Roundup: Pretending the promise of money was new

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Provincial health ministers met in Vancouver yesterday in advance of their federal counterpart joining them, and boy did the bullshit ever flow, particularly in their characterisation of what has transpired. The federal minister, Jean-Yves Duclos, put out a statement before the provincial minsters had a press conference that basically reiterated what the federal government has been saying for months now—that yes, they are willing to spend more money, but they want outcomes attached. What was different was specific language about common metrics for health data, cooperation on health workforces, and that the federal government was willing to also engaged in specially tailored one-off agreements with provinces on specific investments.

To hear BC’s health minister, Adrian Dix, tell the tale, the federal government has been “radio silent” for over a year, which is not true, or that this is the first time they’ve raised money issues, which is again, not true, and the message has been consistent. But some of his counterparts are already rejecting the federal strings, and insisting that this is some kind of centralization or micromanaging (it’s not). Dix also pretended that the progress he has made around some reforms in BC are being done elsewhere around the country (they’re not) as “proof” that the provinces are getting their acts together on healthcare, which is, again, not true, and nobody wants to call out the provinces for letting things get to a crisis through chronic underfunding, in large part because they spent federal dollars on other things, and because certain premiers appear to be wilfully breaking their systems in order to try and privatise as much as they can without penalty under the Canada Health Act. If the starting point for these negotiations is the truth, well, that appears to be in short supply, which could be a big problem for everyone going forward.

Ukraine Dispatch, Day 258:

Ukrainian officials are accusing Russian forces of looting empty homes in Kherson after they ordered civilians out of the city (likely a forced deportation, which is a war crime) in advance of the Ukrainian advance on the city, and then the Russians cut the power to the city and blamed Ukrainian “sabotage.” The epicentre of the fighting remains Bakhmut and Avdiivka in the Donetsk region, where Ukrainians say that hundreds of Russians are being killed every day.

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau says he’s not interested in re-opening the constitution to deal with provinces pre-emptively using the Notwithstanding Clause (because Pandora’s Box).
  • Chrystia Freeland acknowledged her privilege when it comes to her Disney+ comments (blown out of proportion), so our long national nightmare is over.
  • Carolyn Bennett announced a $5 million investment over five years to help with chronic pain resources across the country to keep it from turning to drug problems.
  • CSIS has evidence that Chinese agents were trying to influence some eleven Liberal and Conservative candidates in the 2019 election.
  • Documents at the public inquiry show that CSIS warned Cabinet that invoking the Emergencies Act could provoke occupiers to violence.
  • Scientists at COP27 are warning that the loss of summer Arctic sea ice is now inevitable by 2050.
  • Quebec Liberal leader Dominic Anglade has resigned her position and seat “for the good of the party.”
  • A Federal Court judge ruled that the summons for Doug Ford and Sylvia Jones to testify was in order, but that their ability to invoke privilege was also legitimate.
  • Ford said he would repeal his strike-banning legislation if CUPE called off their strike, and they agreed to for now, but labour has unified over the issue.
  • Emmett Macfarlane calls out Saskatchewan’s unconstitutional attempt to make changes to the federal constitution to supposedly assert their rights.

Odds and ends:

My Loonie Politics Quick Take points out that Quebec can’t make the oath to the King optional, because it requires a constitutional amendment.

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2 thoughts on “Roundup: Pretending the promise of money was new”

  1. On the issue of health care the provinces are the authors of their problems because over decades they have used Federal funds for other provincial needs and rigorously fought any “strings” suggested by the Feds. Nothing that comes from the provincial side in negotiations will do anything but castigate the Federal government, in other words there will be no recognition of the fore going. Having said this, the extreme positions the operating jurisdictions are facing will cause them to make a deal with conditions and enter into side deals on a variety of areas in order to convince the public that they are doing the right thing.

  2. As for the US election today…the Americans{unless the polls are completely wrong} will witness the beginning of the road to authoritarianism where there will be a slavish attachment by half of the population to elected representatives who ascribe to the Big Lie about the 2020 election and the systematic stripping of rights for women, minorities others who cannot trust the SCOTUS to interpret the constitution for our times. Only a few hours to wait. I write this as the Canadian press have not been writing about the catastrophic challenge to Canada if faced with contending with a dictatorship in the US.

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