Federal documents, albeit heavily redacted, are starting to be made public as part of the court challenge around the invocation of the Emergencies Act, and thus far we can see that the Ford government in Ontario offered to meet with those blockading the Ambassador bridge (and were rejected), that the federal government had briefly considered negotiating with the occupiers in front of Parliament Hill, but did not go ahead with it (which is just as well considering their demands were the overthrow of democracy in favour of a ruling junta of occupiers, senators, and the Governor General). The night before the Act was invoked, the government was informed of a “potential breakthrough” with the negotiations happening with the city, which again, were unsuccessful, and the Act was invoked.

This has of course proven to be fodder for certain Conservative leadership candidates who insist that this is some kind of smoking gun that invoking the Act was unnecessary, but that’s not what it indicates, and frankly, you shouldn’t negotiate with a group of right-wing extremists, grifters, conspiracy theorists and grievance tourists who think nothing of overturning democracy because their feelings got hurt. But this seems to be where we’re at, which is utterly boggling.

Ukraine Dispatch, Day 170:

Analysis of that explosion on the Russian airbase in occupied Crimea shows that as many as twenty Russian warplanes may have been destroyed, which would be the largest single-day loss since World War II. (Kyiv still has not claimed responsibility for the explosion). The head of the International Atomic Agency is calling on Russia and Ukraine to halt shelling near the Zaporizechzhia nuclear plant, and to allow experts to evaluate the safety of the facility. Ukrainian forces have begun their counter-attack in the Kherson region, having recaptured 54 settlements (while 92 percent of the region remains under occupation). In Bucha, civilians murdered by Russians are being buried as numbers because they have not been identified by name. Meanwhile, in Denmark, Western countries pledged more support for Ukraine.

https://twitter.com/DefenceU/status/1557621932429819907

Good reads:

• Chrystia Freeland helped unveil the new circulation Loonie celebrating Canadian jazz legend Oscar Peterson.
• PHAC is going to start testing Canadian wastewater for polio now that it has shown up in the US, UK and Israel (and thanks anti-vaxxers for bringing it back).
• The RCMP have briefed MPs on foreign powers’ use of spyware on their electronic devices and what they can do to mitigate risk (which I doubt they’ll follow).
• Scientists are calling on the government to enrich research grants to that researchers and students can earn a living wage with them.
• American inflation numbers appear to have peaked, and Canadian data should follow suit next week, or thereabouts.
• The Star, Hill Times, Global News, and the Canadian Association of Journalists have joined up to demand action from police about the harassment of women journalists.
• Doug Ford is punishing his caucus for defying him in choosing a Speaker that wasn’t his pick. (My weekend column will pick up on this further).
• Colin Horgan reflects on Alex Jones as a human microphone, and why it’s incredibly difficult to fight that particular kind of messaging.
• Paul Wells flew to Edmonton to attend the Centre Ice Conservatives’ event, and reflects on what it says about the state of conservatism in Canada.

Odds and ends:

Journalism life. https://t.co/c1bMUXagRb

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) August 11, 2022

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