Roundup: A middle power and a convenor

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We are on day twenty-two of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the shelling and air strikes against civilian targets continue—an apartment building in Kyiv, a theatre where children were sheltering in Mariupol. Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the US Congress yesterday, invoking Pearl Harbour and 9/11 as part of his demand to close the sky” (which isn’t going to happen), and added that if America can’t do that, then to at least give Ukraine the planes so they can do it themselves. That was obviously a demand he couldn’t make of Canada (no, seriously—third-hand CF-18s would not be of much use to them), so we’ll see if that gets him any further aid from the US—hours after his address, Joe Biden signed an order authorising another $800 million worth of lethal aid, including anti-aircraft systems, so that presentation may have done its job.

https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1504186533791870984

Meanwhile, closer to home, Mélanie Joly’s comments that Canada isn’t a military power, but a middle power whose strength is convening to make sure diplomacy happens and convincing other countries to do more is rubbing a bunch of former military leaders the wrong way. We do contribute militarily, oftentimes more so than other allies who meet the stated NATO spending targets (which is one more reason why those targets are not a great measurement of anything), though our ability to do more is being constrained. That’s one reason why I’m getting mighty tired of the number of articles and op-eds over the last few days calling for more spending, while none of them address the current capacity constraints, particularly around recruiting.

Good reads:

  • Both Justin Trudeau and Doug Ford say that a child care agreement will come “very soon,” but no word if they have resolved the (monetary) sticking point.
  • Anita Anand says she is presenting “aggressive options” to increase military spending (but has not said anything about current capacity constraints).
  • The federal government’s amnesty on “assault-style” weapons has been extended to October 2023 as they finalise their plans for the mandatory buy-back programme.
  • The government is expected to announce the lifting of pre-arrival testing requirements for fully vaccinated travellers to Canada.
  • Canadian Pacific Railway issued a 72-hour lockout notice for employees in the Teamsters union, and we’ll see how long before the government intervenes.
  • Here is a reminder of what a no-fly zone entails and why it won’t happen.
  • Here is a look at the calculations NATO is making as it repositions itself in the face of a more aggressive Russia, and how Canada plays into those plans.
  • The CRTC has banned RT and RT France from Canadian airwaves.
  • Maclean’s has an interview with Pierre Poilievre (that they based his profile on) and lo, there are some real blind spots in his self-awareness.
  • Brian Jean won the provincial by-election in Fort McMurray and is planning to take his war against Jason Kenney to the next step inside the UCP caucus room.
  • Andrew Potter contemplates the changing nature of war as being demonstrated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and how all manner of new fronts are in play.
  • Heather Scoffield looks at the rising prices as a result of droughts, and why the invasion of Ukraine—Europe’s breadbasket—will make things even worse.
  • Althia Raj makes the case for greater military spending (but doesn’t seem to understand that we don’t have the capacity to spend our current allocations).
  • Andrew Coyne tries to divine the method in why Pierre Poilievre is going into this leadership on a nasty note rather than trying to charm for second-place votes.

Odds and ends:

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3 thoughts on “Roundup: A middle power and a convenor”

  1. Gee, I wonder if there are any *other* reasons why actions or statements (or the mere presence) of Melanie Joly and Anita Anand might irk these particular former military leaders….?

  2. The military leaders are being opportunistic, seizing on Joly’s comments to craft their own interpretation of them. I took her comments to mean that they can’t be decision-makers around the table, due to our military limitations, and are constrained to contribute in the way she describes. Their remark about the government just wanting to be peacekeepers is just petty and vindictive, and it’s not a reach to think it’s grounded in subterranean sexism. The government hasn’t said anything like that in relation to this war. (The most frustrating, impotent point of view I’ve heard from the Canadian side was from Mark Norman in an interview, who seemed to have decided weeks ago it was all over for the Ukrainians.)

    They are risking being seen as not being willing to take her comments in the spirit she made them in, for their own reasons, which we are well aware of. It doesn’t bode well if they want to take any opportunity to undermine Joly in the media, especially at a time like this.

  3. Watching the Americans give their thanks to Great Britain, Germany, Poland, France et al for their steadfast support as well as others….Blinken, today again said virtually the same list. I find it demeaning that these officials constantly can’t say “Canada”. Maybe they can’t form the word?
    As a country of just over 37 million people we punch above our weight in so many things.
    Americans are getting under my skin. They have for so long treated us as a poor cousin that they invite to dinner only when it suits them. For untold decades they have plundered our resources as if they have a given right to do so but fight the price every step of the way. I am tired of American jingoism. Those freedom seeking Canadians who park on streets should wake up to the economic slavery our neighbors to the south foist on us. That of course would take some thought which doesn’t seem to be present in the Canadian hoi polloi. Canadians need to stop pandering to the Yankee masters and start making Americans pay for our largess. Americans through this Ukrainian disaster have proven the words of Mao who called them “paper tigers.” We do a great job for the world. The Americans just don’t know us and that is the fact.

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