Roundup: Three weeks into the invasion

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We’re now in day twenty-one of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—three weeks, when Russia considered it a mere matter of marching. Talks appear to be making some slight progress, and in a curious statement, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated publicly that Ukraine would not be seeking NATO membership (but worth noting that NATO does not accept prospective members who are engaged in an active territorial dispute, which Ukraine has been with Russia, not only with the annexation of Crimea, but with the “breakaway” regions in its east). While Mariupol continues to be shelled, some 20,000 citizens were able to flee, which is progress. Zelenskyy will address the US Congress later today.

And there was Zelenskyy’s address to the Canadian Parliament, where he and Justin Trudeau addressed each other on a first-name basis, Zelenskyy referring to “dear Justin” on several occasions. While he continued his appeals to “close the skies,” he knows it’s not going to happen, but he has to ask—it’s his job to do so. And at the very least, it could spur other actions that have not yet been attempted that won’t consist of essentially declaring war on Russia, which is important. In response to the speech, the Putin regime put Trudeau and some 300 other Canadians, including MPs and Cabinet ministers, on the blacklist from being allowed into Russia, for what that matters. (For what it’s worth, Chrystia Freeland was blacklisted years ago).

Meanwhile, as all of this was happening, Governor General Mary May Simon got to have tea with the Queen at Windsor Castle, as well as meet Charles and Camilla at Clarence House. Unfortunately, it looks like the era of future Governors General spending the weekend with the Queen and family at Balmoral in advance of appointment seems to be at an end, but glad that this meeting was able to take place at long last.

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau is expected to attend an extraordinary NATO summit in Brussels on the war in Ukraine next week.
  • Fifteen more Russian oligarchs were subjected to sanctions yesterday.
  • A lawsuit in BC has been put on hold as the federal government promises legislation to restore First Nations status to descendants of those who gave it up.
  • CBC talks to General Wayne Eyre about the situation in Ukraine.
  • The US Senate passed a bill to make daylight savings time permanent, but it still needs to pass their House. If it does, it could push Canada to follow suit.
  • The federal and Ontario governments will be subsidizing upgrades to a Honda plant in Ontario to help them produce low-and zero-emission vehicles in Canada.
  • Doug Ford is calling on his MPPs to stay out of the federal Conservative leadership race, and not endorse anybody.
  • Stephen Saideman pushes back against those arguing taking more action against Putin, including different versions of no-fly zones (which are a declaration of war).
  • Dan Gardner reminds us that the analogies we tend to reach for with a situation like Ukraine are probably wrong, and we should learn more history.
  • Matt Gurney argues that the current crisis in Ukraine is exactly the kind of thing that Justin Trudeau is good at, particularly in the expected performance of a leader.
  • Colby Cosh looks at Finland’s new nuclear reactor, and how it’s getting them off of Russian gas, which in turn is letting them get closer to NATO.
  • My column looks at the conspiracy theories that conservatives federally and provincially are espousing, and why they are corrosive to our democracy.

Odds and ends:

For the CBA’s National Magazine, I talk to experts about their concerns with the Senate public bill designed to prevent youth from accessing online explicit content.

https://twitter.com/EmilyLaidlaw/status/1503765477390094340

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2 thoughts on “Roundup: Three weeks into the invasion”

  1. Even if Ukraine doesn’t get to join NATO, I hope they can join EU. I also hope that other Western countries are going whole-hog on rooting out the Kremlin sympathizers within their own borders and their own ranks. And yes, that goes for supporters of Trump just the same (looking at you, Conservative Party of Canada and provincial offshoots). This isn’t about “persecuting political dissidents” as the perpetually aggrieved wingnuts would have it. It’s about smoking out fifth columnists within. It needs to be rung out loud and clear: anyone who supports Trump, or turns a blind eye or legitimizes the phony complaints of his base in the US and abroad (so, the spineless MSM with their “Cletus safari” anthropological excursions and bothsiderism in the name of false objectivity), is complicit: they are Groupies Of Putin (GOP), and no friends of Ukraine or of Western civilization writ large.

  2. Those prime ministers were amazing. I’d like to see all the leaders following their example.

    Vassy Kapelos had a very good interview with Melanie Joly yesterday. She asked (I’m paraphrasing) if Canada was satisfied with letting Putin set the terms for allies’ involvement, when Joly said the standard line about not being able to close the skies because Putin would consider that an incitement. Not one other CBC journalist has bothered challenging the position, and even if they were inclined, I can’t think of any other who could be so effective. Bob Rae was also on, maybe the day before, and he summed up very well the case for NATO to be more proactive.

    My sense is that Trudeau, Joly, and Anand would be all in on providing the support Zelanskyy asks for. But as Joly said, Canada isn’t a military power. I know NATO is responding in some way, but at the moment I am wondering what good these institutions are, and I’m sure other people are, too.

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