Roundup: Angst over a poor metric

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A lot of ink (or, well, pixels, I supposed) has been spilled over the past week about those leaked documents where Justin Trudeau allegedly told NATO leadership privately that Canada will never reach the two percent of GDP defence spending target, which shouldn’t be a shock to anyone who has paid a modicum of attention. And while we get these kinds of analysis pieces that try to dig more into the two percent target and its significance, we have to remember that it’s a lousy metric. Greece has been above it for years because of a stagnant economy and including military pensions in their calculations—and you can easily get to 2 percent of GDP by tanking your economy, while growing your economy makes that spending target increase impossibly. The other thing that the two percent metric doesn’t capture is engagement—Canada routinely steps up to meet its NATO commitments even without reaching the spending target, while certain European countries may meet the spending target but don’t participate in these missions (again, looking at you, Greece, but not just Greece).

Part of the problem is that while this is a conversation that requires some nuance, the two percent target is too easy for journalists to focus on, and that becomes the sole focus. It’s a problem because We The Media keep reducing this to a single binary “are we meeting/not meeting that two percent” rate, which doesn’t help advance the conversation in any way, but most of us refuse to learn because a simple binary is easier to understand/convey.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Fighting continues in the western part of Bakhmut, as Wagner Group mercenaries are worried about the coming Ukrainian counter-offensive. Ukraine’s minister of digital transformation says that new technologies are going to help them win the war, particularly as they enhance the accuracy of modern artillery.

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau and Doug Ford announced a Volkswagen batter plant in St. Thomas, Ontario, but Trudeau also took some swipes at Pierre Poilievre along the way.
  • Trudeau has also announced he will attend the Global Citizen summit in New York next week.
  • Here are more details and context around the Volkswagen deal.
  • Anita Anand announced a new tranche of aid for Ukraine—sniper rifles and ammunition, fuel, and radio sets.
  • The bill to reform the air passenger protections has been tabled, but already critics are pointing out that it has gaps and doesn’t go far enough.
  • The government has signed an MOU with Mi’kmaq chiefs in Nova Scotia about the transfer of federal health services over the next several years.
  • The RCAF is facing a crisis of not enough new personnel, while experienced staff are quitting because of things like inadequate housing, or poor pay and benefits.
  • DND’s head of procurement says he’s hoping to have a clearer picture on the costs of new warships by the end of the year.
  • The Labour Board found “major irregularities” with the PSAC strike vote, but opted not to invalidate the results in spite of complaints.
  • An agreement was reached with the union to keep the central heating plants on military bases up and running after three were taken off-line for the strike.
  • Talks with the union for CRA employees are at a standstill.
  • After a French court found Hasan Diab guilty of a 1980 bombing (dubiously), his supporters are calling on the government to ignore any extradition request.
  • Health insurance providers want a federal tax credit to convince small businesses not to drop their dental coverage, because of course they do.
  • Former Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick told PROC that the government could copy the UK’s foreign interference legislation and pass it by year’s end.
  • Former Liberal industry minister Navdeep Bains is taking on a position at Rogers, but says he will be compliant with his obligations under the Lobbying Act.
  • Ontario MPP Vincent Ke is fundraising for his own lawsuit against Global News.
  • Matt Gurney is appalled that government officials were warned that those Canadian women in Syria were vulnerable to being abducted and did nothing about it.
  • Shannon Proudfoot laments the demise of this government’s promise to be “open by default,” and how far they have strayed from their ideals.
  • My weekend column looks at the mess all MPs created for themselves in the stupidity over the interim Ethics Commissioner.

Odds and ends:

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