Roundup: SWIFT justice, and central bank sanctions that will hurt

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The fighting continues in Ukraine, and Russian forces continue to be held at bay, and they have been unable to take Kyiv. Putin’s plans for a swift takeover so that he can install a puppet regime continue to be thwarted, and the only thing he has managed to do is get the West fully onside against him—much faster than anyone possibly could have anticipated.

To that end, resistance to kicking Russian banks out of the SWIFT system melted pretty quickly (considered a “nuclear option” for financial sanctions), and even more crucial was a strategy to target Russia’s central bank, so that its foreign currency reserves held outside of the country, which they were hoping to use to ride out the worst of the sanctions, won’t be available to them, creating a much bigger financial problem for them than they had anticipated. Central to this effort was Chrystia Freeland, who has been a strong performer behind-the-scenes in getting allies onside. In the meantime, Canada is sending another $25 million in non-lethal aid for things that Ukraine needs, such as body armour and gas masks, but more lethal aid is still being coordinated with NATO allies. As well, Canada joined other allies in closing our airspace to Russian airlines, and two of our cable companies have banned RT from their airwaves, given that they are a Russian propaganda arm. On top of that, we have confirmation that the Communications Security Establishment is actively using its resources to defend Ukraine against cyber-attacks, which is a significant development. Less helpful is the Conservatives demanding that we expel the Russian ambassador and recall ours from Moscow—we still need diplomats, and diplomacy is not a cookie you get for good behaviour, and it astounds me that Conservatives still don’t get that.

https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/1498049755833851904

Of course, the big worry remains Putin and his nuclear arsenal, which has been put on high alert. Ukraine’s foreign minister says this is simply an attempt by Putin to raise the stakes in advance of peace talks, which they aren’t going to be intimidated by. NATO’s former deputy secretary agrees that this is a threat that Putin has used before and is a bit of crying wolf, so I guess we’ll see, but it’s certainly a concerning escalation in light of the fact that much of what Putin has done doesn’t make a lot of sense to rational actors.

Good reads:

  • Perrin Beatty, architect of the Emergencies Act, is concerned about the hyper-partisanship that has marred its invocation and the aftermath.
  • Her Excellency Mary May Simon has some thought some thoughts on the aftermath of the occupations.
  • Here is a lengthy read about the recent occupations and the populist movements that underpinned them not going away anytime soon.
  • Althia Raj looks at the pissing match over the Emergencies Act review committee and longs for a process that can help restore trust in government.
  • Supriya Dwivedi enumerates the crises facing our government and advises the parties to all grow up, not be useful idiots or act like they’re campaigning right now.
  • Colby Cosh tries to puzzle through Putin’s motives for invading Ukraine, as they don’t seem to make sense to the narrative he’s been spinning.

Odds and ends:

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3 thoughts on “Roundup: SWIFT justice, and central bank sanctions that will hurt”

  1. Putin’s nuke ploy is him just pissing in the wind. The bald fact is that if he were to use just one Russia and China would be reduced to dust. Yes of course it would mean mutually assured destruction, however, in the aftermath perhaps “humanity” might be able to recover over a millennia or so in a better form than what has been occurring since time began here. A lesson that Putin has taught the newest generations is that you cannot trust huge power based governments or religions. Biden will put the US on nuclear alert within a day or so. If anyone thinks they can trust the Americans then cast you eyes and ears upon the Nazi rhetoric from Trump and the GOP who are praising Putin. Look south, we have a BIG problem there. Fifty percent of Americans agree with the GOP and their hero Trump.

  2. Rodriguez and the CRTC need to ban Fox News in Canada. Just look at how Murdoch media has poisoned the discourse in the US, UK and Australia. Just look at how they stoked the flames of the convoy occupation. Fox News isn’t “news” but propaganda. Just because it’s hosted in an ostensibly allied country to Canada doesn’t make it part of a “democratic free press.” I doubt the US will be in any shape to be called a democracy either should Trump’s Empire Strike Back in 2024. He and GOP QAnon “rising stars” like Boebert and Green are already talking about “liberating” Canada the same way Putin lies about “liberating” Ukraine. Carlson, Ingraham, Hannity cheer them on. Is this really something the “mainstream” Conservatives and their own sleepwalking media friendlies in Canada like CTV want to align themselves with (or turn a blind eye to), an irrational rogue state enterprise that wishes to put Trudeau in the same position as Zelensky is now?

  3. Banning media because it has an agenda or says or writes things one doesn’t agree with is a slippery slope. As long as we live in a democracy we have freedoms and that includes freedom of speech and the press. This creates a difficult conundrum. Our history is replete with examples of pernicious reporting that continued unchecked and due to the stupidity and gullibility of the masses, what I refer to as urban myths grow up out of baseless and unchallenged information. This danger is multiplied by the instantaneous delivery of “opinion and news” which doesn’t allow in many cases a sober second think. Secondly, once a viewpoint is made under these circumstances it is hardened by repetition on social media. A change of position or an alternate view seems to never get the push that the original report got. It is difficult for people to admit that they may be wrong. We see this in our times everywhere, particularly when people gather and become convinced that in their hysteria they have all the “facts”. This is the weapon that spurious spouting’s of commentators with their special, to them, agendas use to hoodwink the stupid’s. Stupidity being ignorance coupled with a lack of commonsense is rampant in our supposedly educated society. I have my “facts” is like saying in the words of a former politician in BC this is “my truth”. Tough to beat this.

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