It’s day one-hundred-and-twenty-seven of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and a major prisoner swap took place, securing the release of 144 Ukrainian soldiers, including 95 of the defenders of Mariupol. The majority of those prisoners swapped were badly wounded. It sounds like an equal number of Russian fighters, as well as so-called Donetsk separatists, were released as part of the swap.

https://twitter.com/smsaideman/status/1542174212378529794

Closer to home, we got another denial from Bill Blair about any interference in the Nova Scotia mass-shooting investigation, and he speaks reasonably authoritatively enough about knowing where the line is given his previous life as a police chief. And there is not a lot of things adding up around these allegations of interference, particularly that the forthcoming order-in-council around banning assault-style rifles, which they would have needed to work on for weeks or months, so it was pretty much baked-in by that point if it was announced days later, and they would have been in consultation with the RCMP over it. The notion that releasing the information could have jeopardized the investigation has been debunked, especially given that the shooter’s spouse could tell them all that information. To add to that, the PMO had already been given the information on the guns thanks to the National Security Advisor, so again, there wouldn’t have been any need for interference if that’s what you’re calling it. Now, we all know that the very first question reporters would have asked when the announcement on the OiC came down was whether the guns used in this shooting would be covered, so again, this seems like fairly basic disclosure that they knew was coming. And if anyone is clutching their pearls over the Liberals politicizing a mass shooting—which is actually appropriate—then they haven’t watched Question Period, where tragedies are politicised every single day. Also, not to be forgotten, the Justice Department isn’t holding onto documents on behalf of the government—they’re acting as the lawyers for the RCMP in this situation, so this likely has to do with the advice they are receiving from their clients. Again, the allegations that this is some kind of cover-up are not adding up.

But these issues aside, let’s be clear—the RCMP in Nova Scotia had just shit the bed. Massively. They didn’t disclose information that could have saved lives, they lied to the media, and they have been increasingly caught out about it, and a lot of this sounds like deflection, particularly because they are butthurt that Commissioner Lucki chewed them out about it. Like I said, stuff isn’t adding up about the supposed “interference,” but I would again remind you that we should not be credulously believing everything the RCMP are saying, particularly as they are in the middle of justifying and deflecting around what happened, and the fact that they were trying to keep from disclosing information unnecessarily.

https://twitter.com/Garossino/status/1541940693492330496

https://twitter.com/Garossino/status/1541942595487600640

https://twitter.com/Garossino/status/1541958232893030401

https://twitter.com/Garossino/status/1541960867863863296

Good reads:

• Canada has signed onto an agreement to upgrade our NATO battlegroup in Latvia to a brigade-level battalion, but with the assistance of allies.
• Mélanie Joly announced that Canada will be opening full embassies in Estonia, Lithuania, Slovakia, and Latvia, expanding our diplomatic presence in the region.
• NACI is recommending a new round of COVID vaccine boosters in the fall in advance of another expected wave, but we’ll see if provinces actually listen.
• COVID border measures, including the ArriveCan app, have been extended to September 30th (though ArriveCan is likely to stay even longer).
• Governments have accepted a settlement with Purdue Pharma about sales of opioids that people then got addicted to.
• There are concerns about hate groups registering themselves as a political party in order to gain access to voters lists, and questions about what can be done about it.
• A judge who presided over court hearings related to the occupation in Ottawa has been receiving threats serious enough to warrant police intervention.
• There are currently 17 vacancies in the Senate, and there seems to be no hurry to fill them even though some seats have been vacant for over a year.
• Patrick Brown is starting to make it known that if it looks like Poilievre has a lock on the leadership that he might back out and run for re-election as mayor of Brampton.
• Stephen Saideman lays out the case for why the Arbour Report didn’t go far enough in drilling home the need for better civilian control of our military.
• Susan Delacourt points out that if politics seems like a loathsome career choice these days, the politicians themselves are largely to blame for their own rhetoric.

Odds and ends:

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