new fundraising reporting requirements that parties will need to adhere to.
  • My column looks at the deliberate neglect with which the government is treating the Senate, and why that is going to be a problem before long.

Odds and ends:

Paul Martin in nominating Irwin Cotler for a Nobel Peace Prize.

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