Roundup: Demanding LNG with someone else’s money

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While the federal Conservatives continue to promote the fantasy notion that Canada can somehow supply Europe and Japan with LNG to displace Russian supply—something that was never going to happen because of the timelines for projects to be built and that they need to be in operation to make their money back—under the notion that Ottawa needs to “get out of the way,” again ignoring that there has been no market case for it, Jason Kenney is going one step further and demanding that the federal government to build LNG export infrastructure. Which is odd because the Conservatives howled with outrage when the federal government nationalized the Trans Mountain Expansion pipeline in order to sufficiently de-risk it for it to complete construction. If there’s no market case, why not get the federal government to do it?

But let’s also remember that the proposed Kitimat LNG facility on the West Coast, fully permitted and approved, is not being built, because there is no market case. Hence why Andrew Leach is calling out Kenney’s nonsense below, particularly the fact that Kenney is calling on the federal government to spend their money rather than Kenney spending his province’s own money. You know, like he did with Keystone XL, and whoops, lost billions because he made a bad bet and the American administration didn’t restore its permits. Funny that.

 

Ukraine Dispatch, Day 217:

UN human rights investigators have found that Russia has been violating international law when it comes to the treatment of prisoners of war during the invasion of Ukraine, which shouldn’t surprise anyone at this point. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also asked for Canadian help in ridding his country of mines left behind by Russian forces. Meanwhile, there are reports that Russian conscription officers are at borders trying to intercept would-be conscripts from fleeing the country.

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau was in Port aux Basques, Newfoundland and Labrador, to survey damage from Hurricane Fiona there.
  • The number of Canadian Armed Forces personnel in hurricane-stricken areas has risen to 600, while the federal government reiterates it will support provinces.
  • The CRA is extending its tax-filing deadlines for those affected by Fiona.
  • Marco Mendicino is reminding Alberta justice minister Tyler Shandro that the province cannot ignore federal gun laws because they disagree with them.
  • Mendicino is also reiterating that decisions on designating terror groups, like the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, is the domain of national security agencies.
  • Carolyn Bennett says the government is working to get a pharmaceutical-grade, regulated supply of otherwise illicit drugs to help combat toxic street supply.
  • The head of the Royal Canadian Navy is defending the need for 15 new warships, despite the fact that they don’t have enough personnel to crew them.
  • The Canadian Climate Institute says that investing in climate resilience now can cut the economic impact of future climate change by as much as 75 percent.
  • The head of the World Food Programme was in town to urge other countries to follow Canada’s example in helping to avoid famine in the Horn of Africa.
  • The Governor General visited the James Smith Cree Nation in Saskatchewan.
  • Civil liberties groups have concerns about the government’s cyber-security bill.
  • A bill that would loosen secrecy requirements for jurors so they can get therapy after traumatic trials has now passed both Houses and awaits royal assent.
  • The NDP bill to lower the voting age to 16 was defeated at second reading.
  • Pierre Poilievre thinks the military should drop all vaccine mandates—because we really want our troops to be susceptible to preventable diseases.
  • Melissa Lantsman says that the Conservatives support calls for regime change in Iran (which may not make the situation any better for those protesting).
  • The NDP are hoping to shame the Conservatives into supporting the dental care bill by pointing out how their families get benefits while poor ones don’t.
  • François Legault and his ministers keep making remarks about immigrants. Hmm…
  • Heather Scoffield looks ahead to the possible looming recession, and what “mild” could mean, particularly for a job market as tight as ours is.
  • Matt Gurney ponders the weird scenarios that are about to start manifesting now that Russia is outright losing the war in Ukraine.
  • Althia Raj calls out the NDP’s support for a defeated Bloc bill that would limit linguistic rights, particularly for immigrants.

Odds and ends:

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