It is now approximately day seventy-six of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and there was an expectation of some kind of declaration by Russia of general war or similar given that it was Victory Day in that country, but it did not come. Instead, Vladimir Putin framed the invasion as a necessary move to ward off potential aggression by the west and NATO (which, erm, is a defensive alliance). In Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy used the occasion to reframe Victory Day for Ukrainians, as having defeated Nazism in their country once and they are moving to do so again, and that soon they will have two Victory Days.

Zelensky stakes Ukraine’s own claim to Soviet victory day, with a characteristically powerful and well delivered speech. Reclaiming May 9 instead of viewing it as irrevocably contaminated. Quite bold pic.twitter.com/xjaR2y9K0F

— Roland Oliphant (@RolandOliphant) May 9, 2022

Closer to home, we had yet another incident of an MP being on Zoom while in the bathroom, and I just can’t, you guys. This situation was pretty intolerable to begin with, and was only supposed to be for a short duration, but MPs keep extending it, never mind the fact that there can be no moral justification to do so when it endangers the health and safety of the interpretation staff (seriously, they are subjecting themselves to strain that could result in permanent hearing loss), because MPs can’t be arsed to create safe conditions to meet in person, and the government is too busy patting themselves on the back for being good role models for working from home rather than being an example of an institution that created the safe conditions to return to work. And two years later, we still have MPs who can’t be bothered to use their microphones properly, who can’t mute and unmute themselves properly, and who keep bringing their gods damned computers with them to the bathroom.

Enough is enough. It’s time to end hybrid sittings once and for all. There is no justification for it, particularly if you insist that MPs be masked in the Chamber at all times except for when they’re speaking (looking at you, Conservative caucus), and that they can organise themselves to minimise travel or public exposure. Their choice to be selfish and lazy is just that—a choice. And it’s one we should be holding them to account for.

Good reads:

• Here is a look at the planning process for Trudeau’s trip to Kyiv.
• Omar Alghabra was at the official languages committee to rebuke CN Rail for their lack of French-speaking members of their board of directors.
• Mary May Simon has returned to visit her hometown in Kuujjuaq, Quebec.
• MPs on the access to information, privacy and ethics committee are unimpressed with RCMP testimony on the use of Clearview AI’s facial recognition software.
• Witnesses at the foreign affairs committee are pushing the government to help waive vaccine patents to get more produced and into arms to end the pandemic.
• One of the would-be also-rans from the Conservative leadership wants his disqualification overturned, because “democracy.” (Erm, democracy is about rules).
• My Xtra column looks at the Canadian reverberations of the likely US Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade, and where the attention in this country needs to be.

Odds and ends:

My Loonie Politics Quick Take remarks on Preston Manning’s insistence that the Conservatives ride the tiger to “properly manage” the mob that occupied Ottawa

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