Roundup: Empathy for the deeply selfish?

Posted on by

Update: Sorry for the delay. I had issues with the website but everything should be running smoothly now.

In spite of the Emergencies Act public inquiry report being released on Friday, there seem to be some awfully short memories as to what was happening at the time—or a bunch of people are acting disingenuously or in bad faith. Take, for example, Pierre Poilievre, who took to claiming that the assembled mass of far-right extremists, conspiracy theorists, grifters and grievance tourists were concerned about their costs of living and not being able to live. Which is funny, because inflation hadn’t spiked then, and interest rates were still at rock bottom. He is taking his current talking points and casting them back in time to a situation that didn’t exist, and has consigned the talking points of the era (“Freedom!”) to the memory hole. Funny that.

And then there’s the Globe and Mail, whose editorial board decided that what the occupiers need is empathy. After all, they had hurt feelings, and this narrative of the prime minister’s “divisive” comments keep circulating, even though he was telling the truth. The fact that certain people kept telling on themselves by openly identify as racists and misogynists to somehow “own Trudeau” was quite something.

Oh, and the Globe and Mail’s editorial board, comfortable in their downtown Toronto offices, should take a look at their own life choices as they demand empathy for a group of deeply selfish people who refused to take public health measures for the good of everyone around them, and who traded in conspiracy theories instead of behaving like grown-ups, and who held a city hostage in an extended three-week temper tantrum, instead of empathy for the citizens of Ottawa as their city police and provincial government abandoned them.

Ukraine Dispatch, Day 363:

US president Joe Biden made a “surprise” visit to Kyiv yesterday, and stayed for some five hours, meeting with president Volodymyr Zelenzkyy and pledging more support for the country. (Here’s a look at how that trip came together). Ukrainian troops training on Leopard 2 tanks compare them to a Mercedes. Ukrainian forces say they are inflicting “extraordinarily significant” losses on Russian forces in the Donbas as Russia continues to move toward Bakhmut. Meanwhile, midwives in Ukraine are looking to Canada for training on how to better deliver babies outside of hospitals (as they are not licensed for home deliveries).

Good reads:

  • Because a new bullshit conspiracy theory is circulating, no, Justice Rouleau of the Emergencies Act public inquiry is not related by marriage to Justin Trudeau.
  • The Globe and Mail follow up their story of Chinese interference with a look at how CSIS says China is trying to influence political and business leaders in Canada.
  • Marco Mendicino won’t say if the independent panel monitoring the election for interference saw the same CSIS report on Chinese interference.
  • Pascale St-Onge is asking provincial and territorial governments to have independent bodies to investigate sport abuse complaints by the end of the year.
  • The government’s Black Entrepreneur Programme is still making it difficult for Black-owned businesses to access capital as promised.
  • Here’s a look at the state of talks between the government and public sector unions, who could be threatening to strike by spring break or tax time.
  • The Lobbying Commissioner is proposing new guidelines, and some of the usual suspects are losing their minds.
  • NSIRA’s annual report shows that CSIS doesn’t give adequate consideration to the human cost of their disruption powers.
  • Students at the University of Toronto’s law school have launched a database of wrongful convictions in Canada in the hopes of avoiding future cases.
  • National Magazine had a sit-down interview with Chief Justice Richard Wagner at the CBA’s national conference.
  • Here is a recounting of a speech that Supreme Court of Canada Justice Russell Brown gave in Vancouver on humility.
  • The Globe has a profile of Conservative deputy leader Melissa Lantsman.
  • NDP MP Leah Gazan wants legislation to make residential school denialism a form of hate speech.
  • François Legault is demanding that the federal government send asylum seekers who arrive in Quebec elsewhere in the country.
  • Legault also wants Roxham Road to be a “priority” during Trudeau’s meeting with Biden next month.
  • Here is some of the background around Danielle Smith’s proposed RStar programme on oil well clean-ups being funded by royalty money.
  • Althia Raj gives her reading of the Rouleau Commission report, and keeps a focus on Trudeau’s words about the “fringe minority” (which, I repeat, were true).
  • Chantal Hébert is unconvinced by the Quebec Liberal MPs’ arguments around the amendments to the official languages bill.

Odds and ends:

If you haven’t heard, Jimmy Carter helped clean up after a partial nuclear meltdown at the Chalk River, Ontario, reactor in 1952.

Want more Routine Proceedings? Become a patron and get exclusive new content.

3 thoughts on “Roundup: Empathy for the deeply selfish?”

  1. As usual, an excellent summary and response on the discussion around The Rouleau Commission Report. Thank you, Dale.
    Why do we not see you on CBC political shows discussing your views as a Parliamentary Reporter? I would value your input on a National level.

    • They used to have a policy of not using freelancers on panel shows, for some unknown reason, but once their regulars started going freelance, they quietly dropped that rule. I’m also a bit of a black sheep because I don’t suck up to the people who book these things, so that doesn’t help.

      • Thanks for reply. Can your “supporters” do anything to be helpful? Or to encourage a word in someone’s ear? i gave up on the ombudsman, but happy to start again?

Comments are closed.