Roundup: Saskatchewan wants to play constitutional chicken

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The government of Saskatchewan tabled their bill to “protect” SaskEnergy from repercussions if they go ahead with their threat to not collect or remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, and well, it is hilariously ineffective. Why? Because the federal legislation makes it very clear who is responsible for the collection and remittance of those funds, and this bill is trying to use provincial legislation to change a federal definition. You can’t do that. Provinces do not have that ability. This is just setting up SaskEnergy and its directors to face these penalties, because the provincial government can’t say that they’ll accept the responsibility instead. Again, it doesn’t work that way.

The minister, Dustin Duncan, then went on Power & Politics and was pressed on this issue, and he flailed for a bit before trying to make this a game of chicken—they’re going to essentially dare the federal government to follow federal law, and hold the persons responsible for collecting and remitting those funds to account. Because this is the level of maturity we’re dealing with. At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if the CEO and the board of SaskEnergy all walked off the job in protest of being put in this kind of legal jeopardy because Scott Moe is a child.

Ukraine Dispatch:

The death toll from the Russian strike on Selydove in eastern Ukraine doubled as more bodies were found in the rubble. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that Ukraine has seized the initiative in the Black Sea thanks to their fleet of naval drones which has pushed back the Russians toward the eastern coasts. New UK foreign minister David Cameron visited Ukraine as his first trip on the job.

https://twitter.com/zelenskyyua/status/1725054494969373168

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau had a number of one-on-one meetings with leaders in between plenary sessions at the APEC Summit in San Francisco.
  • Trudeau had a conversation with an Israeli Cabinet minister following prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rebuke of his comments on “maximum restraint.”
  • Steven Guilbeault is not promising to resign if Bill C-234 creates more carbon price carve-outs (while Poilievre is pressuring him to).
  • The Canadian Press has an explainer about the recent Israel-Gaza related votes at the UN, and why Canada voted (or abstained) in the ways it did.
  • The RCMP are delaying the rollout of body-mounted cameras on officers again, because of issues faced during testing.
  • Indigenous groups are counting on the federal government to include some kind of loan guarantee programme for commercial projects in the fall economic update.
  • A group of foreign workers who said they were lured to Canada on false pretences say that the federal government has reneged on their promise of work permits.
  • Tech sector players want the government to move ahead with promised plans to allow for open banking.
  • A military judge levied a $4000 fine and severe reprimand for James Topp, the reservist who was a public anti-vaxxer and convoy figure (that Poilievre supported).
  • It was closing statements in the Cameron Ortis trial, and the prosecution says he is a “clear and grave threat.” It is now up to the jury to deliberate.
  • The Federal Court quashed the Cabinet order that declared single-use plastics as “toxic,” undermining the federal ban.
  • The Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear the case of four Canadian men accused of fighting for ISIS being held in Syria, who want to return home.
  • Doug Ford’s former housing minister is suddenly all remorseful and is promising to cooperate with the RCMP investigation.
  • Preston Manning delivered his report to Danielle Smith on the pandemic, and he wants more consideration for “non-scientific evidence” and more political decisions.
  • Susan Delacourt delves into the NDP’s disagreement with the Liberals on the shape of the pharmacare legislation, and whether that will seal the end of their deal.
  • My Xtra column points to how the far-right/culture war policies that dominated the UCP convention are a sign of how much the fringe right has mobilised.

Odds and ends:

https://twitter.com/leahwest_nsl/status/1725147882813100112

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