Roundup: Openly pursuing creeping illiberalism

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You may have heard mention of a lavish trip that Conservative MPs took to London courtesy of a Hungarian think tank, but as you might expect from Canadian legacy media, the focus remains on the costs of the trip, and the stupid little partisan games in trying to get the ethics committee to look into it. What isn’t being mentioned is the fact that the think tank, the Danube Institute, is closely tied to the Orbán regime, and that is a worrying problem because of what it signals about right-wing parties in North America cosying up to Orbán.

Why this matters is because Orbán is undermining the rule of law and public institutions in Hungary, and is praising greater illiberalism. By cosying up to Orbán while has-beens like Stephen Harper try to sanitise his image through his IDU social club is because it creates a permission structure for right-wing parties like the Conservatives to start normalising the same illiberalism, pretending that this is all standard stuff for small-c conservative parties these days. The “don’t say gay” legislation in the US all came from Orbán’s playbook, and that is crossing over into Canada as well, with Conservatives openly winking and nodding to it, while you have conservative premiers invoking the notwithstanding clause to take away the rights of gender-diverse youth. This is the canary in the coal mine.

On the subject of creeping illiberalism, Conservatives (and MP Rachael Harder in particular) tried to get the public accounts committee to haul the CBC executives before them to “explain” why they don’t use the term “terrorist” when referring to Hamas, never mind that this is a practice shared by other news organisations like the BBC and The Associated Press. This kind of attempted intimidation is absolutely out of order, and represents political interference in the public broadcaster, which would be bad enough it Harder wasn’t the one always screaming about so-called “government censorship” with the Online Streaming Act and the Online News Act, as though that were a credible problem. It’s not, but it also seems to be both projection and an admission, that they want to control the news and programming, while accusing the Liberals of doing so (even though they absolutely are not). This is extremely dangerous for our democracy, and we should absolutely beware what they are trying to get away with.

Ukraine Dispatch:

While the attacks on Avdiivka continue, Russians struck an apartment building in Zaporizhzhia and killed two people. Ukraine has claimed responsibility for an attack on two Russian airfield in occupied areas using longer-range ballistic missiles quietly provided by the Americans, which is an unusual admission for them, but also signals that they can now hit Russian supply lines in more protected areas.

Good reads:

  • Prime minister Justin Trudeau referred to the bombing of a hospital in Gaza as unacceptable and illegal (but did not assign blame, as it remains up in the air).
  • Chrystia Freeland says she is considering measures around short-term rentals after BC is making their own move (but this is actually complex with no easy answers).
  • Mélanie Joly is warning Canadians in Lebanon that they should probably leave now while commercial flights are still available, should the conflict in Israel spill over.
  • Anita Anand says the results of the government’s spending review will be revealed next month.
  • François-Philippe Champagne says he wishes that the grocery chains were more forthcoming about their plans to stabilise prices after last month’s meeting.
  • Steven Guilbeault says Friday’s Supreme Court of Canada decision doesn’t change the plans to cap oil and gas emissions (nor should it if you read the decision).
  • Mary Ng tabled legislation to update Canada’s trade agreement with Ukraine, and says there are plans for a business mission to the country next year.
  • Parks Canada has signed an agreement with two First Nations to help manage Jasper National Park and that can include Indigenous harvesting in the area.
  • CSIS director David Vigneault spoke about China’s partnering with universities to gain a military edge, and how they’re quite open about it.
  • Vigneault also confirmed that a Canadian company’s technology was unknowingly being used in the drones Russia is firing at Ukraine.
  • Members of the Canada Pension Plan’s board say that the Alberta “consultations” on withdrawing from the fund are biased and manipulative. (I am shocked!)
  • The Canadian Press has an interview with the Palestinian ambassador to Canada.
  • The Star spoke with some Muslim MPs about how they are dealing with the rise in Islamophobia in the wake of the Israeli conflict.
  • Conservatives say it’s “unacceptable” that a woman with ISIS ties was allowed back in the country—except we have international obligations around repatriation.
  • Althia Raj writes about Ed Fast’s bill to halt the expansion of MAiD to issues of sole mental illness (but fails to address the Charter concerns or double standard).
  • Philippe Lagassé explains warship procurement and why the cost of Canada’s new surface combatants is as high as it’s projected to be.
  • My column wonders whatever became of the government’s promise to “build back better” and fix the structural problems of the old normal, as things get worse.

Odds and ends:

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