Roundup: Soft-pedalling the extremist camp

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It has been very interesting to watch how legacy media outlets have been covering Pierre Poilievre’s appearance at a “tax revolt” encampment on the Nova Scotia border, but also very, very predictable. For example, they take at face value that this is some kind of “anti-carbon tax” protest, much as they did during the Occupation of downtown Ottawa, but don’t actually who all of the participants are. While they may note that there are Diagolon signs, none of the outlets mentioned that much of this encampment is made up of adherents to the “sovereign citizens” movement, which is a dangerous movement that believes that with some special incantations, they can opt themselves out of laws or obligations like paying taxes. That’s kind of a big deal to be overlooked.

Somewhat hilariously, they all got the vapours over the fact that Poilievre said of Justin Trudeau “People believed his lies. Everything he said was bullshit, from top to bottom.” *gasp!* No mention of course that this was projection, that everything that Poilievre says is lies and bullshit, because they couldn’t possibly. And then it veered off to Trudeau’s response that this is a sign that Poilievre will do “anything to win,” and the whole stupid thing about not disavowing Alex Jones, which seems to be the wrong thing to try and hang this whole thing on. The matter is not that Poilievre is getting the endorsement of the biggest conspiracy theory charlatan in the United States, but rather that he is courting far-right extremists and making false promises to them that he can never keep, and that will have consequences down the road.

This being said, I also find it somewhat predictable that all of the conservatives who had a field day with the head of Hamas thanking Canada for a UN vote—which was a clear information operation—are now whinging and crying about the Alex Jones attention, and saying that Poilievre doesn’t follow him so he shouldn’t need to denounce him. I mean, good for the goose and the gander here, but if you think one is legitimate to make hay with, the other should be fair game as well by your own rules of engagement. Neither of you should make hay over these things, but consistency would be nice.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russian missiles struck residential buildings in Kharkiv, injuring six people. Ukraine launched its own drone attack against a major Russian steel factory in Lipetsk region, and partially destroyed an “oxygen station” that should do long-term damage wo their work. Ukraine’s government has also clamped down on military-aged men applying for passports as they try to deal with their mobilisation woes.

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau won’t comment on the coming TikTok ban in the US, while the government taps its influencers to help sell the budget.
  • Trudeau also wished Scott Moe luck with his coming battle with the CRA over not remitting carbon levy payments.
  • Anita Anand says the civil service needs to take a “nuanced” approach to staffing attrition in order to preserve needed tech talent.
  • Here is a look at how the Métis self-government bill has been falling apart, in particular because of internal identity politics between Métis and First Nations.
  • CBSA wants to use smartphone facial recognition to speed customs clearance, but of course it’s loaded with all kinds of privacy concerns.
  • The Bank of Canada’s governing council deliberation minutes revealed a split among members over when they think it’s time to start cutting rates.
  • Ukraine’s ambassador to Canada wants answers as to why Airbus was granted a sanctions waiver to use Russian titanium (after they said they’d find a new source).
  • The Logic tried to see if they could use an RFID emulator on the security on Parliament Hill, and the Sergeant-at-Arms was not amused.
  • Disability advocates are calling on the NDP not to pass the budget unless the government fixes the Canada Disability Benefit.
  • Peguis First Nation in Manitoba is suing the federal, provincial and nearby municipal governments for doing inadequate flood mitigation measures.
  • Justin Ling looks at the rise of YIMBY urbanism in recent years after decades of NIMBY exclusion-by-design.
  • Althia Raj wonders what Pierre Poilievre was thinking when he met with the extremist group camped out at the Nova Scotia border.
  • Susan Delacourt notes that Justin Trudeau has been doing more podcasts lately as a way of reaching different audiences.

Odds and Ends:

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One thought on “Roundup: Soft-pedalling the extremist camp”

  1. The path Poilievre is taking Canadians to authoritarian government is seductive and once the train gets momentum it is difficult to get off.
    PP tries like all wannabe dictators to make people believe that he has the answers to everything but serves up no policies. Recall how Trump said he would fix America in his first 100 days. We see how that turned out. Canadians must wake up. The siren song of a saviour will lead to disaster… PP’s mantra “common sense revolution” is just a gimmick. Canadians need to wake up and educate themselves against hollow rhetoric. Ignorance and no real common sense equals stupidity.

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