Roundup: Another far-right defeat

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The news out of France this weekend was that the far-right was not the victors in their legislative elections, but rather that the left-wing alliance came in with the highest seats, followed by Emmanuel Macron’s centrists, denying the far-right the victory they had been hoping for. This isn’t great for Macron in that his prime minister has resigned and he will have a hard time getting his agenda through the National Assembly, but nevertheless, his gamble did somewhat pay off in that he thwarted the far right from making any further advances. This, along with the fact that Labour won a resounding victory in the UK days earlier, has plenty of people talking about how hopefully the US and Canada will be next to reject the far-right. I am not wholly mollified.

The US remains the big question mark, particularly given all of the attention on president Biden’s fitness to carry on for another term, and we cannot get too complacent here in Canada. While our own far-right is still marginal, the bigger danger remains that the Conservatives continue to try and court those far-right actors and are increasingly taking pages out of the authoritarian playbook. Nevertheless, the Elder Pundits in this country insist that there’s nothing to see here, that things can’t be that bad under Poilievre, or that the concerns of women or LGBTQ+ people are mere exaggerations. They’re not, and we can’t let our guard down at this critical juncture.

Ukraine Dispatch

Ukrainian forces shot down three out of six missiles fired by Russia over the central regions of the country. Russian drones hit an energy facility in the Sumy region on Saturday. Ukrainian drones hit a munitions depot inside Russian territory, causing a massive explosion. Russians claim that Ukrainians were thwarted trying to hijack one of their strategic bombers, but there is no verification of that claim.

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau is off to the NATO summit in Washington today, looking for more support for Ukraine, and to shore up relationships within the US.
  • The Indigenous tourism industry is looking for more support, particularly because of the effects the pandemic has had on the sector.
  • Here is a look at Corus Entertainment’s dire fiscal situation.
  • The NDP believe they can capitalise on the Liberals’ discontent/panic, and want to put Jagmeet Singh in front of crowds over the summer.
  • Kevin Carmichael laments the lack of a national energy grid because of a federal divisions (though I think line-loss is still a relevant issue).
  • Mike Moffatt points to the exodus of young professionals from Toronto, and how it’s creating a stratification between the rich and those too poor to leave.
  • Susan Delacourt offers a history lesson of how former Liberal leadership divisions played out, and why that’s not what’s happening with Justin Trudeau.

Odds and ends:

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One thought on “Roundup: Another far-right defeat”

  1. Yes it is interesting to see elections in Europe and how it turns out. No such luck in Canada. Canadians by and large are consumers first and looking only after their own interest. They do not give a fig about the country as long as more benefits come their way. So yes they will vote Conservative simply because they promised to lower taxes. No one thinks that lower taxes means cut in services. Poor Canadians spoiled children. Just wait for Trump to get back in and he will put the boots to Canadians and whoever is PM.

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