Roundup: Premiers washing their hands of food insecurity culpability

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As you may have seen or read from Question Period yesterday, Pierre Poilievre was trying to draw a connection between Justin Trudeau, government spending, and the fact that more people than ever are lining up at food banks than ever before. On its face, the connection is specious and we know this is more of Poilievre’s particular little game of pretending that Justin Trudeau is omnipotent and is personally making all of these things happen, and if you’ve been paying attention, you would also know that the real cause of food price inflation is largely climate-driven (mostly droughts in food-producing regions, but other extreme weather like flash floods or hurricanes have devastated crops), and the invasion of Ukraine didn’t help, because Ukraine is a major grain and cooking oil exporter, and it threw global markets into disarray.

So, what really is the reason people are being increasingly driven to food banks? Well, according to the CEO of Food Banks Canada, it has a lot more to do with the fact that provincial social assistance payments have not been keeping up with inflation, and skyrocketing rents (which, again, is provincial jurisdiction) are also taking a bigger and bigger bite out of the wallets of lower-income Canadians. And while she did say that the federal government could do more, with another GST rebate as they have done already, this once again is mostly the problem of the premiers, who are doing as little as possible about it. Colour me shocked!

But because this is Canada, all of the blame continues to be funnelled to the federal government and Justin Trudeau, because as a country, we are apparently incapable of holding the premiers to account for anything that is in their wheelhouse. The media plays a very big role in this, because provincial legislature bureaux are decimated, and it’s sexier to make everything a federal story, constitution be damned, and that in turn gets justified with the phrase “Nobody cares whose jurisdiction it is.” Well, nobody except the federal government that doesn’t have any levers to pull, or the Supreme Court of Canada, who will be called in if the federal government tries to do something and the premiers cry foul. But you know, the population are to be treated like idiots and that they can’t understand basic federalism. This country is so parochial sometimes, and the premiers love it because they can get away with murder (or, well, negligent homicide, as the pandemic fully proved). We are so boned as a democracy, but we’re going to keep shrugging and washing our hands of it. Good job, everyone.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russian air strikes continue to his Kharkiv, as a ten people were wounded in a café hit, and a Russian drone hit a police car on an evacuation trip in Kharkiv’s surrounding region. (Kharkiv photos here). Russian drones also hit power supplies in Sumy region, causing blackouts. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is calling for more upgraded defences to combat guided bombs, which are now the primary way that Russians are targeting cities.

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1793296668529443312

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1793216513005998133

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau would not commit to recognising Palestinian statehood at this time, in spite of more European countries now doing so.
  • The federal government unveiled their new cybersecurity plan, which aim to fill gaps and uncover blind spots.
  • Canada and the US have signed an agreement to suspend fishing for Yukon River chinook salmon for the next seven years to help replenish stocks.
  • Here is a look at the returns from the CPP’s investments over the last year.
  • The RCMP connecting their stolen vehicle database with Interpol’s has identified more than 1500 stolen vehicles from Canada by police around the world.
  • The RCMP have warned a Canadian Sikh (whose father was implicated but acquitted in the Air India bombing) that his life may be in danger.
  • The Senate has passed its rules change package (which is going to do far less than they are touting).
  • The Commons health committee went on a three-city trip to see the opioid crisis first hand, and the Conservatives didn’t join them.
  • The Star has a look at the new book about Poilievre, with an exploration of his 2008 comments on Indigenous people, and five other key points from the text.
  • The NDP are accusing the government of insincerity because they can’t get people out of Gaza, and complain about the process for Sudanese family reunification.

Odds and ends:

https://twitter.com/MickeyDjuric/status/1793300422670643506

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