Roundup: Derailing the committee with sexism

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The big happenings of the day on the foreign interference file were at the Procedure and House Affairs Committee when ministers Dominic LeBlanc and Mélanie Joly testified. We found out that thus far, one diplomatic visa has been rejected by Canada because of interference allegations, and we also got the very reasonable explanation from Joly that we haven’t been expelling diplomats because that invites tit-for-tat from the Chinese government (and they are not afraid to take hostages), and we need our eyes and ears on the ground in that country. We also learned from Joly’s Great China director at Global Affairs that “diplomatic representations” were made about their alleged boats around helping to defeat Conservative candidates in the last election.

What made the news, however, was that Conservative MP Michael Cooper was hostile and belittling toward Joly in a clearly misogynistic manner, made worse by the fact that he later put out a statement that refused to apologise for it, but insisted he wanted action and not a “symbolic stare down.” Erm, you guys keep bringing up Harper’s symbolic stare down of allegedly telling Putin to get out of Ukraine in 2014 and calling that courageous, so I’m not sure why Joly’s confrontation with her Chinese counterpart is considered any lesser. Oh, wait—we know why.

In other news on the interference file, here’s an interview with former CSIS director Ward Elcock on recent developments, and there are a couple of takeaways—that this is old news, and that we’ve known about Chinese interference for years; that there is no reason to believe that the PM did get these briefing notes (and it has been noted by other experts that Canada does not have a system of pushing intelligence upward, and yet this is what so much of Global’s reporting in hinging on); and that it is highly unlikely these leaks are coming from CSIS, but someone who has access to their documents (and the good money is on someone within the RCMP).

https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/1633863409211961346

As well, NSIRA did announce that they too are undertaking their own investigation of the allegations and what CSIS has been doing around it, while not looking to duplicate the work that NSICOP is doing.

https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/1633808644935409666

Ukraine Dispatch:

Yesterday’s widespread Russian attack saw more than 80 missiles, plus more drones, hitting cities across the country, killing six people and cutting the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant off of the power gird for eleven hours.

https://twitter.com/gerashchenko_en/status/1633720689541652483

Good reads:

  • US president Joe Biden’s visit will take place March 23 and 24th, and will include an address to Parliament on the second day.
  • The government announced changes to the Criminal Code that will allow aid to flow to Afghanistan without triggering terrorism financing laws.
  • Anita Anand announced plans to fast-track more weapons purchases, particularly those in need by our forces stationed in Latvia.
  • Steven Guilbeault is concerned that Alberta’s energy regulator didn’t notify anyone about the leak in the oil sands tailings pond for nine months.
  • The bill to delay implementation of MAiD expansion to mental disorder as the sole criterion has now passed the Senate.
  • As General Wayne Eyre worries we don’t have the capacity for a security mission to Haiti, consultations are being launched about coping with low recruitment.
  • The RCMP are investigating two more alleged illicit “police stations,” this time operating in the Montreal area.
  • CSIS is warning that “smart city” technologies can be compromised by countries like China, and used for their own surveillance or data harvesting purposes.
  • There are details around an alleged altercation in Arizona that appear to be the basis of the complaint against Supreme Court Justice Russell Brown.
  • The Federal Court has approved a settlement agreement for First Nations members who attended residential day schools.
  • The Financial Post has an excellent write-up of Wednesday’s clown show at the agriculture committee with the grocery CEOs, including some necessary context.
  • The health committee has agreed to study the chaos happening at PMPRB after two high-profile resignations and their work constantly being delayed.
  • Marc Garneau says that defending anglophone rights in Quebec is a hill worth dying on (not that this is what he’s doing).
  • Kevin Carmichael parses what Bank of Canada senior deputy governor Carolyn Rogers talked about with the current state of the economy and the dollar.
  • Susan Delacourt points out just how dark the debate over the allegations of foreign interference has become, and why it’s likely to get worse before the next election.
  • Paul Wells goes through Trudeau’s shifting talking points on the China file over the past couple of weeks, and worries there isn’t enough seriousness to the issue.

Odds and ends:

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One thought on “Roundup: Derailing the committee with sexism”

  1. The Poilievre Cons will never, ever withdraw their accusation that Trudeau is a traitor. Never. Why? Because they’ve adopted the Trump playbook, which dictates you never back away from any accusation or smear you hurl, regardless of what future investigations, reports, studies, reviews, hearings, etc might conclude. You just keep making the debunkedv accusations over and over. End of story. That’s where we’re now at.

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