Roundup: No, Kovrig wasn’t a spy

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The Globe and Mail kicked off the weekend with an “explosive” report that says that Michael Spavor is trying to sue Michael Kovrig for getting him imprisoned in China because Kovrig was passing along information as part of the Global Security Reporting Program, which *gasp!* gets information that is sometimes of interest to CSIS! The problem, of course, is that this is largely nonsense. Kovrig, who was on leave from Global Affairs at the time, was not a spy. The GSRP is not espionage. It’s diplomats talking to persons of interest out in the open, and their diplomatic reports get read by a lot of people, including CSIS, because that’s what CSIS does—they read reports, and fit them into bigger pictures.

While there is some debate about the GSPR and what role it contributes to intelligence, I would have to once again remind people that we really should take much of the reporting from the Globe with a grain of salt, and a dose of perspective sauce, because they torque absolutely every story that has anything to do with China, because it’s what they do, and they do it without any particular self-reflection. No matter how many times that Robert Fife and Steve Chase were confronted with the facts that in their reporting on intelligence leaks about foreign interference, that they were being fed very selective pieces of information, they absolutely refused to consider the possibility that they were likely being played by their source, who wanted certain narratives put out there for their own reasons. Fife and Chase have been absolutely allergic to any of that self-examination. And it should colour how we read any of their other reporting (which is how media literacy works). So yeah, they took some innuendo and a few facts and spun a big story that got the overall picture wrong, yet again. Let’s keep some perspective.

https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/1725916218987548927

https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/1725916989477048663

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russian drones targeted Kyiv, as well as the capitals of the Cherkasy and Poltava regions over the weekend, while intense fighting continued near Avdiivka, as well as Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region. Ukrainian forces say they are pushing back Russians now that they are on the east bank of the Dnipro river. Here is the tale of an orphaned Ukrainian teenager taken to Russia last year, who has now been reunited with family back home.

Good reads:

  • Chrystia Freeland has been trying to temper expectations ahead of Tuesday’s Fall Economic Statement.
  • The government is floating a policy targeting short-term rentals in the Fall Economic Statement, which may be impossible to enforce.
  • It appears that 135 Canadians were on the list to leave Gaza on Sunday, but there’s no indication if any were able to make it out.
  • At the Halifax International Security Forum, General Wayne Eyre worried about Canada’s ability to maintain a persistent presence in the Pacific with their budget.
  • Here is an interesting discussion on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework that Canada is not a part of, and whether or not that’s actually a big deal.
  • The law criminalizing Holocaust denial passed last year has not resulted in charges, and some people want to know why not.
  • Speaker Greg Fergus thinks that some decorum issues are related to MPs not really knowing one another, and that scripted speeches drive polarisation.
  • Jagmeet Singh took swipes at Trudeau and Poilievre at the BC NDP’s convention over the weekend.
  • Indigenous and Métis leaders in Manitoba are taking it as a good sign that premier Wab Kinew gave himself the Indigenous reconciliation file.
  • Kevin Carmichael delves into the issue of open banking and the government’s apparent reluctance to move ahead with it, and what might change their minds.
  • Stephen Saideman thinks through some of the issues of Israel targeting hospitals as Hamas uses them to set a trap, and the lack of strategic goals by both sides.
  • Colby Cosh points out that one reason the government failed to defend their plastic ban in Federal Court was because it went before a judge with a biochemistry degree.
  • Susan Delacourt sounds some caution in the continued poll-driven media narratives when it comes to both Justin Trudeau as well as Joe Biden.

Odds and ends:

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