Roundup: Alberta is run by children, example eleventy-four

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If you needed any more proof that Alberta is run by a group of petulant children, look no further than finance minister Nate Horner’s appearance on Power & Politics yesterday. While in the midst of grousing that during the (virtual) meeting with Chrystia Freeland earlier in the day on the subject of Alberta’s threats to pull out of the CPP (threats which are fairly transparently a pressure tactic to try and get out of other environmental obligations), and that Freeland was not entertaining any other carbon price exemptions, Horner said that he was going to launch a programme to subsidise anyone who wants to convert to heating oil in order to get the same break on carbon prices.

Heating oil generally costs about three-to-four times the price of natural gas for the same output. That’s the whole reason the “pause” was put into place as a stopgap to get more people switched over to heat pumps, along with a bunch of incentives to do so. If Horner actually thinks that people will pay more for heat in order to avoid paying the carbon price, and coming out at a net loss, for the simple thrill of “owning the libs,” well, that’s pretty much him telling on himself. And it’s so stupid because as the government has belatedly explained, there are actually more people who use heating oil outside of the Atlantic provinces than inside (mostly in northern communities), and they too get the “pause” in order to facilitate the switch over to heat pumps. The problem there, however, is that most of those provinces haven’t come to an agreement with the federal government in order to give the heat pumps for free to low-income households. So that may yet come, but right now, they’re still in full-on tantrum territory.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russians launched a new wave of overnight attacks across ten of Ukraine’s regions, and the Ukrainian air defences were able to intercept 24 of 38 drones plus a cruise missile. Here is a snapshot of the counter-offensive on various fronts, while Ukrainian troops battle exhaustion as winter approaches.

https://twitter.com/defensiemin/status/1720176662942253228

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau had a bilateral with Joe Biden on the margins of the western hemisphere trade summit that Biden hosted in Washington, DC.
  • Chrystia Freeland met with provincial counterparts about Alberta’s threat to leave the CPP, and pointed out the international agreements they would need to get.
  • Justice minister Arif Virani has taken over development of the promised online harms bill after Canadian Heritage has faltered on it.
  • Steven Guilbeault signed an agreement with BC to protect 30 percent of the province’s land by 2030 as part of their conservation goals.
  • Mark Holland shed light on that mystery $150 million PHAC contract that they took the write-down on.
  • Bill Blair says that a Canadian helicopter conducting routine exercises in the South China Sea was intercepted by Chinese fighter jets in an “unsafe” manner.
  • Canadians trapped in Gaza may be able to start leaving as of Sunday.
  • Former judge Mary Ellen Turpel-Lanfond has been removed from the Order of Canada after her claimed First Nations identity was discredited.
  • The Supreme Court of Canada struck down mandatory minimums for child luring offences, but also increased the sentence in the case before the court.
  • Liberal MP Ken McDonald says he’d do it all again (but doesn’t specify if that includes handing a propaganda victory to Pierre Poilievre).
  • The Star delves into why Poilievre has steered clear of foreign policy debates, believing he is strong on the economy (as though there were no links).
  • Bitcoin enthusiast Poilievre no longer lists any crypto on his asset disclosures.
  • Blaine Higgs says he’s not going to call an election this year after all.
  • Jason Markusoff details Take Back Alberta’s attempt to take over the grassroots leadership of the UCP, and why it will likey backfire on them.
  • My Xtra column looks at how attacking sex-ed, coupled with plans to age-gate explicit materials online, are both subtle attacks on LGBTQ+ youth.

Odds and ends:

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