Roundup: Silence on some un-apologies

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After Friday’s dubious denunciation of visiting far-right extremist MEP Christine Anderson by a proxy of Pierre Poilievre, and notably not Poilievre personally, either in front of a camera or on social media, and Colin Carrie’s completely insincere apology and lies that he didn’t know who Anderson was, well, the other two MPs doubled down. Despite the party-written apology, Leslyn Lewis used whataboutery in order to defend her meeting, while Dean Allison told a known white nationalist that he wasn’t consulted about the apology and didn’t agree with it, and found Anderson to be a “good lady.”

And Poilievre? Well, he was tweeting about a Black History Month event with Lewis, after she defended her meeting with Anderson, and has not distanced himself from Lewis’ meeting or her whataboutery in any way. So, it sounds like there’s a problem here.

Meanwhile, the Conservatives appear to be content to wink and nod to these extremists, and will simply issue more insincere apologies every time they get caught out, because that’s the whole game these days.

Ukraine Dispatch:

While battles continue to wage around Bakhmut, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is calling for yet more sanctions on Russians, in order to keep ratcheting up the pressure on them. But with any sanction regime, compliance is key. Ukraine’s energy minister says half of the country’s energy infrastructure has been damaged by Russian attacks since October. And here is a look at how the war is impacting children in Ukraine.

Good reads:

  • The Privy Council Office says that the report on foreign interference in the last election is at PMO awaiting public release.
  • The calls are mounting for a public inquiry into foreign interference in our elections.
  • Anita Anand says that the Canadian Forces will be purchasing replacements for the Leopard 2 tanks sent to Ukraine, but they may not be the same model of tank.
  • Here is a (belated) look at why there are few options for the federal government to lower food prices across the country.
  • Niagara Falls is worried that the influx of migrants coming from Quebec and using their hotel rooms is going to impact the upcoming tourist season.
  • Archives show that the RCMP’s (disbanded) Security Service was trying to disrupt a Black activist who was attending school here; he went on to be PM of Dominica.
  • Susan Delacourt is dubious that journalists and labour can use the upcoming new health data to help keep provinces in check in the age of political shamelessness.

Odds and ends:

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