It was another day of testimony by senior national security officials at the Procedure and House Affairs Committee, and much of it went the same as it did on Wednesday—very little was confirmed or denied, but there is no evidence to suggest the integrity of the elections were compromised. We also got more of the same warnings—intelligence is not evidence, and some of it may not be true, so stop being so credulous about it. (Okay, that last part was just me. But seriously). The Commissioner of Elections did say that there were some ongoing investigations into complaints of foreign meddling, including new ones opened with the more recent revelations,

I’ll add that I’m opposed to leaks. Not just because of the SOIA. But because there’s an incredible hubris in assuming you have the full picture, know best, and can anticipate consequences.

— JMDavis (@JessMarinDavis) March 2, 2023

I'd suggest that the hunt is on within the government of Canada, not just CSIS, to find the individual(s) who leaked classified information. There's a list of people with access to this info, and it's not just CSIS. https://t.co/nFJtobdl9U

— JMDavis (@JessMarinDavis) March 3, 2023

After the testimony, the committee voted 6-5 to call on the government to call a public inquiry, with the Liberals all voting against (but they don’t control this particular committee because it’s a minority parliament). The government is under no obligation to call one, and the same people who have been testifying have repeatedly said it won’t provide the answers they’re looking for, and NSICOP is the best venue for the answers MPs want, but that’s faced its own challenges in recent years. That said, even the former Conservative campaign director says that an inquiry isn’t the best way to get the answers they’re looking for, so maybe they’ll listen to him. Maybe? The head of CSIS is saying that a foreign agent registry would be helpful, and the government has already been consulting on how best to create and implement one.

Meanwhile, here is a really interesting thread about those allegations, and has a lot of Chinese-community-specific context that much of the reporting has been absent with.

https://twitter.com/karenwenlin/status/1630413714435330048

Ukraine Dispatch:

A Russian missile struck an apartment building in Zaporizhzhia, killing three people and wounding six others. Russia, meanwhile, is accusing Ukraine of launching an attack on their soil, which Ukraine denies (in part because there would be no strategic purpose in doing so).

https://twitter.com/gerashchenko_en/status/1631165700747165697

This past month, CAF members in the United Kingdom and Poland, instructed Ukrainian recruits on live-fire training and Leopard 2 tank fundamentals alongside the Polish and Norwegian Armed Forces. #OpUNIFIER 🇨🇦 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/owIhZb5jW5

— Canadian Armed Forces (@CanadianForces) March 2, 2023

https://twitter.com/defenceu/status/1631542420776300544

Good reads:

• A CSIS officer was fired for speaking out publicly about inadequate COVID provisions in the department’s headquarters at the height of the pandemic.
• Organisers of the Ottawa occupation are fighting with their lawyers over not being told about the risks their actions carried. Oops.
• The Federal Court heard a challenge of the Bay du Nord decision, particularly around whether the impact assessment should include downstream emissions.
• David Eby wants answers as to why a cannabis producer was allegedly granted a licence to produce and sell cocaine.
• Eby is also calling for tougher laws against money laundering after the province’s investigation resulted in no charges because of a low likelihood of conviction.

Odds and ends:

Today and every day. https://t.co/nMwbcpVKfm

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) March 3, 2023

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