We’re on day one-hundred-and-twenty-eight of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and it looks like shelling by Ukrainian forces have driven Russian troops from Snake Island, a strategic location in the south near Odesa (and where those border agents famously told the Russian warship to fuck itself). This could mean that the threats against Odesa are receding. Meanwhile, the fighting continues around Lysychansk, where the Russians are facing a tough road to try and encircle the city as they can’t cross the river without being exposed to the Ukrainian forces on the high ground.

So… Ukraine says the last Russian units have probably been evacuated from the Snake Island following a series of heavy strikes overnight.
If confirmed, it’s a serious victory in the Black Sea. pic.twitter.com/VukXqddxey

— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) June 30, 2022

Closer to home, it’s Canada Day, but the festivities are taking place off the Hill in Lebreton Flats, because a third of the lawn in front of the Centre Block is now a giant pit while they dig new underground infrastructure for the renovated building. As well, the Snowbirds have been forced to cancel their performance because of a serious maintenance issue with their fleet. The far-right extremists, grifters, conspiracy theorists and grievance tourists have already started to descent on downtown Ottawa and Parliament Hill, so we’ll see if things are as disruptive as they were during the occupation, but thus far, police are taking no chances and we’ve already seen arrests and vehicles being towed, so we’re off to a better start than we were in January. Regardless, I hope you enjoy your Canada Day as much as possible.

I have a feeling this is going to be deployed a lot over the next couple of days. https://t.co/n4W8lApk3t

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) June 30, 2022

Programming Note: I’m taking the long weekend off to recuperate, so I’ll see you Monday or Tuesday, depending on how I feel (and how much news there is over the weekend).

Good reads:

• Coming out of the NATO summit, Justin Trudeau joined the promise to give more modern arms to Ukraine, and Canada will be sending light armoured vehicles.
• Dr. Theresa Tam says negotiations are underway to get more doses of the vaccine that can combat monkeypox, as cases climb to 278 nationwide.
• Health Canada has backed down from plans to include ground meat and poultry in their new nutritional labelling regime, which takes effect in 2026.
• Another Royal Canadian Navy commander has been removed from duty for “inappropriate conduct” (but this was didn’t specify sexual misconduct).
• Our Joint Supply Ships will be delayed by at least another two years, which leaves our navy dependent upon allies and civilians for resupply during operations.
• A group of Quebeckers is taking the government to court over the appointment of Mary May Simon as Governor General as she can’t speak French.
• The Supreme Court of Canada upheld the constitutionality of “rape shield” laws that prevent accused from using a complaint’s sexual history as part of their defence.
• The Conservative Party released their preliminary membership list for the leadership contest, and it has grown to 675,000 (but may include some duplicates).
• Poilievre marched along with far-right extremists and anti-vaxxer conspiracy theorists yesterday, in case there was any doubt whose votes he is courting.
• Alberta suspended their environmental regulations during the pandemic as “COVID relief,” and now there are gaps in data around things like methane emissions.
• Robert Hiltz reminds us that the allegations of interference are distracting from the inability to hold the RCMP to account for their utter incompetence.

Odds and ends:

I see our podcast conversation was turned into a story. https://t.co/Du7bnwGbtt

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) June 30, 2022

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