Roundup: Reaction to Russia’s further invasion of Ukraine

Posted on by

Russian forces have been advancing in Ukraine, but not without opposition. Shelling continues against several Ukrainian cities and into Kyiv itself, as people are taking shelter in the metro. Closer to home, prime minister Justin Trudeau announced another round of tougher sanctions against Russian oligarchs and other key leaders, and there is talk that yet more sanctions are on the way, but it also sounds like there is some difficulty in getting all of our allies on-side, and the thing about these kinds of sanctions is that everyone needs to do them so that there aren’t loopholes that Russia can slip through. (Trudeau also announced measures to help Canadians in Ukraine get safe passage to neighbouring countries, as well as expeditated immigration processing for Ukrainians).

But one of the biggest measures—cutting Russia out of the SWIFT global financial transaction system—has not yet been implemented because Europeans are balking (though Canada has reportedly been pushing for this, along with the UK). Canada is somewhat fortunate because we are less exposed to Russian trade and money than other allies, but it’s that exposure which will make sanctions harder on Western allies the tougher they are on Russia—and that’s something that a lot of the talking heads can’t seem to get their heads around. If you look at what European countries are trying to get carve-outs for, it’s because they don’t want to lose the Russian money in their economies. And that’s a tough pill to swallow, especially as all of our economies are still recovering from the pandemic recession.

https://twitter.com/LillyResearch/status/1496964138962386945

https://twitter.com/MatinaStevis/status/1496758467943866374

Where this will hurt us especially is higher world oil prices, as cutting Russia out of the market will further restrict supply at a time where energy shortages in certain countries have turned to oil to fill that gap, creating demand and limiting supply. That will mean higher gasoline prices in Canada, and while these higher prices will be good for the Alberta economy (oh, look—one more boom for them to piss away), it’s going to be felt in the inflation data, which will have more people lighting their hair on fire, demanding Something Must Be Done, but they won’t come out and spell out that they mean wage and price controls, or a new NEP. Jason Kenney, unable to read the room, is trying to make this about a new pitch for Alberta’s so-called Ethical Oil™, and we have federal Conservatives demanding a fast-tracked LNG infrastructure to export to Europe, but seriously, that’s a multi-year and multi-billion-dollar investment that is going to be short-lived the fast were decarbonise our economies.

Good reads:

  • The government and the Conservatives are currently engaged in a pissing match over the composition of the proposed review committee on the emergency orders.
  • Federal and provincial labour ministers are meeting today, and Seamus O’Regan is pushing for them to adopt ten paid sick days—which are not yet in place federally.
  • Health Canada has approved the made-in-Canada plant-based Medicago vaccine.
  • CSE is warning critical infrastructure holders in Canada to harden their systems given the threat of Russian cyber-attacks in the wake of the invasion in Ukraine.
  • Supreme Court of Canada Justice Michael Moldaver announced he will retire on September 1st, a few months ahead of his mandatory retirement date.
  • A panel of neurologists has found no evidence of a mysterious brain disease in New Brunswick—mostly just existing conditions that have been misdiagnosed.
  • In The Line, Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner calls out her own fellow MPs for spreading the nonsense World Economic Forum conspiracy theory.
  • Heather Scoffield hopes that greater government transparency can help combat misinformation, but acknowledges MPs are part of the problem.
  • My Xtra column talks to Carolyn Bennett about her plans to build a dedicated federal mental health transfer, and how that can benefit the LGBTQ+ communities.

Odds and ends:

Want more Routine Proceedings? Become a patron and get exclusive new content.

2 thoughts on “Roundup: Reaction to Russia’s further invasion of Ukraine”

  1. Thanks very much for this detail – I hadn’t understood the issues around the sanctions and this explains why these aren’t as easy to bring into effect as people in Canada and the United States think they should be.

  2. The European Union, NATO and others are showing today the weakness that the Thug Putin expected. There were lots of threats in the weeks leading up to Russia’s invasion about SWIFT for instance. Now It seems the “democracies” are weak-kneed on that and by reticence have only emboldened Putin to continue his madness. Perhaps when missiles and bombs begin to fall on nations in the Balkans, NATO counties will find that some pain in the beginning would have saved them pain later. As Mao said famously, the US and by extension the west are paper tigers. It is time to call Putin’s bluff. He threatens nukes? We should tell him flatly that if along with his sociopathic bent he is suicidal to go straight to hell. Stop him now…or reap nothing but sorrow later. I suspect that China will take particular note of its former leader’s words and begin the systematic dismantling of Taiwan knowing full well that it will “get away” with it. With the former president of the divided US praising Putin’s “savvy” the Americans will be doomed in three years. Europe will be held hostage and the far east will be a powder keg. I do not apologize for my negative take. The signs have been evident for years now. Hunker down folks. Let the incompetents rule. Meritocracy has been replaced with ignorant loyalists to autocrats, cowards all!

Comments are closed.