Roundup: Making excuses for the Ukraine votes

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You will have seen in Question Period yesterday, and over social media last night, the Conservatives are starting to backtrack juts at tiny bit on Ukraine, but it all rings pretty hollow. In QP, the only tangible thing that Pierre Poilievre could point to their supporting Ukraine was that they called for lethal aid to be sent over before the invasion began (whereas the federal government held off until the invasion happened, and then suddenly started sending it). The rest were all non sequiturs that dated to the Harper era.

Later in the evening, Michael Chong listed a bunch of historical things Conservatives have done to support Ukraine, but concluded that they couldn’t support the free trade agreement because of carbon pricing. Yes, the same Michael Chong for whom carbon pricing was the centrepiece of his leadership campaign. It’s horseshit and Chong knows it, but he sold out his morals, ethics, and credibility long ago to curry favour with the party, and here we are.

Ukraine Dispatch:

The Wednesday missile attack on Kyiv has upped its casualty total to 53 injuries, including several children, but fortunately no deaths. Ukraine’s largest mobile carrier says they are restoring voice services after the Russian-linked cyberattack that crippled their operations.

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1734886178149503279

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau stood by the decision to shift Canada’s position and join the UN vote on a “humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza, in spite of the criticism for it.
  • Steven Guilbeault is hailing the result of the COP28 conference because it recognized the need to transition away from fossil fuels,
  • François-Philippe Champagne says he may try to lure foreign grocery companies to the Canadian market (but remember how well that went for Target?)
  • The federal Integrated Terrorism Assessment Centre is also warning of the potential use of AI “deepfakes” by violent extremists to perpetuate hoaxes.
  • Global Affairs says they’ll restore the two foreign language training programmes if they can get the budget to do so. (Sounds like the old “Musical Ride problem.”)
  • A Toronto judge tossed a sexual assault case for delays caused by a lack of judges to hear it in a reasonable time, which is the fault of the federal appointment process.
  • Here is a look at the differences in the Liberal caucus over the UN ceasefire vote.
  • The Conservatives failed to get a motion passed to reject the Senate amendments to Bill C-234, leaving it in a potential state of “limbo” for the near future.
  • Kevin Carmichael listened to Poilievre’s speech to the CD Howe Institute, and finds it wanting for its actual economic credibility and sense of realism.
  • Susan Delacourt details the antipathy that Trudeau and Poilievre seem to feel for one another, as evidenced by their spirited clashes in the House of Commons.

Odds and ends:

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