Roundup: It’s not logistically impossible

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For the past week-and-a-half, it has been nothing but handwringing over the Toronto—St. Paul’s by-election results, and the demands that Justin Trudeau either step aside, or to at least meet with his caucus. I took a full week for Trudeau to finally take questions from the media and said that he’s “committed” to staying on the job. And in response to the demands for an in-person caucus meeting now and not in September, Trudeau said he’s having one-on-one conversations with members of the caucus, and some of them are saying he needs to change “key players.”

And then comes along Liberal caucus chair Brenda Shanahan, who insists that it’s “logistically impossible” to have an in-person caucus meeting before September, to which I call bullshit. MPs can all get on a plane to Ottawa at any point, even if it means they have to cancel a barbeque appearance at some point. It’s not impossible, it’s a choice, and that choice is to not respect the members of the caucus, because frankly the leader doesn’t feel the need to be afraid of caucus because we have trained MPs to believe the falsehood that they are powerless and that the leader can push them around. That’s not actually true, and the caucus collectively has the power to vote non-confidence in the leader if they actually had the intestinal fortitude to do so. But therein lies the problem.

I’m also going to point out that all of the breathless reporting on Thursday about Chrystia Freeland saying that the Cabinet is fully behind Trudeau—of course they’re fully behind him. If they weren’t, they’d be out of a job. This isn’t rocket science, guys.

In case you missed them:

  • My weekend column where I talked to the author of the book Theatre of Lies about the situation we find ourselves in Canadian politics and what to do about it.
  • My column points out that one of the problems the Liberals face is how they choose their leaders, and that a proper Westminster system would have solved this by now.
  • My Loonie Politics Quick Take wonders just what Danielle Smith thinks she wants to “opt out” of around dental care.

Ukraine Dispatch

Ukrainian forces shot down 21 out of 22 Russian drones overnight Thursday. Ukrainian troops were forced to retreat from one neighbourhood in Chasiv Yar after their defensive positions were destroyed, risking further casualties. A Russian missile strike in Odesa killed a woman, while a guided bomb in Kharkiv region killed a man. Russians have started targeting Ukrainian air bases in advance of the delivery of F-16 fighter jets. Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán went to Kyiv for a frosty meeting as Hungary assumes the rotating presidency of the EU. Orbán then headed to Moscow, no doubt to get fresh orders from Putin.

Good reads:

  • Oh, noes! Justin Trudeau will miss the Calgary Stampede because he’s going to the NATO Summit in Washington.
  • Chrystia Freeland has published the Order-in-Council that enables the digital services tax on web giants after OECD negotiations stalled.
  • Not unexpectedly, Lt.-General Jennie Carignan has been appointed to be the next Chief of Defence Staff.
  • The CRA deleted several Minions-themed tweets after complaints (but I’m sure they thought the engagement numbers were worth it).
  • The Ethics Commissioner has ruled there’s nothing to investigate around Randy Boissonnault’s past business dealings, but the Conservatives won’t back down.
  • CSIS director David Vigneault has announced his retirement after seven years in the position, but no word on when his last day is, or about his successor.
  • The Competition Bureau says they are going to speed up the development of the greenwashing rules to provide better guidance to industries.
  • Liberal MP Ken McDonald says he’s not running again.
  • Conservatives are using the PBO’s dubious report on the possible cost of the Digital Safety Office as the excuse for their plan to shut it down and kill Online Harms Act.
  • The Quebec Government wants Supreme Court Justice Mahmud Jamal to recuse himself on the “secularism” law challenge for past association with the CCLA.
  • Saskatchewan has filed for an injunction to stop the CRA from collecting unremitted carbon levies, and I can’t wait for the courts to laugh this down.
  • Legal Aid Alberta is set to shut down after a contract dispute with the provincial government, which will make access to justice in the province worse.
  • Stephen Saideman has some thoughts on Carignan being promoted to CDS.
  • Kevin Carmichael points to how journalists and politicians are spinning negative narratives out of “lonely facts” without context or scope.
  • Bruce Arthur looks at how the Conservatives have started escalating attacks on experts they don’t like in order to subject them to harassment.
  • Paul Wells suggests the Liberals start thinking about a long-term vision that can carry them through the (likely) coming opposition years.
  • Wells also talks to Senator Peter Harder about his motion on a discussion of the Senate blocking bills that invoke the Notwithstanding Clause.
  • Wells gives some additional musings on the current situation the Liberals are in, and just what “doubling down” is supposed to look like.
  • Althia Raj recounts that Wayne Long found mostly silence in response to his email calling on Trudeau to consider stepping aside.
  • Susan Delacourt sees similarities in the calls for Trudeau and Biden to step aside, and the refusal by people in both countries to see Trump as a threat to democracy.

Odds and ends:

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