Roundup: More both-sidesing Smith’s mendacity

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Because this is occasionally a media criticism blog, I found myself somewhat gobsmacked by the way in which The Canadian Press has written up the pushback against some of Danielle Smith’s ridiculous accusations against the federal clean electricity regulations. She has been panned by experts for weeks, but how does CP frame this? With statements by a Liberal MP in Calgary, George Chahal.

“The fuse is lit for fireworks in Ottawa after a Liberal member of Parliament accused Alberta Premier Danielle Smith of making false claims days before Smith is slated to appear before a federal environmental committee,” is the lead, and the piece proceeds to methodically both-sides this to death. It’s Chahal-said about Smith’s batshit crazy things she’s claiming about these regulations, like how this is going to mean blackouts and energy company executives being hauled off to jail, versus statements from Alberta’s energy minister, who in turn accuses the federal government of misinformation. There is no third-party expert weighing in, it’s simply the two sides, and the reader is supposed to determine whom they feel is more credible based on a handful of quotes. Come on.

We are in the middle of a misinformation and disinformation crisis in the Western world, and legacy media—of which a wire service like CP is a foundational element of—cannot arse themselves to do some basic gods damned due diligence and provide evidence that Smith and her ludicrous allegations are nothing more than mendacity for the sole purpose of rage-farming and stoking anger against the federal government (because that works so well in Alberta). There are ways to call out lies in a fair and transparent manner, but there was absolutely zero attempt her, and that just lets lies fester in the open, which is why leaders like Smith and Pierre Poilievre (as Andrew Scheer and Erin O’Toole before him) have all learned from, that it means they suffer no consequences for their lies, because nobody calls them out—just other partisan actors who can be dismissed as such. We’re playing with fire when it comes to the health of our democracy, but nobody seems to care, and that’s a very big problem.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russian drones have attacked Danube port infrastructure in the Odesa region once again. Ukraine’s intelligence service has accused two villagers who fled to Russia of helping guide the missile strike on the village of Hroza that killed 55 people last week. Ukraine’s prime minister says they need $42 billion in budget support this year and next to help aid reconstruction. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in Brussels to meet with military leaders and to impress upon them the importance of keeping up aid to Ukraine, and not to get distracted by the outbreak of hostilities in Israel—NATO leaders have pledged ongoing support.

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1712119948749717958

Good reads:

  • Prime minister Justin Trudeau visited two fire-ravaged communities in the Northwest Territories along with the premier, Caroline Cochrane.
  • Canada is sending military transport planes to get Canadians in Israel to Athens, where they can get connections. We are also sending expert hostage negotiators.
  • Mélanie Joly says that about 70 Canadians are stuck in Gaza, with no immediate way to get them out as Israel has blockaded the region.
  • Seamus O’Regan is denouncing an Ontario public sector union who praised the Hamas attacks as “the power of resistance around the globe.”
  • Mark Holland is meeting his provincial counterparts in Charlottetown to discuss how to solve the country’s health human resource crisis. (Here’s an idea: pay them!)
  • Steven Guilbeault appears to have signalled a willingness to protect spotted owl habitats in BC, and then allowed logging in those same habitats.
  • While attention is focused elsewhere, the government quietly extended their amnesty for AR-15s by another two years, after the next scheduled election.
  • The Post talks to the CRTC about implementing the Online Streaming Act, and hear about the first steps of a long regulatory process that will shape what they look at.
  • The grocery oligopoly giants aren’t confirming what they allegedly agreed to with the minister last week about discounts on certain grocery items.
  • The Cameron Ortis trial continues to try and assert that he could legally leak information, while testimony said they couldn’t find a lawful reason why he would.
  • Matt Gurney is righteously (and rightfully) indignant that the government was spinning the difference between the Israeli embassy being “open” and “operational.”

Odds and ends:

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