Roundup: Cozying up to separatists for the wrong reasons

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The state of the UCP leadership contest in Albert continues to plumb new depths as many of the candidates are attending an event put on by a separatist group and Rebel “News”, without any particular compunction about doing so. Indeed, they are cosying up to these separatists openly, because they suffer from this completely insane misapprehension that threats of separatism gave Quebec all kinds of things from the federal government when that’s not true at all. In fact, the first referendum in Quebec quickly hollowed out its business sector—Montreal used to be the financial capital of the country, but the threat of separation had all of those head offices depart for Toronto, and the province’s economy suffered for decades as a result. Alberta will be little different if they start using the threat of separation to try and extract concession from Ottawa. As for the fact that this kind of event is selling access, that’s fairly par for the course in Alberta. The old one-party state system was rife with this kind of corruption, where business leaders got their way by donating to the party, or meeting the minister at the Petroleum Club for drinks, and the like. Access was absolutely for sale, and these UCP candidates are carrying on that corrupt tradition.

Meanwhile, when it comes to reminders that Stephen Harper sang the praises of the World Economic Forum when he was prime minister, I’m suspect any cognitive dissonance among the likes of Brian Jean in Alberta or Pierre Poilievre federally will be shrugged off, though it was pointed out to me that there is little indication that the conspiracy wing of the Conservative Party cares what Stephen Harper thinks, and I suspect that is true.

https://twitter.com/davidakin/status/1558184731187056640

Ukraine Dispatch, Day 171:

The focus remains on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, and shelling in the area, which both sides blame each other for. While Russia controls the plant, Ukrainian engineers continue to operate it, and Ukrainian forces are moving to counterattack in the region, while in the Donetsk region, there was more shelling of the eastern town of Kramotorsk.

Good reads:

  • Among the revelations in the court documents on the Emergencies Act declaration were concerns from the international community about handling the occupation.
  • The government has quietly pushed through a one-time exception for fully vaccinated travellers crossing the border who didn’t use the ArriveCan app.
  • The Canadian Press obtained documents detailing the factors under consideration around the return of that gas turbine to Germany.
  • Viola Desmond is being commemorated with a plaque at the site of the segregated cinema where she was arrested, and began her civil rights movement.
  • A Quebec judge suspended part of Quebec’s new language law that requires all court documents be translated into French as unconstitutional.
  • Doug Ford apparently swallowed a bee during a press conference, and that’s all anyone talked about the rest of the afternoon.
  • Justin Ling delves into how Trump drove hyper-normalization in the US, as well as gets to the bottom of one of the people behind the St. Brigid’s purchase in Ottawa.
  • My weekend column advises Doug Ford’s backbenchers that they don’t need to stand for his temper tantrum “punishments” and have power over him.

Odds and ends:

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