Roundup: Damage control and lunatic accusations

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For his Friday presser, prime minister Justin Trudeau was back at Rideau Cottage, and he started off with the news that the Canadian Forces deployments to long-term care facilities in Ontario and Quebec would be extended until June 26th, but that the plan was to start transitioning to more assistance from the Canadian Red Cross. He mentioned the call with the premiers on Thursday night, which by all accounts got pretty testy, but Trudeau stuck to generalities. He raised the arrest video of Chief Allan Adam, saying he was shocked and that there needed to be an independent investigation, and that policing reforms across the country needed to happen soon. Finally, he mentioned that temperature checks would be implemented on flights, which raised all kinds of questions of faux-confusion that we were told that this was ineffective in detecting COVID-19 – which is true, but it was explained about eleventy times that this was simply an added measure of protection to keep people with fevers off of flights. (And lo, the pundits who seem incapable of thinking critically about public health advice have been decrying this as “added confusion,” which it’s not really). During the Q&A, Trudeau was also asked about the blood donation ban for men who have sex with men, given that NDP MP Randall Garrison has been agitating about this recently, and Trudeau reiterated the government’s position that they were funding the science that would ensure it was safe to end the ban, that they reduced it from a permanent ban to a three-month ban, and that he hoped for a positive announcement soon.

Later in the day, we saw a flurry of damage control out of the RCMP, as Commissioner Brenda Lucki clarified that yes, there is systemic racism in the Force and she should have been clearer about that, and that she has to ensure policing free of bias. As well, the Alberta Deputy Commissioner, who previously denied that systemic racism exists in the Force, said that he’s learned a lot in the past few days and he too will now admit that it exists, and promised to help eliminate it – as calls for his resignation have been mounting. Meanwhile, Winnipeg police tried to get ahead of a story with a video that showed four police grappling with, kicking, and Tasering someone during an arrest, which they insisted was someone who was violent and high on meth – but seemed incapable of admitting that it looks like more police brutality.

Meanwhile, the Conservatives have been trying to make an Issue of the fact that foreign affairs minister François-Philippe Champagne *gasp* has a $1.2 million mortgage for two London properties from a Chinese bank, that predated his time in politics. The mortgages were fully disclosed, and neither the Ethics Commissioner, CSIS or the RCMP seemed to think this was a big deal when he was either elevated to Cabinet or shuffled to his current portfolio, but now the Conservatives are accusing him of being compromised, and going easy on China – to the point that they have insinuated that he is letting the two Michaels languish in a Chinese prison – because of these mortgages. It’s a position that is ludicrously insulting because the worst thing that this Chinese Bank could do is demand immediate repayment (unlikely given the rules for financial institutions in the UK), and Champagne could have to sell those properties, which, given that property in the UK has appreciated rapidly, he could make a tidy profit. More to the point, that same Chinese bank has been operating in Canada since 1993 and had $3 billion on the books here, and there was nary a peep about it from the Conservatives in the nine years they were in power. But logic and common sense are not in play, and instead they are demanding that the Canada-China special committee be reconstituted and Champagne be hauled before it to answer about this, which is starting to reek of a McCarthy-era witch hunt, because they can’t help but engage in meathead partisanship.

Good reads:

  • François-Philippe Champagne is off to the UN in New York for the Security Council vote (and promises to quarantine for 14 days upon his return to Canada).
  • Many of the government’s supports for businesses – commercial rent, CEBA, and the wage subsidy – remain undersubscribed, but they’re touting success anyway.
  • Police have arrested someone trying to open bank accounts for fraudulent CERB claimants – an example of actual fraud in the system.
  • The CMHC has put out a statement admitting to poor diversity in its ranks, previous racists actions, and vows to re-assess its practices going forward.
  • Here’s a look at how oilfield supporters are dealing with the oil price downturn and the current economic crisis, and how federal measures are being used to help.
  • Economic re-opening and the return to workplaces has a lot of questions for labour, employment, and privacy lawyers when it comes to testing employees.
  • The fire at Paris’ Notre Dame cathedral prompted stronger fire prevention measures as part of the Centre Block renovations.
  • Here is a look at how the Queen is adapting to current circumstances, as she participated in her first Zoom conference this week.
  • The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that BC has been under-funding French-language schools, and ordered funding and transportation to them.
  • After facing backlash, Erin O’Toole “clarified” his pledge to end fossil fuel subsidies.
  • All of the Conservative leadership candidates are trying to brush up on their French in anticipation of next week’s French-language debate.
  • Heather Scoffield casts a critical eye at Conservative leadership candidates promising both tax cuts and to balance the budget at the same time.
  • Kevin Carmichael checks in with one of the country’s most important pharmaceutical companies about how they’re dealing with the current pandemic.
  • Colby Cosh delves into the “automatism defence” that an Ontario court revived last week…somewhat (which headline writers and activists torqued the wrong way).
  • My weekend column looks at how we can return Parliament to full-time status without hybrid sittings or remote voting – if MPs are willing to sacrifice a little.

Odds and ends:

Here is a lengthy look at the kind of data that the Tim Horton’s app is collecting about its customers.

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6 thoughts on “Roundup: Damage control and lunatic accusations”

  1. The RCMP once again eroded public trust in the institution by closing ranks around police wrongdoing, then being forced to retract later.That’s confusing, not temperature checks.
    They have been underfunded for years, and since they couldn’t even afford to train their personnel in the use of carbines and body armor they were issued prior to the New Brunswick shootings, training in non-violent de-escalation and transparency may be a long reach. They need a couple of middle aged RNs to show them how it’s done, since they deal with meth heads all the time in the ER.

  2. This tinfoil “Manchurian Canada Date” nonsense is a vile smear campaign cooked up by the Probe & Wail’s favorite attack dog of SNC-Lavghazi-Emails conspiratorial infamy, to undercut and unnerve Minister Champagne before the UNSC vote takes place. The Cons want Canada to fail because they hate PMJT. What a disgusting snake pit, the whole lot of them. Oh, and for that matter, as to the nitpicky backstabbers of the hair-shirt left, why should the UN care what the guy from Pink Floyd has to say? Or Noam the gnome? I didn’t even know comrade Chomsky was still alive! I’m done with Greta too. She doesn’t understand realpolitik and needs to dial down the woke-Twitter poutrage rather than let perfection be the enemy of the good. School strike dropout, go back to high school. Let the diplomats do their work and let the naysaying bas__rds freeze in the dark.

  3. Error in 9th bullet of Good reads. The Supreme Court decision refers to French first-language schools and not French immersion schools.

  4. ‘the Conservatives have been trying to make an Issue’
    Wouldn’t be more fair to say Bob Fife is making an issue of it. He launched this story and considering how badly inaccurate his initial reporting was on Bill Morneau’s stocks were, it’s wonder how much the Ottawa press gallery gives him so credence.

    • Fife may have reported it first, but the Conservatives have been trying to make hay of it since.

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