Roundup: More sanctions, more pressure on allies

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Day three of fighting in Ukraine, and Russian forces have not overtaken the country, as they perhaps thought they would have by now. Prime minister Justin Trudeau announced yet another round of sanctions that both targeted Putin and his inner circle personally, but also took aim at Belarus and its president, as Russia transited through that country as part of the invasion, and seeks to hurt Russia’s allies. Trudeau also openly said that Canada is calling on its allies to have Russia removed from the SWIFT system, which seems to me to put pressure on those European holdouts. On top of that, the government announced more special immigration measures for Ukrainians, that Canada was preparing to move another 3400 troops to shore up NATO operations upon request, and matching donations to the Red Cross for their Ukrainian relief efforts. Oh, and sub-nationally, a number of provinces with publicly-owned liquor stores announced that they were pulling Russian products from their shelves (but it’s the LCBO that will make this hurt for Russia, as it is the largest purchaser of alcohol in the world).

The thing that Canada and NATO will not be doing is enforcing a no-fly zone over Ukraine, no matter how much Ukraine asks for it, because this would involve shooting down Russian aircraft, and that would essentially be declaring war, and then it’s the big time. Nobody wants that—especially not that Putin has nuclear weapons. And no matter how many times reporters ask about it, the answer is the same: no. (In my next YouTube episode, Steve Saideman and I discuss this very issue, which will be available for Patreon subscribers on Sunday).

In the meantime, there are some wild stories coming out of Ukraine—the 13 border guards on Snake Island who told the Russian warship to “go fuck yourself” before they were shelled; the woman confronting a Russian soldier and giving him sunflower seeds so that they’ll grow from his corpse when he’s buried; and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy filming himself and top officials in the streets and that they are determined to stay put, showing that the disinformation that he has fled the country is not true.

Good reads:

  • Occupation leader Pat King was denied bail on Friday.
  • A medical disinformation group is pressing ahead with their attempted injunction over the emergency orders, even though they’ve been lifted.
  • RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki says that the emergency orders helped serve as a deterrent, particularly around having other people join the occupation.
  • Dr. Theresa Tam says that governments need to be prepared to re-impose public health measures in the face of new variants, but possibly not as severe as before.
  • The Canadian Press got a copy of the submissions made to the government over their “build back better” plans, which revealed a lot of anxiety over uncertainty.
  • A third-party report found that Alberta’s former justice minister did try to interfere with the course of justice over a traffic ticket; his successor is under investigation.
  • The Star looks deeper into former Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly, and the circumstances surrounding his departure.
  • Matt Gurney suggests that we gave up on “Cold War thinking” in our military too early as priorities changed, and we are paying for it now.
  • Heather Scoffield offers some practical suggestions on ways Canada can help Ukrainians in the current situation, mostly by providing a safe haven.
  • My weekend column returns to the past week in Parliament, and the amateur hour performances we saw with the Senate and the pissing match over the committee.

Odds and ends:

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