Roundup: A smear to precede the report

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The day began with the Globe and Mail dropping another “big scoop” of CSIS uncovering that China tried to somehow influence the prime minister by donating to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation…after Trudeau had already stepped away from its board because he was Liberal leader. And more to the point, this story is old—2016 old—with the new CSIS headline, and further down was a smear at Morris Rosenberg, who used to head the Foundation, whom the Privy Council Office chose to write the report coming out on attempts at interference in the last election. And it was absolutely a smear, and the Globe was simply parroting a Conservative attack. It’s also worth noting that Stephen Harper had appointed Rosenberg to be the deputy minister of foreign affairs, so these attacks are all the more unseemly. (For more on these leaks, check these threads from Jessica Davis and Stephanie Carvin, which provide a lot of context to these stories and why they’re not treating intelligence properly.

https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/1630578153277071366

Much later in the day, Rosenberg’s report was released, and in it, he relayed that the task force monitoring the election found that while there were attempts at influence, including the misinformation around Conservative incumbent Kenny Chiu, but nothing rose to the level of actual concern in the panel’s estimation. Rosenberg makes sixteen recommendations, some of them around increasing transparency including providing unclassified briefings, and extending some monitoring to the pre-writ period (which can be tricky because so-called “fixed” election dates are rarely that, nor should they be). It’s also worth noting that there were also concerns raised about domestic disinformation (much of it around COVID) and rising threats of anti-government violence, which the task force made note of and could require adjustments to the protocols in order to better deal with it.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Things in Bakhumut are getting bad, as Russians are destroying anything that can be used for cover or defensive positions, and president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has admitted that they may have no choice but to pull back so as not to simply cost lives for the sake of it. Ukrainian aircraft did launch three strikes on areas of concentration of Russian forces. Meanwhile, Russian television stations and radio were hacked as a string of drone attacks hit near St. Petersburg. (Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the incident).

Good reads:

  • Chinese-Canadian leaders say that the issue of foreign interference should be dealt with head-on rather than what Justin Trudeau is doing now.
  • Major suppliers to the government will have to start disclosing their carbon footprint and what they’re doing to reduce emissions.
  • The government has been piloting a programme to resettle refugees based on job skills (which is muddying the waters a little for the point of refugee resettlement).
  • There is debate brewing in the wake of the Rouleau report on whether to create capacity for monitoring social media.
  • The Canadian Dental Association made their recommendations on expanding dental care, and of course, they want as close to status quo as possible.
  • Her Excellency Mary May Simon says that we need to engage with Russia on the Arctic and Indigenous peoples while still holding them to account over Ukraine.
  • The Commons’ Heritage committee is summoning Google’s CEO and three other top officials over their attempt at blocking news in Canada.
  • It has been noted that Han Dong missed both votes around the Uyghur genocide.
  • Jane Philpott is frustrated with the delays/abandonment of the work of PMPRB to reduce drug prices in Canada.
  • The organiser of the dinner with German MEP Christine Anderson asserts that the three Conservative MPs who attended knew exactly who Anderson was.
  • Former Conservative Cabinet minister Bernard Valcourt is facing charges of obstructing and resisting police (but we don’t know exactly why).
  • Jagmeet Singh says he’s going to pause his use of TikTok, and won’t use it on government or House of Commons devices.
  • Alberta’s budget is full of profligate spending given that they are once again in oil boom territory, and are once again pissing it away and not making it sustainable.
  • BC is making prescription contraceptives free as part of its new budget.
  • Wesley Wark offers some reasons why there shouldn’t be a public inquiry into foreign interference, but some other mechanism instead.
  • Chris Selley reaches his breaking point with the constant talking points in politics, and gets a sense of just how stupid politicians think we really are.
  • My column points out that the very serious issue of foreign interference isn’t being treated seriously, either by sloppy reporting or by partisan sniping.

Odds and ends:

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One thought on “Roundup: A smear to precede the report”

  1. This is a journalistic coup on par with Hillary’s Emails. D.C. must want someone in the PM’s chair willing to adopt a far more hawkish stance regardless of the collateral damage. Or there’s a disgruntled spook chatting with Fife who wants revenge against the PM for vaccine mandates. Fife needs to be fired and sued, and the leaker burned.

    Sounds like the ToryStar found the Chinese Canadian equivalent of Leslyn Lewis or JWR to bash the government and parrot Conservative talking points. I’m not saying any community is a monolith, but I am calling for some balance rather than sensationalism and myopia, before diving head-first into a new Cold War or electing a Conservative government that rubs elbows with actual Nazis.

    This thread is illuminating. Calling out the dual loyalty smear is NOT “toeing the Communist Party line.”

    https://twitter.com/simrath/status/1630415248250531840

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