Roundup: Unable to read the signs about Freeland

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Just a quick note because a lot of talking heads have been mentioning it over the past few days, which was about that Globe and Mail article from a couple of days ago (which I’m not going to link to) that proclaimed Chrystia Freeland’s leadership ambitions because…she is the subject of an unauthorized biography, and she wrote that letter to the board of Air Canada. No, seriously—that was the sum total of the Globe’s evidence.

And yet, on Power and Politics, The Line and other places, everyone is treating this biography as though it were a) an autobiography, which is what many party leaders will release ahead of an election, not ahead of a leadership vote; or b) a book that she commissioned herself, when in fact someone else is writing it, and Freeland has apparently not even agreed to be interviewed for it, or cooperate with it in any way. Nevertheless, the conflation by all of these outlets continues to paint a picture that is not actually there.

As for the letter to the board of Air Canada, the federal government is one of the largest shareholders with six percent of the company’s stock, which Freeland mentioned in the letter. Add to that, Air Canada is a repeat offender when it comes to violating their obligations under the Official Languages Act, so as finance minister, Freeland has particular obligations to remind the Board of this when their CEO did something as impolitic (and frankly stupid) as the comments he made. This wasn’t something that she did on a whim because she wants to build up her Quebec cred for the (eventual) leadership bid.

I get the desire to stir the pot and create some drama, but come on. Yes, Freeland no doubt has ambitions, and she is likely going to be the next prime minister. But if you’re a serious news outlet, at least get your basic facts and context right before you start making these kinds of proclamations. You don’t look very credible with this kind of nonsense.

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau traded rhetorical blows in the House of Commons with Erin O’Toole over O’Toole’s response to the Speech from the Throne.
  • The federal government is expanding testing requirements to come to Canada and adding more countries to their travel ban list—but excluding the US is a major gap.
  • Travel bans don’t really work, and yet Canada has started imposing them when they used to reject them (likely for political considerations after the outcry earlier).
  • CBSA says it has intercepted hundreds of faked COVID tests and vaccine certificates of people trying to enter the country.
  • A report by the Canadian Medical Association says that cancelled surgeries likely cost thousands of lives, and will need at least $1 billion to get back on track.
  • The grace period for vaccinations has ended on airlines and trains (presuming, of course, that airlines bother to check which they don’t seem to be).
  • The CRTC says that the new law requiring phone companies to install new technology to weed out spam and spoofed calls is now fully implemented.
  • The head of NORAD visited Ottawa, and said that they need a political direction in order to modernise the system to meet current threats from Russia and China.
  • Jagmeet Singh is once again demanding Canada support the move to waive patents on COVID vaccines. (Canada has not said no to the idea).
  • Kady O’Malley’s Process Nerd column looks at the likelihood that the Liberals can get their priority bills through the Commons by Christmas.
  • Kevin Carmichael looks at what the strong third quarter GDP numbers will likely mean for the Bank of Canada’s guidance going forward.
  • Heather Scoffield calls on the government to end clawbacks of GIS and other supports as a means of helping the most vulnerable facing inflation.
  • Susan Delacourt worries about the limited tools the government has at its disposal when it comes to the blow to morale that the omicron variant represents.
  • My column delves into the impossible attendance standard that the Liberals created for themselves as they justified restoring hybrid sittings.

Odds and ends:

https://twitter.com/LindsayTedds/status/1465845664663826433

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One thought on “Roundup: Unable to read the signs about Freeland”

  1. This fake LPC drama bullsh!t is a distraction from O’Toole’s leadership woes. It’s also Fife/Kinsella trying to make Chrétien/Martin fetch happen again like the failed coup attempt with JWR, and look where getting greedy landed her. Media buys into their own self-created hype. Some rando wrote a book, who cares. Trudeau will leave when he damn well feels like it. Freeland is too smart to be a backstabber.

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