Roundup: Threats against MPs becoming routine

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Every now and again we get reminders that these are not normal political times, and that older political norms are starting to slip away as the memification of politics takes over, and polarization has been made worse. Threats against MPs are far more prevalent than they ever were, and lo, Liberal MP George Chahal posted some of the threats his office received last week.

It’s grotesque, and even more the point are those in the comments who defend these kinds of messages and actions as somehow being justifiable or justified. Nothing can justify it, and unfortunately, this state of affairs is being worsened by the fact that our norms continue to be eroded, because they drive clicks and get fundraising dollars. This is the kind of thing that everyone should be standing against, but I fear that at best, we’ll get a tepid denunciation of this from political leaders across the board, even though some should be most emphatically making the point that this kind of thing isn’t okay.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Ukrainian forces have been advancing in two directions toward Bakhmut, but are not ready to take the city centre yet, apparently. This while there was a massive overnight barrage of drones from Russia, damaging an energy facility in Khmelnytskyi region, killing two civilians in Kostyantynivka, and shelling in the Kharkiv region. Meanwhile, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with the Pope at the Vatican and sought support for Ukraine’s peace plan (for what good that does). Zelenskyy also made stops in Paris and Berlin, where he said that a counter-offensive will not strike into Russian territory because their sole aim is to reclaim their own territory from Russian occupation.

https://twitter.com/zelenskyyua/status/1657501338719199233

https://twitter.com/zelenskyyua/status/1657875550361272321

https://twitter.com/defencehq/status/1657643236989517825

Good reads:

  • On Friday, Justin Trudeau visited the northernmost Inuit community in Labrador to learn about their issues, particularly around infrastructure and housing.
  • Trudeau called four by-elections for June 19th, but not the fifth in Calgary Heritage, likely because of the provincial election (and the Conservatives are crying foul).
  • Former national security and intelligence advisor Vincent Rigby reiterates that he didn’t see the Chong briefing, and condemns the ongoing leaks to the media.
  • A major theme of the last few weeks has been the lack of a proper national security culture in our government, which allowed these briefings to be missed.
  • On a related noted, NSIRA says that CSE’s culture of resisting and impeding independent review has frustrated their efforts to ensure they are within the law.
  • François-Philippe Champagne talks about how he managed to woo Volkswagen into signing onto the major investments in EVs in Canada.
  • The Trans Mountain Expansion is in debt and needs to borrow more.
  • Much as she did during her last time in government, Rachel Notley is again distancing herself from Jagmeet Singh on a number of his positions.
  • David Moscrop talks to Nathaniel Erskine-Smith about his decision to run for the Ontario Liberal leadership.
  • Althia Raj sees Nathaniel Erskine-Smith’s (likely) departure as a repudiation of Trudeau not following his promise to “do politics differently.” (I have doubts).
  • Chris Selley doesn’t see anyone in Ottawa pushing back against the doomsaying around immigration in Quebec, which they should be.
  • Chantal Hébert notes that while Poilievre may have united his caucus, the conservatives outside are still a very fractured bunch.

Odds and ends:

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