Roundup: A bill to swiftly pass?

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We’re at day one-hundred-and-fifteen of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and it sounds like Severodonestk is still contested territory, under constant Russian shelling making it impossible for civilians trapped under a chemical plant to escape. UK prime minister Boris Johnson visited Kyiv for a second time, promising more arms as well as training for soldiers on a rotating basis. At the same time, the European Commission is recommending Ukraine for consideration for EU Membership. Meanwhile, a Ukrainian soldier who recorded the atrocities at Mariupol has been freed from Russian custody, while the Ukrainian Cabinet approved a resolution to bar Russian citizens from entering Ukraine without a visa.

Closer to home, the federal government tabled a new bill aimed at responding to the Supreme Court of Canada decision five weeks ago that allowed automatism as a defence in very narrow circumstances. The bill eliminates “self-induced extreme intoxication” as a defence, while leaving automatism out in those very rare cases where it would be unknowable that one might enter into this state, which points to the fact that in at least one of the cases before the Supreme Court that led to the provisions being struck down was that it was simply a bad trip that they didn’t know would happen as he had never done mushrooms before. David Lametti also indicated that he’s been in discussion with the other parties, and it sounds like this could be a bill that gets passed at all stages next week before the House of Commons rises for the summer (and likely leaving any actual scrutiny up to the Senate, if they have the appetite to do so before they also rise, way too early).

I also did note that during the press conference announcing the bill, minister Marci Ien had some fairly critical words for her former media colleagues in how the Supreme Court of Canada decision had been reported, where the headlines were that “extreme intoxication is a defence,” which isn’t what the judgment said, and the judgment very clearly differentiated between extreme intoxication and a state of automatism. Nevertheless, bad headlines led to disinformation that was making people afraid (and Ien cited her own daughter’s experiences reading social media about this decision, and she listed some of the figures that these disinformation posts got in terms of likes and shares). And I remember reading those headlines, and listening to the outraged questions in QP in the days that followed, and having to sigh and point out that no, that’s not what the Supreme Court ruled, and it would help if they actually read the gods damned decision because it was all right there. But sadly this seems to be the state of the media discourse these days, so good on Ien for calling it out, especially given the fact that she was herself a journalist.

Good reads:

  • Chrystia Freeland met with the editorial board of the Toronto Star, and reiterated that it’s not a coalition with the NDP, and that she doesn’t have to toe their line.
  • The Monkeypox update is 168 confirmed cases in Canada, 141 of them in Quebec.
  • Health Canada is expected to have approvals ready for COVID vaccines for children aged six-months to five years within weeks.
  • The National Security and Intelligence Review Agency says that CSIS is still not meeting their legal obligations when it comes to obtaining warrants.
  • The Competition Bureau is expanding upon its objections to the proposed Rogers takeover of Shaw.
  • CBSA is backtracking on their promise to keep track of all children separated from parents in immigration detention.
  • The final report of the class-action lawsuit against the RCMP by former civilian employees and volunteers details shocking levels of violence and sexual assault.
  • The Assembly of First Nations has suspended national chief RoseAnne Archibald (with pay) while an investigation into harassment and bullying is carried out.
  • There are plans for an “unprecedented” police posture on Canada Day, with celebrations off the Hill and occupiers planning to congregate on the Hill again.
  • The Supreme Court of Canada ruled 8-1 that companies can’t undo transactions if it turns out that it will cost them more in taxes to do so. The poor dears.
  • Would-be UCP leadership candidate Danielle Smith is promising to pass a bill that would let the government ignore the constitution, and I just cannot even.
  • Justin Ling looks at how the “Ukraine biolabs” conspiracy theory has been going back and forth between Russia and useful idiots in western countries.
  • Heather Scoffield thinks that Chrystia Freeland isn’t contrite enough about the inflation situation (but her logic starts to fail toward the end).

Odds and ends:

For National Magazine, I give my own write-up of Chief Justice Richard Wagner’s press conference (and give other details that every other outlet ignored).

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One thought on “Roundup: A bill to swiftly pass?”

  1. Well it looks like Uncle Sam is getting ready to cut Ukraine loose. Things are going badly for Ukraine on the battlefield, a fact now starting to be reported by the mainstream western media. Worse the sanctions are backfiring and the west is finding out we need Russia a lot more than Russia needs the west. Hence the steady parade of EU leaders to Kiev to reassure a panicky Zelensky.

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