Roundup: Scoring cheap points in a tragedy

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The past few days have been preoccupied by the Hamas attack on Israel, which has killed as many as a thousand, including attacking villages and killing the elderly and infants. We know that so far, two Canadians have been confirmed killed, while others have been kidnapped and taken hostage. After refuting claims that the embassy in Tel Aviv was closed for Thanksgiving, the federal government is preparing airlifts for Canadian citizens and permanent residents out of Tel Aviv, likely using military aircraft. Ahmed Hussen has also stated that humanitarian aid will continue to flow to the Palestinian people, particularly in light of the humanitarian crisis that is to come as the Gaza strip is under siege, with assurances that there are robust controls to ensure that Hamas doesn’t see any of this funding (as they are listed as a terrorist organisation under Canadian law).

Back home, there has been pretty universal condemnation of Hamas from political leaders, but that doesn’t mean that politics haven’t been played. After Justin Trudeau and Pierre Poilievre were at the same event over the weekend to show solidarity with the Jewish community, Poilievre decided to immediately return to his dickish self and try and score points on the non-scandal that Canada was not included in a communiqué between the Americans, the UK, France, Germany and Italy. A number of pundits and talking heads clutched their pearls and cried that we were excluded, some news reporters incorrectly framing this as the G7 (which was also minus Japan), when it turned out that this was a meeting of the Quint, which is a separate, nuclear-armed organisation that Canada is not a part of. While most reporters and outlets quickly clarified this, Poilievre decided to use it to rage-farm and claim that Trudeau has “side-lined Canada,” which is bullshit, but you’ve got a bunch of pundits on their fainting couches over this when they should know better, and Poilievre couldn’t resist the urge to score points over this, which should be unconscionable, but he likes to keep proving that there is no bottom with him.

Matt Gurney points out that this conflict has given us a pogrom in realtime over social media, but that most people aren’t seeing it because of how news outlets sanitize the graphic elements that would inevitably galvanize them.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russia’s latest drone attack targeted the Odesa, Mykolaiv and Kherson regions, with Ukraine’s air defences downing 27 drones. The counter-offensive continues to make gains in the east and the south. Ukrainian officials are investigating 260 instances of abuses at military recruitment offices, much of it related to bribery. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy replaced the country’s territorial defence forces commander, before he left to visit neighbouring Romania to strengthen ties and talk regional security.

Good reads:

  • Pascale St-Onge says that while the Online News Act isn’t perfect, it’s necessary because of the rapidly changing online environment.
  • Top generals across NATO, including Canada, are warning about low stocks of artillery shells because of donations to Ukraine and slow industry production.
  • The Canadian Press has an explainer of the Online Streaming Act (which they should have written months ago and kept posting because of the constant disinformation).
  • Here’s a look into how the carbon price has been made a scapegoat for high food prices when it’s climate change that’s the cost (plus it has a calculator at the end).
  • Some analyses suggest the coming riding boundary changes could benefit the Conservatives because of where new seats are located.
  • Canadaland finds that the people behind the Street Politics Canada YouTube channel are a content farm out of Cairo, Egypt.
  • France’s envoy for LGBTQ+ rights says Russia propaganda is helping sow the backlash against gender and sexual minorities, and Canada needs to push back.
  • The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that publication bans are acceptable for any pre-trial motions in criminal cases. I gathered some reaction in National Magazine.
  • The NDP are deciding if they need to quietly side-line policy resolutions around support for Palestinians at their convention later this week.
  • The RCMP are formally investigating Doug Ford’s Greenbelt scandal.
  • Far-right groups are taking credit for Scott Moe’s decision to go hard on the pronoun policy, including invoking the Notwithstanding Clause.
  • Moe has recalled the legislature and will introduce his bill to invoke the Notwithstanding Clause later this week.
  • BC has become the first province to finalise its health deal with the federal government, including strings attached to those federal dollars.
  • Keldon Bester says that the proposed changes to the Competition Act don’t go far enough, and need more of a focus on ensuring fair competition.
  • Andrew Leach and Blake Shaffer suggest some changes to the federal government’s forthcoming Clean Electricity Regulations.
  • Colby Cosh makes note of the underlying social conservatism in Wab Kinew’s message about personal responsibility that is unlike an NDP leader.
  • Susan Delacourt looks at how close to home the political conversation has been for most Canadians, particularly as Thanksgiving approached.
  • Paul Wells goes to the Warsaw Security Forum and hears from Stéphane Dion about the challenges facing the western world.
  • My weekend column calls on the NDP to understand that they need the premiers on side if they want pharmacare to happen, and can’t just hope they’ll join later.
  • My column looks at Liberal backbencher Ken McDonald’s contrary votes and his handing propaganda to the Conservatives, because government comms failed.

Odds and ends:

My Loonie Politics Quick Take looks at the new Speaker needs to do about preventing any future recognition of dubious guests in the Gallery.

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2 thoughts on “Roundup: Scoring cheap points in a tragedy”

  1. Naturally the claims by Zelensky that those dastardly Russians are behind it all are presented without any evidences and accepted as fact. Evidence? Who needs evidence? Par for the course.

    • He didn’t say they were behind it. He said they benefit from it, and incitement can mean things like propaganda and disinformation that inflame existing tensions or divisions, which we have plenty of evidence that they have done all over the world.

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