Roundup: The transcript doesn’t show interference

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It turns out that the recording of that meeting of RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki coming down on her Nova Scotia team in the wake of the mass shooting in Portapique was found after all, and lo, it doesn’t actually show political interference. (Transcript here). She does say that she told the minister’s office the information on the firearms used would be released (we know that she was contacted by Bill Blair’s chief of staff, not Blair himself), and when the information was not released, she said she had to apologise to the minister and the prime minister, but there is no mention of a promise to release that information. In fact, the only time the word “promised” was used was when Lucki said that she was promised a timeline of events and a map, and she didn’t receive those either, and spoke about feeling disrespected because she wasn’t given it. Lucki did at one point bring up “legislation” the government was working on around guns (it was actually an Order in Council), which Lucki said was supposed to help police, but again, there was no mention of pressure from the minister about it. She was politically aware of what was going on, because she would have been consulted in its development (which had been going on for months at this point), and it should be stressed that political awareness is not interference. Commissioners are supposed to be politically aware. That’s part of their job, just like the Chief of Defence Staff.

The Conservatives, however, took that same transcript, cherry picked a couple of lines about feeling the need to apologise, and took this as “proof” of interference, that either Lucki or Blair had lied, and demanded both of their resignations, and launched a point of privilege in the House of Commons to the effect of saying that Blair lied to them. Because this is what they do—take everything in bad faith, and generate a bunch of clips for shitposts, then fundraise off of them. It’s not even truthiness at this point—it’s out and out bad faith, lies, and deception. And you don’t see the media calling bullshit on it and pointing to what is in the transcript, they just both-sides it, and their talking heads will waffle around it. The talking heads also don’t try to follow all of the information and put it together, where they would see that the allegations of interference don’t actually make sense. I won’t recap the column, but suffice to say, there was no need to interfere because they had all of the information, and the people who claim they were are actually arguing for less transparency. It’s bizarre all around.

Ukraine Dispatch, Day 240:

Ukrainian forces have bombarded Russian positions in the occupied Kherson region in the country’s south, targeting their resupply routes along a major river. Russians shelled the Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia regions.

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau told reporters in Vancouver that the government needs to be fiscally responsible if there is a recession, and that their assistance measures are targeted.
  • The freeze on handgun imports is in place, and there is now a ban on buying, selling, or transferring them.
  • Pablo Rodriguez says that he’s open to amending the online news bill, as web giants push back and the CRTC says they can handle the responsibilities within it.
  • In Washington DC, François-Philippe Champagne said that the Nexus registration issue should be “an easy one to resolve.” (Sure, they can drop their objections).
  • The Department of National Defence is looking into reports that the Chinese government is paying Canadian military fighter pilots to train their own air force.
  • The CBC got more details about what the issue with call signs is that required removals and an investigation for a pilot.
  • The Emergencies Act inquiry heard from more Ottawa police and OPP officers, and all of the behind-the-scenes dysfunction within the police forces on it.
  • They also got a sense of the former police chief’s paranoia that someone in Doug Ford’s office was out to see him fail.
  • The inquiry did get a look into the OPP’s intelligence-gathering around far-right extremists in the country, whom they have been monitoring more than the RCMP.
  • One of the men charged in the Coutts’ blockade sold his house in order to “be part of the revolution,” that apparently included killing Mounties.
  • An Ontario judge handed down a stricter sentence than requested in a trial around uttering threats about the prime minister, to send a message about democracy.
  • Here is a look at the interview Volodymyr Zelenskyy did with Canadian media, and his struggle to maintain his humanity in the face of the war.
  • Contractors who worked on the ArriveCan app testified at committee, and insisted that they did good work worth the price tag that they charged for.
  • Conservative backbencher Bob Benzen plans to retire on December 31st.
  • With municipal elections in Ontario happening on Monday, there has been a rise in schoolboard trustee candidates running on anti-trans or “anti-woke” platforms.
  • Danielle Smith named her Cabinet, but isn’t swearing them in until Monday (which is highly unusual and leaves a gaping loophole in lobbying rules).
  • Smith is also making WEF conspiracy claims, and can we just not?
  • David Eby has been named new NDP leader in BC and will be sworn in as premier in a few weeks after his leadership rival was disqualified for membership issues.
  • Jen Gerson gives Danielle Smith the benefit of the doubt, but points out that her biggest flaw is her inability to discern good information from the fever swamps.
  • Paul Wells reflects on some of the police testimony at the Emergencies Act public inquiry, and some of their responses around police-liaison teams.
  • My weekend column draws some comparisons between Liz Truss and Danielle Smith and their echo chambers slamming hard into reality.

Odds and ends:

https://twitter.com/EmmaBunton/status/1583413845523017730

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