Roundup: Advice versus requests

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It’s day one-hundred-and-six of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Ukraine has filed eight more alleged war crime cases to court, while Ukrainian troops are holding out in the ruins of Severodonetsk as Russian forces advance in the region. Further south, Russians have been targeting agricultural sites including warehouses, because it seems they are deliberately provoking an international food crisis in order to gain some kind of leverage. Here is a look at the situation in the eastern city of Bakhmut, who feel abandoned by Kyiv. The Speaker of the Ukrainian parliament has made a plea to the European Parliament to speed the process to name Ukraine a candidate for European membership, as that declaration could send a strong signal to Russia.

https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1534633310651047936

Closer to home, there is a great deal of discussion as to whether or not Marco Mendicino lied when he said that he acted on the advice of law enforcement in invoking the Emergencies Act, in light of the clarification of his deputy minister. I’m probably going to write something longer on this, but I will make the point that police chiefs saying they didn’t request it is fully appropriate because they should not request it—that would be outside of their bounds as it is a highly political act to invoke it, and the minister needs to wear it. But Mendicino has been hidebound to pabulum talking points and bland reassurances, which is where the confusion is creeping in, and is compounding to weaselly behaviour. In any case, this thread by Matt Gurney lays out a lot of what we know, with some interventions along the way which add further shades of grey to this whole affair.

https://twitter.com/mattgurney/status/1534528096828809217

https://twitter.com/thomasjuneau/status/1534617515158122498

https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt/status/1534539298363654144

https://twitter.com/davidreevely/status/1534541264791773188

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau is in Los Angeles for the Summit of the Americas, and has been meeting with other leaders including the prime minister of Barbados.
  • Trudeau has also nominated the Commons’ Law Clerk to be the next federal privacy commissioner, subject to confirmation by both chambers.
  • Mélanie Joly announced new sanctions on advertising and PR firms, as well as consultants, that work with Russian oil and gas companies.
  • Steven Guilbeault launched the country’s first national carbon offset market as a way to help industry reduce their emissions; environmentalists call it a shell game.
  • The federal government has appointed a former member of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as a special interlocutor for unmarked graves.
  • A recent report shows how Russia is using social media in Canada to spread their propaganda, and anti-vaxxers are particularly susceptible.
  • The special committee on Afghanistan tabled their report, but some of their recommendations are literally impossible (such as “single travel documents”).
  • Senators heard testimony from lawyers against the bill that proposes a lower standard for searching electronic devices at the border.
  • Lobbyists from the aerospace and boatbuilding industries appealed to the Senate finance committee to forgo the promised luxury tax, claiming it will hurt them.
  • Conservative party officials are insisting the record number of new memberships won’t cause any delays for the next stage of the leadership contest.
  • Jean Charest is pushing for more leadership debates, and thus far everyone but Poilievre has agreed to it.
  • First Nations in Alberta are demanding full consultation and benefits from any oilsands carbon sequestration projects near their traditional lands.
  • Susan Delacourt recalls the shellacking the federal Liberals got in 2011 and wonders if there are any lessons that can be drawn from it for their Ontario cousins.
  • Colby Cosh tries to disentangle the mess Marco Mendicino finds himself in over what advice he did or did not get about the Emergencies Act.
  • My Xtra column looks at the Auditor General’s report on the government’s use of GBA+ in decision-making, and why their half-assing it affects vulnerable people.

Odds and ends:

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One thought on “Roundup: Advice versus requests”

  1. The whole matter of the so-called unmarked Graves is nothing but a confusing mess as it is reported by the media. Some media outlet talk of alleged graves or believed to be graves, this gives the public the impression that the whole situation is unclear, no one seems to know. If those sites are mass graves then I think it is high time the RCMP be called in to exhume and do forensic tests of any remains found to once and for all clarify the picture. Otherwise it will become a problem of credibility with the public in general.

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