Prime minister Justin Trudeau decided to get into a new federal-provincial scrap yesterday by releasing an open letter to Alberta premier Danielle Smith on the issue of her proposal to withdrew from the Canada Pension Plan and create their own provincial one. Trudeau said that he would fight for the stability of pensions in the country, and that his Cabinet would ensure that people are aware of the risks of Smith’s plan—which is wise enough considering that the whole thing is premised on fantasy math that everyone knows is not ever going to fly, and that Smith’s whole pitch is premised on that fantasy math (and that without it, the whole thing falls flat). But this is also the same federal government that is unable to have a frank conversation about absolutely anything, so it’s hard to imagine that they would start now, on this particular file, and would instead just trot out a bunch of feel-good pabulum about the current system, which is not going to help absolutely anyone, and it certainly won’t counter Smith’s lies and fantasy math, but this government can’t help themselves.

Trudeau has sent an open letter to Danielle Smith about her plans to withdraw from the CPP, and promises to make Albertans fully aware of the risks.
(Though given this government’s inability to actually communicate anything, I have my doubts). #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/s4mmsPw6Sv

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) October 18, 2023

https://twitter.com/LindsayTedds/status/1714644819807809638

https://twitter.com/LindsayTedds/status/1714645765002510598

Smith naturally responded saying that Trudeau’s comments were unhelpful and if he wanted to be constructive, he should have shown up with a number of what the actual withdrawal figure would be. And it’s true that Trudeau’s letter had no figures in it at all, whether that’s because he relied on the platitudes about the stability of the existing system, or because he’s waiting to have a watertight analysis from his departments, and that’s going to need more time. The cynic in me says it’s the former, but it may be the latter, because there may be a serious effort happening to come to a realistic figure—which of course would raise the question of why Trudeau would release his letter today and not wait until that was in hand? In any case, Smith wants this fight with Ottawa, and the whole premise of this fight and the fantasy math is to use it as a cudgel to threaten the rest of Canada so that she can demand they back off on environmental legislation and regulation (which, again, she has been consistently lying about and the government hasn’t come up with a half-decent counter to). Given the state of play, I’m not confident this will wind up in anything but a giant clusterfuck.

By the by, Quebecers also pay a higher premium rate than other Canadians for this pointless duplicate of the national plan — even worse managed than the CPPIB!

— Andrew Coyne 🇺🇦🇮🇱 (@acoyne) October 18, 2023

Caught some of @trevortombe's valiant effort to explain the thinking behind the UCP's provincial pension plan scheme on @AlbertaatNoon today. It was like listening to someone explain why a toddler’s drawing of a fighter jet couldn’t be manufactured and sent to Ukraine #abpoli

— Chris Turner (@theturner) October 18, 2023

Ukraine Dispatch:

The death toll rose after a Russian missile strike on an apartment building in Zaporizhzhia, while Ukrainian forces have been making some progress around Robotyne in the south. Near Kharkiv, a farm worker was killed when his tractor hit a mine.

At around 14.00, the Russians shelled the village of Odnorobivka (#Kharkiv Oblast) with artillery. As a result, three two-story and two private houses, power and gas networks were damaged.

As of now, there is no information on casualties, Kharkiv OMA reports. pic.twitter.com/kJCjfTQMQk

— UkraineWorld (@ukraine_world) October 18, 2023

⚡️Ukrainian forces attack occupied Crimea with missiles, Russia claims.

The Russian-installed "governor" of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, reported that an explosion occurred in the Sakharnaya Golovka area of Sevastopol.https://t.co/gDk9b3n0Cf

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) October 19, 2023

Good reads:

• Justin Trudeau was hosting Caribbean leaders in Ottawa to discuss climate change, finances, and what to do about the situation in Haiti.
• The Star is tracking the party positions on the Israel-Hamas conflict, particularly who is and is not calling for a ceasefire.
• The government is calling on Parliament to reassemble the joint committee on Medical Assistance in Dying to look over the incoming mental health provisions.
• Whistle-blowers at Sustainable Development Technology Canada want protections from any retaliation for exposing the problems that led to the fund being suspended.
• The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights says that Canada needs to live up to its promises on the world stage.
• The Cameron Ortis trial is being paused for a few days because it sounds like they need the Federal Court to adjudicate whether they can reveal certain evidence.
• TikTok executives were at committee to insist they don’t turn over information to Chinese officials, but also stated that they’re not “an expert in Chinese laws.” Erm…
• Blaine Higgs is being told to apologise for saying that the old school pronouns policy taught children to lie to their parents (as if they needed to learn that in school).
• Wab Kinew was sworn in as Manitoba premier, along with his Cabinet.
• Alberta is reforming how doctors bill the system (but I don’t see anything about giving them the ability to hire scribes so that they can spend less time charting).
• Justin Ling lays out and contextualises what we know about the bombing of the al-Ahli hospital in Gaza.
• Paul Wells delves into the Quebec plan to double tuition for out-of-province anglophone students, and how completely incoherent it all is.

Odds and ends:

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