Roundup: Provinces learned they can underfund disaster management

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The House of Commons’ national defence committee tabled their report on disaster management earlier this week, and one of its recommendations is for a permanent civilian federal disaster management force that can be deployed for wildfires, floods, hurricanes, or other natural disasters—but they stopped short of recommending a Canadian FEMA, which may not be possible given that this is constitutionally largely an area of provincial jurisdiction, and would require some kind of provincial agreement to operate, and because this is Canada, the provinces would want some kind of say in its operations but wouldn’t want to pay for it, because of course.

One of the problems we’re dealing with as a country is that we’re dealing with the Canadian Forces being at their capacity and they are constantly being asked to deal with disaster management across the country because provincial capacity maxes out too soon. But why does provincial capacity max out? Because they keep cutting funds or under-investing, and creating these situations because they know that regardless of what happens, they can simply call up the federal government to ask them deploy the Canadian Forces, and even more to the point, that they can do it for free because the federal government won’t ask for reimbursement even though they are entitled to. And this has wound up teaching the premiers that there are pretty much no consequences for their under-investing or even cutting the funding for this kind of emergency management, so they are incentivized to rely on the Canadian Forces to do the work for them for free, and now we have reached the end of that being possible.

So, what is the solution? I am wary of the notion of building up a federal force because even if they can manage to get provincial agreements, staff it up (because you would be drawing from the same pool as the Canadian Forces, which has a recruitment and retention crisis), and even if they paid for all of it (which they shouldn’t), this will exacerbate the existing problem of provinces not funding or bolstering their existing forces that are their constitutional responsibility because there will still be a federal backstop. And if the federal government starts asking for reimbursement, either for the use of the Canadian Forces or this hypothetical future force, then the media will be aghast that the federal government is making the province pay in their time of need, completely ignoring that the provincial under-funding created the situation in the first place. We’re at a bit of a rock and hard place, because we have let federalism break down like this, and that’s not good for the country.

Ukraine Dispatch

Russian guided bombs struck the Eastern settlement of Selydove, killing two. Ukrainian forces captured a Russian “barn” tank that has been modified to protect against drone attacks. Ukraine launched a drone attack that struck three Russian oil refineries overnight.

Good reads:

  • In Cape Breton, Justin Trudeau announced a $125 million land claims agreement with a local First Nation, as well as ongoing funds for Mi’kmaq communities.
  • Mélanie Joly has levied more sanctions against gang leaders in Haiti.
  • Joly is calling on all Canadians in Iran to leave immediately should the regime want to retaliate for the IRGC terror designation.
  • The government is “monitoring” the situation with Chinese EVs, not yet ready to impose similar tariffs to what the Americans levied onto them.
  • The federal government is grappling with Indigenous and Métis recognition and the problems of identity fraud that have come with it.
  • The federal government announced nearly $60 million as part of a partnership with Quebec to build transitional housing in Montreal.
  • Here is a look at the discipline files from Global Affairs last year, ranging from reprimands for using “mouse jigglers,” to termination for sexual assault.
  • Here are more remarks from NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg during his trip to Ottawa, where he points out how much of an ally Canada is to Ukraine.
  • The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the Charter does apply to Ontario public school boards, and a principal snooping on a teacher’s computer was unreasonable.
  • A convoy protester spat in the face of Marco Mendicino (and broadcast it over the Internet), because this is the state of the discourse in this country.
  • It seems there were divisions in the Liberal caucus around appointing MP Anthony Housefather to a role in fighting antisemitism.
  • Former Liberal MP and Montreal mayor Denis Coderre is making a run for the Quebec Liberal leadership.
  • The Ford government is shuttering the Ontario Science Centre after (fixable) problems were found with the roof, and Ford won’t repair them.
  • Ontario municipalities are complaining that the CMHC is undercounting their housing starts, costing them access to federal funding.
  • Rachel Notley held a farewell event on the eve of the leadership vote to replace her.
  • My weekend column looks at the constitutional obligations that MPs are ignoring, particularly their entire raison d’être when it comes to safeguarding spending.

Odds and ends:

For National Magazine, I look at some of the specific concerns around the foreign agent registry legislation, particularly for the legal profession.

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