Roundup: Agreement on terms of reference?

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There were talks between Dominic LeBlanc and members of the opposition parties yesterday over the potential public inquiry into foreign interference, and the Conservatives spent the evening crowing to the media that they came to an agreement around the terms of reference for such a possible inquiry (but this was not confirmed by anyone else). It will be interesting to see what they are, because there was certainly no unified position on how far back they want this to go, and how many countries this might include, because that’s going to have a very material impact on the timeline and the kinds of things that this will consider.

There remains the subject of just who is going to head this particular endeavour, because as I have stated before, you’re looking for a current or former judge who is a) bilingual, b) has never donated to any political party every, c) was not appointed to the bench by the current government, and of course d) is willing to subject themselves to character assassination, because it’s pretty much inevitable, no matter how much this whole exercise is supposed to find unanimity between the parties, because several of them operate in bad faith and this will be amply demonstrated.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Ukrainians are ending rescue operations in Lviv after the attack there two days ago, where the death toll has reached ten. Ukrainian forces also say they are making progress in continuing to move on Bakhmut, gaining more territory. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in Türkiye to meet with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who said that Ukraine deserves NATO membership and pledged to try and extend the Black Sea grain deal. Meanwhile, the US sending cluster munitions to Ukraine puts Canada in a tough spot because we have been leading the international effort to ban them (and landmines) since 2010. And here’s the story of a Ukrainian trans woman fighting both Russians and misogyny and anti-LGBTQ+ hate within her own ranks.

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1677287692676091904

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau had a meeting with Danielle Smith while he was in town for a by-election campaign event, and of course Stampede cowboy drag cosplay.
  • Trudeau said that the pressure is on to find a resolution to the BC ports strike, but again reiterated that the government isn’t looking to impose a deal.
  • North American trade ministers met to work through the usual rounds of trade irritants that still remain under the New NAFTA.
  • Ginette Petitpas Taylor met with provincial counterparts to get them on board with the new federal Action Plan for Official Languages.
  • The CRTC has decided to stick with its established approach for setting wholesale internet rates, but has agreed to a few tweaks to that system.
  • Documents show that former RCMP commissioner Brenda Lucki said that RCMP don’t have the capability to search the Winnipeg landfill for human remains.
  • Advocates, particularly from the Global South, wonder why Canada is being so timid on climate finance and reforming international financial institutions.
  • A number of donors to Ontario’s attorney general also received King’s Counsel designations, which makes this look increasingly like a revived patronage scandal.
  • My weekend column suggests the government needs to get back to their “deliverology” roots and re-learn developing priorities and delivering results.

Odds and ends:

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One thought on “Roundup: Agreement on terms of reference?”

  1. It will be a travesty if the scope of the as-yet-proposed inquiry only hyperfocuses on China and the Liberals, and omits any mention of Russia or the US and European far right just because the CPC don’t want their own skeletons revealed (the convoy is not going away). With what was reported about Harper and Orban yesterday, it is long overdue that he get put in the hot seat to spill the beans about what he’s been up to with the IDU. It’s only fair, considering all the screeching the cons have done about Chretien, and the comparative lack of direct influence he has over the LPC vs Harper the Republican’s micromanaging of, and injecting of Orbanist ideology into, the CPC.

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