Roundup: McCallum’s gambit

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A political firestorm kicked off yesterday when it was revealed that our ambassador to China, John McCallum, held a media availability with Chinese-language media on Tuesday and didn’t inform Canadian media, and then he made comments about how Meng Wanzhou had a “strong case,” and laid out some reasons why, including the fact that Donald Trump politicised her arrest. There seemed to be some genuine confusion among the Canadian foreign affairs community about what exactly was going on here, including whether McCallum was freelancing or going on a limb, but during his own media availability later in the day, Trudeau didn’t distance himself from the comments – though he certainly danced around them a fair bit (though parliamentary secretary Arif Virani later went on Power & Politics to say that the government stood behind McCallum). And then the reaction – Erin O’Toole accusing McCallum of throwing the Americans under the bus, and Andrew Scheer insisting that he would fire McCallum if he was prime minister (for what good that would do).

It’s worth remembering that our extradition system always has the element of political discretion, in that the minister of justice has the final say once the court processes are over and have determined whether the case is viable. (Full explanation of the process here). Also, here’s a video of lawyer Michael Spratt explaining the process.

Meanwhile, Andrew Coyne says that McCallum put doubt into peoples’ minds about the rule of law, and will be seen to indicate a preference for the outcome, before wondering if McCallum was just freelancing or buying time with the Chinese. Given the swift media reaction in China, there may be more of the latter than the former in the calculation, but it’s hard to know at this point.

https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/1088187071204941827

https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/1088095085886140416

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau went to La Loche, Saskatchewan, to announce new funding for the school there on the anniversary of the mass shooting.
  • Trudeau also mentioned that he’s still working with Scott Moe, despite their differences on the federal carbon tax.
  • Later, Trudeau stopped in New Brunswick to a nomination for one of his MPs whose victory in the last election was fairly marginal.
  • Bill Morneau says they are looking at ways to help Millennials buy houses. Note that GST rebates were passed over. (See this Kevin Milligan thread).
  • Chrystia Freeland joined other countries in the Lima Group in endorsing the declaration of Venezula’s opposition leader as an “interim president.”
  • Canada now resettles more refugees through the UN than the Americans do, for the first time in the UNHCR’s history. (These are separate from asylum seekers).
  • CBSA has charged a woman with smuggling irregular migrants into Canada for a fee.
  • The CRA has turned over some 1.6 million bank records to the American IRS under the FATCA information sharing agreement.
  • Yes, we’re still paying in to the F-35 development programme, even if we may not select it, because that’s how our industries benefit. (Do they copy-paste this story?)
  • Some MPs are concerned that the move of the deputy minister in charge of fixing Phoenix to the Royal Canadian Mint is a sign that DM churn obscures accountability.
  • Library and Archives acquired a book from Adolf Hitler’s collection that detailed the Jewish populations in North America – a prelude to extending the Holocaust.
  • The Supreme Court of Canada heard arguments in a case that will determine if people affected by Canadian companies in another country can sue here.
  • Canada has been increasing the number of its marine protected areas, but sixty percent of them don’t meet the international standards we helped develop.
  • Absent MP Nicola Di Iorio was supposed to have officially resigned this week, but hasn’t yet.
  • Thomas Mulcair says he’s heard from more NDP MPs that they don’t plan to run again in the fall, particularly in Quebec. (They could be among these six MPs).
  • Kevin Carmichael writes about Bill Morneau’s happy economic talking points while there are short-sellers betting on a debt-fuelled recession on the way.

Odds and ends:

Oh, look – more economists calling bullshit on Rob Ford’s “carbon tax recession” lie.

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