Roundup: Atwood on authoritarianism

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For a change, I’m not going to give you much in the way of musings, but rather to exhort you to watch this short video, narrated by Margaret Atwood, about how easy it can be for democracy to slip into authoritarianism from either the left of the right, because each has their own motivations for doing so. Knowing their tactics is one effective way of stopping them, because it robs them of their rhetorical power and punch. We need more of this, not less, as things in the Western world get increasingly pulled into the orbits of those justifying authoritarianism, or “illiberal democracy” as Hungary’s Viktor Orbán likes to describe it as. These same actors are on the move here in Canada as well, and we need to shine a light on them and their tactics.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russian missiles have hit Kyiv and Kharkiv early Tuesday morning, killing at least three. Poland’s new prime minister visited Kyiv to meet with president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and help smooth over the issue of Polish truckers and farmers blockading border crossings. Zelenskyy also said he is looking to make changes to the country’s constitution to allow for dual citizenships, except for those living in “aggressor countries.”

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau announced the appointment of Mary Robinson, currently vice-president of the World Farmers” Organisation, to the Senate for PEI.
  • Apparently one of the topics under discussion at the Cabinet retreat is how to leverage the obsession/hysteria over a possible Trump return to their advantage.
  • The government announced a two-year temporary cap on student visas in order to get a handle on the problem of private career colleges. (Details here).
  • Marc Miller also says that the government is holding talks with Mexico about the rise in the number of asylum claims from that country.
  • The government will not appeal a court decision that would strike down the law that strips second-generation Canadians born abroad of their citizenship.
  • Federally-registered corporations are now required to disclose beneficial ownership information to the government, some of which will be made public.
  • Here’s a look at the unresolved items from the Supply and Confidence Agreement.
  • National Defence is looking to scale back its commitment to fund innovation and buy from start-ups, because they have been very bad at it to date.
  • There is apparently talk that provincial Liberals in Quebec are thinking of wooing François-Philippe Champagne to lead them, and he isn’t saying no (yet).
  • Pierre Poilievre ridiculed Trudeau’s statement about the genocide case at the ICJ, and tries to claim that his own position isn’t “divisive.”
  • Surprising nobody, Doug Ford’s office was involved in the Greenbelt scandal earlier than they claimed, and were conducting business using personal emails.
  • The Alberta government wants every municipality in the province to list their agreements with the federal government, so that they can assert control.
  • Andrew Leach explains why Alberta nearly had rolling blackouts during that frigid weekend, and it’s not the reason the premier says it was.

Odds and Ends:

For National Magazine, I wrote about the Supreme Court of Canada granting leave to hear the case of the how provincial prisons judge disciplinary charges.

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