Roundup: Backseat driving healthcare talks

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I occasionally find myself amused by some of the backseat driving/armchair quarterbacking that happens in Canadian politics, and there was no more perfect example that Jagmeet Singh putting out a press release yesterday declaring that if he were prime minister, he would have sat down with the provinces and not left until he was satisfied that they have all the resources they need. On the one hand it’s kind of hilarious because most of the time, Singh can barely recognise that provincial jurisdiction actually exists, or he seems to think that a Green Lantern Ring and sufficient political will would actually solve federalism. On the other, I can’t decide if that means that he thinks he’s got amazing powers of negotiation, or if he’s declaring himself a chump who will fall for the provinces’ strong-arm tactics.

Imagine for just a moment what Singh means when he says he won’t leave the table until he gives the provinces what they need. It sounds an awful lot like he’s going to give them a blank cheque and then pat himself on the back for having fixed healthcare. Meanwhile, the provinces take that money, put a paltry amount back into the system, continue on with privatizing as much as they possibly can (look at what Danielle Smith is up to in Alberta now that she’s fired the entire board of Alberta Health Services), reduce their own share of the funding because of the increased federal dollars, and then give tax breaks in the hopes of getting re-elected. And we know this because all of this has happened before, and all of it will happen again if this funding doesn’t come with some pretty strict conditions and strings. And the sooner more people start calling the premiers on their bullshit, the faster we can get to a deal where they accept strings that will actually do something meaningful with those increased federal dollars.

Ukraine Dispatch, Day 269:

Ukraine’s electricity grid operator is warning people that blackouts can last for several hours as Russians continue to pound the country’s electrical systems. Russians are also continuing their push toward Bakhmut with renewed intensity. Meanwhile, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeared at the Halifax Security Forum by video to ask NATO countries to assist with a ten-part peace plan, and that he hoped Canada would show leadership on one of those items.

https://twitter.com/kiraincongress/status/1593694607459717124

Good reads:

  • At the APEC summit in Bangkok, Justin Trudeau said that the upcoming Indo-Pacific Strategy will include a greater military presence in the region.
  • Anita Anand outlined a proposal for a NATO North American innovation hub to be located in Halifax to promote technological cooperation.
  • Marco Mendicino has invited his fellow G7 ministers to a meeting Canada is hosting next year on finding responses to disinformation.
  • The federal government announced another $1.2 billion for its Ocean Protections Plan, and will help set up a national system for marine pollution incidents.
  • The bill on removing certain mandatory minimum penalties has now received royal assent, though many advocates say it doesn’t go far enough.
  • Health Canada says that one million bottles of Children’s Tylenol are expected to arrive in the country next week, and start being distributed.
  • The RCMP say they’re “aware” of the allegations of attempted Chinese interference in the 2019 election, but won’t say if they’re investigating (because they never do).
  • CSIS is investigating “credible” death threats made from Iran to Canadians.
  • At the public inquiry, the Clerk of the Privy Council justified the use of the Emergencies Act, backed up by her deputy.
  • An ombuds report says that the process to kick out the Green Party’s Quebec leader from the federal party was flawed because he had limited ability to defend himself.
  • First Nations chiefs in Alberta are united against “Sovereignty Act” plans.
  • David Eby has been sworn in as BC’s new premier.
  • Emmett Macfarlane delves into professor Kerri Froc’s analysis on Section 28 of the Charter that could invalidate some of the uses of the Notwithstanding Clause.

Odds and ends:

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2 thoughts on “Roundup: Backseat driving healthcare talks”

  1. Thanks, Dale for telling it as it is!
    I cannot believe that the Legacy media is allowing the Premiers to spout their nonsense. The Provinces do not have credibility on their side.

  2. The proven incompetent Premiers who have mismanaged their Healthcare and syphoned off Federal monies for their other provincial purposes would if Singh were PM, grind him into fiscal hamburger. Say what you will about Trudeau’s liberals, they will hammer out a new deal with the Premiers with a raft of provisions which will be accepted by them, not for their citizens but because of greed and the need to get elected because that is what matters in Canada, isn’t it?

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