Roundup: The allegations reach Vancouver

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The Globe and Mail had another leak yesterday, and this time it involved municipal politics, and more particularly, the allegation that the Chinese consulate in Vancouver was meddling in that city’s election last year. Later in the day, former mayor Kennedy Stewart appeared on Power & Politics to confirm that yes, he did get a visit from two CSIS officials to warn him that they were concerned about interference, but there wasn’t really anything Stewart could do about it, since the Vancouver police couldn’t investigate. The new mayor, Ken Sim, rejected any insinuation he was helped by Beijing, and that there wouldn’t be the same questions if he were Caucasian.

The most interesting thing from the story in my opinion was that these diplomats were hoping to get a council member or two in place in the hopes that they could groom them into having political careers that included provincial or federal ambitions, but again, this is mostly about trying to get people into place who will be sympathetic to Beijing and who can help project a better image for them, and is less about actual espionage, for what it’s worth.

I’m seeing a couple of issues here. One is that we’re going to start seeing “Did the Chinese interfere?!” with every lost race in this country, I fear, no matter how ridiculous the charge, because that’s how media tends to operate. I also think there is a lot of “not my problem” happening on the official side, especially because the federal government doesn’t want to be seen to be bigfooting any municipal races, while lower levels of government don’t know what to do with warnings because they don’t have any systems in place (because we have an enormous normalcy bias in our politics). I also question why so much emphasis seems to be placed on the boasts of these consular officials who are claiming credit for election outcomes that there is no possible way they could have meaningfully influenced. People take credit for lots of things they didn’t do. We shouldn’t believe them because it’s convenient for our narrative. Cripes.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Poland has decided to give its MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine, with the first four to be sent in the coming days, answering Ukraine’s pleas for more fighters. Because they are Soviet-era fighters, the Ukrainians already know how to fly and service these planes, so they can be put into operation immediately and not requires months or years of training on newer platforms. Meanwhile, the artillery battle continues around Bakhmut.

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1636430656954671105

Good reads:

  • The Conservatives and Bloc have panned David Johnston’s appointments, while the NDP are okay with it—but still want a public inquiry ASAP.
  • The prime minister announced that a special ceremony will be held here on May 6th to mark the King’s coronation, which does not reinforce that our Crown is separate.
  • The federal government missed their own deadline for signing a deal with Chantier Davie for future icebreakers.
  • Some civil servants are being granted exemptions from the return-to-work order, but they will be treated on a case-by-case basis.
  • In bitter irony, the Canadian Human Rights Commission was found to have discriminated against its own Black and racialised employees.
  • A Spanish company that hoped to use the Saint John LNG terminal to export to Europe has dropped their plans because it would be too expensive.
  • The Federal Court heard a record number of immigration cases last year, in large part because the IRB has an immense backlog.
  • Liberals on the Heritage committee want to summon Mark Zuckerberg to answer around Bill C-18 (and it’s cute that they think he’ll obey it).
  • The NDP want the caregiver tax credit to be made fully refundable as a pre-budget demand (never mind it’s pretty much locked at this point).
  • There are some Ontario Liberals hoping to recruit former federal Cabinet minister Navdeep Bains to run in their leadership race.
  • Saskatchewan has passed their useless “autonomy” legislation, for what little good it will do.
  • The UCP continues to fight amongst itself as the “Take Back Alberta” faction is hijacking the party, but is not getting the nominations they hoped for.
  • Paul Wells notes Trudeau’s tendency to rely on outside help for his credibility deficits, which he finds himself in once again in appointing David Johnston.
  • My Xtra column points out the awkward dance Pierre Poilievre is doing over his Christine Anderson problem, and the reasons behind it.

Odds and ends:

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