Roundup: The ideas guy versus the kludge

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The rules around the kludge that is being called dental care are released, and lo, it’s about as bad as was expected, possibly even worse, because the CRA was always the worst way possible to deliver this benefit (particularly after some of the trust-but-verify problems surrounding pandemic benefits that the Auditor General illuminated earlier in the week), and ye they bullied ahead with it because the NDP didn’t care about implementation, so they put an unrealistic timeline in their agreement with the Liberals to prop up the government, and an expectation that this should be a federally-administered programme rather than an agreement with provinces like every other federal programme (most recently with early learning and child care).

And no, this is not something that could simply be added into existing healthcare systems because that would require provincial buy-in, and every premier who was asked about this balked, some of them because they have existing programmes for low-income households, and all of them because they really, really do not want another federal programme to manage and contribute to, or be on the hook for when a new government comes to power and starts to axe it.

But remember, the NDP are the “ideas guy,” who never worries about implementation, and who takes credit for the work the other guys did, because he came up with the idea, don’t you know? This is all going to go so badly because it was rushed and had really stupid conditions imposed on it, but they can crow that they got dental care.

Ukraine Dispatch, Day 290:

It looks like Russian forces may have kidnapped two senior employees of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant as part of ongoing pressure tactics to get them to sign the plant over to Russian authorities, which they have refused to do. Meanwhile, Belarus told the UN it would allow passage of Ukrainian grain through its territory to Lithuanian ports without conditions, but given that Belarus is a Russian puppet stage, we’ll see how much they actually uphold the deal.

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau met with the premiers of the Northwest Territories and Yukon.
  • Steven Guilbeault announced a project to extend existing First Nations Guardians programmes into a national network dedicated to environmental protection.
  • At COP15 are calls for a biodiversity plan to halt species extinctions by 2050, and an explanation of what the 30 by 30 Plan means for Canada.
  • Jonathan Wilkinson unveiled the government’s critical minerals strategy, promising streamlined processes, but questions remain about limiting exports to China.
  • Health Canada has approved the Pfizer bivalent booster for 5-11 year-olds.
  • Premiers held a virtual meeting to once again demand the prime minister sit down with them to agree to increase funding (which he will, if they agree to outcomes).
  • While Canada’s contributions have been steady, the UN is asking us to pressure allies to keep up funding of fragile Middle Eastern countries hosting refugees.
  • Indigenous groups are working with the Northwest Territories government to establish new Indigenous protected and conservation areas.
  • Quebec rammed through their unconstitutional bill to make the Oath to the King optional in twelve minutes, and good luck in the future court challenge.
  • Justin Ling has a longread about extremist violence against the LGBTQ+ communities, and why that is generally a precursor of other forms of extremism.
  • Paul Wells reviews Poilievre’s third draft of his opioid policy, which injects a few more nuances into his previous position.
  • My weekend column notes the NDP leadership contest that wasn’t in Ontario, and whether Marit Stiles’ acclamation is a sign of a democratic malaise.

Odds and ends:

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