Roundup: Doubling down on the lies about the Ukraine trade deal

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As the Conservatives flail about their voting against the Ukraine trade agreement, they are throwing out a number of excuses in order to double down on a stupid position that is backed by the lie that the agreement imposes a carbon price on Ukraine. It doesn’t, they’ve had a carbon price since 2011, but that doesn’t seem to matter. They insist that nothing they’re doing jeopardises the agreement, which is true—it’s already signed, and every other party is voting for this enabling legislation, but what the Conservatives seem to be forgetting is that all of this performance they’re doing for their domestic audience is being noticed aboard, and in particular by the Ukrainian government, and it’s not leaving a good impression.

To that end, they kept moving amendments at committee to include language about weapons sales, which is stupid because nothing precludes them currently, but that kept being out of order—again, because the deal is already signed. This is enabling legislation. And they kept trying to either remove the carbon price references or delay the bill until they could force the government to remove it, but they lost that gambit as well. But again, they’re sending signals to the people paying attention that they are deeply unserious and are going to be untrustworthy allies, and that’s going to do more damage in the long run, all for the sake of trying to score some cheap domestic points right now.

Ukraine Dispatch:

The death toll from the severe  snow storm in southern Ukraine has reached ten, with more injured as a result of accidents and power loss. During this, Russians struck a residential building and a coal mine in Nikopol, killing four and injuring ten others. The wife of Ukraine’s head of military intelligence is being treated for heavy metals poisoning, but no one will say if he was the intended target. Some in Ukraine are calling for defined ends to deployments, which are currently open-ended (as though the country were not in an existential war for its survival).

Good reads:

  • The implementation bill for the fall fiscal update won’t include the measures on short-term rentals because they apparently need more time to consult.
  • Chrystia Freeland did say the government is still planning to move ahead with a digital services tax on web giants, but the implementation date is still unclear.
  • Jonathan Wilkinson says the federal government has always been flexible with Alberta on the Clean Electricity Regulations in spite of Danielle Smith’s tantrums.
  • Karina Gould says any pharmacare bill won’t pass this year (no kidding), but they continue to work on it with the NDP.
  • A court in Ontario has ruled on the first case of incel-inspired terrorism in Canada.
  • The Speaker has ruled that Conservative MP Jake Stewart will not be called upon until he apologises for calling all NDP MPs “Hamas supporters,” which he later did.
  • Liberals at the environment committee are moving a motion to express disappointment in the Alberta Energy Regulator’s performance.
  • Liberal MP Ken Hardie initially stuck by his tweet that linked Poilievre’s rhetoric and the shooting in Winnipeg, but apologised after a talking-to by his House Leader.
  • Bloc and NDP MPs turned down the invitation to go to Israel on the “solidarity trip” that Conservatives and Liberals went on, sponsored by United Jewish Appeal.
  • Saskatchewan is looking to throw their own tantrum over the Clean Electricity Regulations, because of course they are.
  • Philippe Lagassé calls for the government to be more transparent about the plans to sole-source new surveillance planes (because Bombardier only has vapourware).
  • My column notes how Poilievre’s lack of principles makes his vote on the Ukraine trade deal unsurprising, as he thinks he’s cleverer than he really is about it.

Odds and ends:

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