Roundup: More nuclear concerns with more shelling

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We are now into day thirteen of Russia’s (stalled) invasion into Ukraine, and things don’t seem to be advancing much more at the moment. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted a video showing that he was still in his office working, citing that he was unafraid, while photos circulated of Ukrainian forces taking out the supply convoy for the stalled convoy that has been stuck on the approach to Kyiv for days now. Meanwhile, Russian forces destroyed another nuclear facility—this time an atomic physics lab, which also provided medical isotopes to the country, so that’s a very bad thing.

Justin Trudeau was in London yesterday, where he met with Boris Johnson and Mark Rutte of the Netherlands to discuss more coordinated actions and further sanctions against high-ranking Russian officials, in advance of further meetings later in the week. Trudeau did make mention of possible higher military spending, but as we discussed yesterday, it’s hard to see how that will help if we already can’t spend what we’re allocating currently because of capacity constraints. Trudeau also pledged support for Europeans in getting off of their dependence on Russian hydrocarbons, but in spite of what Jason Kenney seems to think, we have no current LNG export capacity nor can we build any anytime soon, so this support will appear to be more geared toward their own green transition rather than to Canadian-sourced product.

https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/1500851840136712192

Trudeau also met with the Queen yesterday, and they apparently chatted for some 45 minutes, when a usual audience lasts 20, so that’s a promising sign. It was her first event post-COVID, and it was nice to see her back on her feet again.

https://twitter.com/RoyalFamily/status/1500825664634687488

Good reads:

  • Mélanie Joly says that Canada will be sending six CF-18 fighters to Romania this summer as part of NATO air patrol rotations.
  • Anita Anand says that Canada is actively considering ways to send drone cameras to Ukraine to assist with their efforts.
  • The RCMP told the Commons’ finance committee that they only directed banks to freeze the accounts of occupation participants, not donors.
  • Sean Fraser says that non-citizens of Ukraine aren’t able to be fast-tracked in their emergency measures, but they can still get prioritized in other immigration streams.
  • Occupation organiser Tamara Lich was granted bail after a review.
  • There are concerns about freezing out Russia internationally will do around issues discussed at the Arctic Council, and links between Inuit in Russia.
  • Liberal MP Michael Coteau is sponsoring a bill to limit employers’ ability to surveil their workers while they are working from home.
  • As Jean Charest plans a formal entry announcement on Thursday, Pierre Poilievre’s team is already trying to establish campaign narratives about him.
  • Tasha Kheiriddin has decided not to run for the Conservative leadership, but will back Charest’s bid instead.
  • With Charest in play, the question then becomes whether Stephen Harper will emerge from the woodwork to involve himself in the race and settle scores.
  • The Line hears from freelancer Neil Hauer on the ground in Ukraine about the situation, particularly as families are being broken up at the borders.
  • Althia Raj hopes that the war in Ukraine will help bring a renewed sense of unity to Canadian politics to get big stuff done. (I wouldn’t share her optimism).

Odds and ends:

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2 thoughts on “Roundup: More nuclear concerns with more shelling”

  1. Now is the perfect time for Freeland to announce the end of the levy on hydrocarbons, at least those on gasoline. At over two dollars per liter, if cost was the way to persuade Canadians to make better choices then this has done it. First it would assist Canadians in their pocket books, two, this will eliminate the most divisive issue, for the Conservatives at least, and give the Liberals a boost while they navigate all of the issues coming out of the Ukrainian disaster. To Trudeau….do this Now!

  2. Her Majesty is supposed to be “apolitical,” but she (and/or her staff) know how to send a subtle message when it counts. A number of people noted that she had a bouquet of blue and yellow flowers on the table in the photo of her greeting Trudeau. The colours of the Ukraine flag. It probably would have been more blatant if she had chosen sunflowers (as Jill Biden did, because in protocol terms, she can). But it was a significant symbol nonetheless. And people reading into why she held a 45-minute conversation with Trudeau are overthinking it. She’s 95, she’s known him since he was a baby, and for all anyone knows, they might have talked about her own service in WW2 (and why Nazis are so stubborn to get rid of). Or, maybe she just didn’t want to talk to BloJo the Clown and didn’t want Trudeau to leave. I mean, Trudeau’s a people person and a *very* intelligent conversationalist (“perspicacious” is the word of the day), so why would *anyone* want to sit across from that Russia-coddling buffoon?

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