Roundup: Prepping for a Euro trip to coordinate more sanctions

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As day ten of the Russian invasion of Ukraine picks up, there wasn’t the same drama around any nuclear facilities, though it now seems that Russia is in control of the Zaporizhzhia facility that they had been shelling the other night, so that’s not great. Ukraine’s requests for a no-fly zone continue, even though it’s not going to happen because that would drag NATO into a shooting war with Russia, which is a nuclear power, and that is a Very Bad Thing. Justin Trudeau made the point yesterday that we need to keep ourselves out of a situation in aiding Ukraine where NATO forces are put in direct confrontation with a Russian soldier, while the hope remains that the ongoing sanctions create the conditions for those around Putin to force him to stand down, because they have been so effectively crippled. But we’ll see. In the meantime, a warning about cyber warfare escalation in this conflict—they have not deployed their full arsenal, and that’s probably for the best.

Trudeau, meanwhile, will be heading to Europe for a series of meetings starting on Sunday, along with Anita Anand, and starts off in London (where he will have an audience with the Queen), then Latvia, Germany, and Poland. It sounds like part of what is being discussed are the next steps in tightening the screws on Putin and his regime, so coordination with allies could be a good and necessary next step.

Good reads:

  • MPs and Senators have been chosen for the Emergencies Act’s Parliamentary Review Committee, and it sounds like they don’t grasp the scope of their work.
  • A number of Canadian veterans have headed to Ukraine to join in the fighting.
  • The federal government is investigating ways to keep Quebec from losing a seat during the next riding redistribution process.
  • A decision on the Bay du Nord offshore oil project has been delayed by another 40 days as the environmental assessment work continues.
  • Public Works will be putting a trompe l’oeil wrap around the Centre Block during the masonry restoration, and if anyone complains about the cost they can get in the sea.
  • Patrick Brown is promising a decision on a Conservative leadership run “soon.”
  • Andrew Scheer is throwing his support behind Pierre Poilievre (for what it’s worth).
  • It sounds like former Liberal-turned-Conservative MP Leona Alleslev is putting together a leadership bid.
  • My weekend column talks to Senator Scott Tannas about his proposal for a special Senate committee on the Emergencies Act, and saying no to being a rubber stamp.

Odds and ends:

Here is a good explanation of the supply and demand factors affecting gasoline prices as they continue to skyrocket.

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