Roundup: Papering over party divisions

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It’s day one-hundred-and-twenty-four of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Severodonestk has fallen, mostly pounded into rubble the way that Mariupol was. Up next for Russian forces is across the river, to the city of Lysychansk, where they are now trying to once again encircle Ukrainian forces, while more civilians try to evacuate the area. Emboldened, Russians have also fired missiles again at Kyiv, killing at least one person. This is likely seen as a warning as NATO leaders are gathering early this week to reaffirm support for Ukraine.

https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1541103194184601601

Closer to home, all does not sound well in the Conservative caucus. Last week, in her blog post announcing she wouldn’t be running to lead the UCP, Michelle Rempel Garner noted that:

…in both parties there have also been squabbles that have erupted in the pages of national media, public meltdowns, nearly missed physical fights, coups, smear jobs, leaked recordings and confidential emails, lack of consensus on critical issues, caucus turfings, people harassed to the point where they resign roles, and hours long meetings where members have been subjected to hours of public castigation. There have been heated exchanges to get basic concerns addressed, unjustified insularity in decision making, shunnings, exclusionary cliques and more.

So of course, over the weekend, Candice Bergen was asked about this, and while she refused to say anything about it to the Star, she denied this was the case to CTV, seeming to imply that Rempel Garner is either making it up, or is “experiencing things differently.” Bergen is also talking a big game about party unity, and is going to spend Canada Day in Halifax with Peter MacKay, for some inexplicable reason, as though this makes a point about party unity. (Remember, MacKay was never really a Red Tory, given that he voted in lockstep with Stephen Harper on everything, and couldn’t vote for socially progressive issues when other former Red Tories would). Bergen is also denying that she has any safety concerns, and seems to pin blame for the level of harassment that MPs are facing onto Justin Trudeau because he made people get vaccinated, and called out far-right extremists for what they are.

Also over the weekend, former Conservative Senate den mother leader Marjorie LeBreton emerged to voice her concerns about the direction the party is heading in, particularly around their support for the occupation, which erodes their credibility as a law-and-order party. She’s so incensed about Poilievre’s support for the occupation that she resigned from her position as a member of his riding association over it, and worries that the party may be “fracturing beyond repair.” None of this is painting a promising picture of a party that Bergen is insisting nothing is wrong in, but perhaps she is not the most credible source for what his happening behind closed doors, because it’s not in her interest to tell the truth about it.

Good reads:

  • At the end of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Justin Trudeau wasn’t able to convince all members to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
  • At the G7 meeting, Trudeau pledged $50 million to help Ukraine get their grain to market and preventing a world food shortage.
  • The alleged interference around that RCMP investigation has been thrown for a loop as the government knew the weapons used before the Commissioner had that call.
  • Chrystia Freeland says she understands people’s frustrations and she accepts that they’re mad at her as she tries to manage inflation with fiscal prudence.
  • Steven Guilbeault is keen to highlight Indigenous stewardship as the future of conservation efforts around the country.
  • Marco Mendicino is hoping police forces have learned how to deal with future occupations, as new protests are planned for Canada Day. (You think?)
  • Chief of Defence Staff, General Wayne Eyre, isn’t sure if the promised funds for NORAD modernisation are new of “reprofile” (from money they can’t spend as is).
  • There are reports that Canadian special forces are part of a multinational group in Ukraine providing training and assistance.
  • RCMP reports say that there were 59 threats made against Justin Trudeau in the 2019 federal election.
  • The Saskatchewan NDP have chosen Carla Beck as their first ever woman leader.
  • Philippe Lagassé explains the use of prerogative powers around passports, NORAD, and reports of Canadian special forces in Ukraine.

Odds and ends:

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One thought on “Roundup: Papering over party divisions”

  1. Both MacKays père et fils have no principles besides themselves. Somehow, in cognitive dissonance conservative-land, it’s only nepotism and “elitism” when the son of a PM who has been dead for more than two decades wins three fair elections on his own, but not when a conservative Ontario premier appoints his nephew to cabinet, Steve gets Ben a cushy job with the UCP, or Elmer and his boy Squidward lend their “enthusiastic support” to Skippy the convoy crypto bro. I hope the CPC implodes and takes the next three years to finalize a divorce. They’re a tumor on the body politic, the Canadian branch of the GOP. They have done nothing but degrade the discourse of politics in this country ever since Chopper Pete signed that Faustian prenup with Harper almost 20 years ago.

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