Roundup: Mary May Simon’s tea with the Queen

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As we carry on through day twenty-three of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we had a glimmer of good news yesterday in that the bomb shelter under that theatre in Mariupol held, and it sounds like a lot of people survived and are being dug out of the rubble. Unfortunately, it sounds like about 80 percent of Mariupol is now rubble, but Ukrainians and allies are vowing to rebuild.

Meanwhile, Canada’s mission at the UN sent out a tweet yesterday marking up and annotating a Russian resolution before the UN about the invasion that doesn’t mention the invasion, only the need for protection of civilians in “vulnerable situation.” The tweet attracted a lot of mixed reviews, but most of them fairly negative because it seems to betray a particular lack of seriousness in how we conduct our foreign affairs (and that it looks like they’re aiming for Twitter dunks).

On a different note, Her Excellency Mary May Simon told CBC that she and the Queen discussed reconciliation and the need to better teach history so that Canadians get a true history of the relationship with Indigenous people. She also said they spoke about the grifter occupation in Ottawa (which the Queen was already briefed about, because the Queen of Canada knows what is going on in her realm), and the situation in Ukraine. It was also revealed that May Simon had requested briefings from officials about the Indian Act and efforts to reform it—which is fine and not a sign that she is overstepping her role. If she wants to make reconciliation a theme of her time in office, then it’s good to have a knowledge base about the intricacies of the history of it (as an Inuk, she was under a different government system than the Indian Act). And frankly, given the expectations that were being heaped upon her to be activist when she was nominated to the position, I think that implied tone of the story of these briefings was some kind of activist move is perhaps as much of a problem as those expectations. May Simon is now on a state visit to three countries in the Middle East, starting with Dubai.

Good reads:

  • Sean Fraser says the programme to resettle Ukrainian refugees could accommodate millions for up to three years if necessary.
  • It’s official—fully vaccinated travellers won’t need a pre-arrival test as of April 1st.
  • A federal-provincial report on a possible national flood insurance programme is expected later this spring.
  • The Credit Union Association told the Commons finance committee about the panic and confusion around potentially frozen accounts (which MPs actively sowed).
  • After CP Rail declared a lockout of Teamsters employees, the Teamsters issued a strike notice, and the calls for back-to-work legislation have already begun.
  • The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed leave to appeal by the government as they are trying to stop a $1.1 billion class action suit over RCMP bullying and harassment.
  • Jean Charest says he wouldn’t touch existing gun laws, including those targeting so-called “assault-style” weapons.

Odds and ends:

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