The Conservatives released a video over social media over the weekend, where they took what appears to be a canned speech that Pierre Poilievre gave during Calgary Stampede, and added a bunch of stock footage to it. But, well, when you’re talking about how much you love Canada in your speech, it’s probably best not to use stock footage from places like the US, Serbia, Slovenia, Ukraine, and even more importantly, when you’re praising the new fighter jets that Canadian pilots will be flying, it’s probably best not to use footage of Russian fighters.

https://twitter.com/disorderedyyc/status/1825265002674287077

The video was eventually deleted, but it was also observed that it’s funny that in this stock-footage ideal that Poilievre was using, just how very white the Canada he presented was. For a party that keeps trying to make inroads with particular ethno-cultural communities in the suburbs of major cities, that might be a problem. And while I’m sure it wasn’t a conscious decision on the part of whichever of their social media geniuses that edited the piece together, it does say volumes about the kinds of people they attract to the party, and what it says about the vision of Canada that they’re looking for from the Conservatives.

Ukraine Dispatch

Russia launched its third ballistic missile attack against Kyiv this month, but it appears they were shot down on approach. While Ukraine shot down 14 Russian drones overnight Saturday, a missile attack on Sumy injured two people. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is back to saying that the Kursk operation is about creating a buffer zone (which is currently taking out bridges that will slow Russia’s ability to bring supplies to the region), and that all of the Russian soldiers being taken prisoner will be used to exchange for more Ukrainian POWs.

Russia always knows where it is striking with its missiles and bombs—this is deliberate and targeted Russian terror.

Over the course of this week, the Russians have used more than 40 missiles of various types, 750 guided aerial bombs, and 200 strike UAVs of different types… pic.twitter.com/VgAKwqTNtT

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 18, 2024

⚡️ Another key bridge destroyed in Kursk Oblast, Ukraine claims.

It would be the second key bridge destroyed by Ukrainian forces in recent days and will further hinder Russia's ability to resupply troops hoping to fend off Ukraine's incursion.https://t.co/wMo9MYm8wH

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) August 18, 2024

Good reads:

• Justin Trudeau named broadcaster Charles Adler and hospital executive Tracy Muggli to the Senate. (There are many questions about Adler’s past and record).
• Railway labour negotiations don’t seem to have made any headway as both national railways have issued lockout notices for Thursday.
• The federal government is still setting up the advisory board for their national infrastructure inventory assessment, which municipalities say is urgently needed.
• Kevin Carmichael talks to the new CEO of the First Nations Bank.
• My weekend column points to the sob stories certain politicians post over social media, where the math never really adds up or the logic never really follows.

Odds and ends:

https://twitter.com/LindsayTedds/status/1825241139521478694

Applies equally to every chud in Canada who somehow believes that we are currently living in a communist hellscape. https://t.co/ZH9orosFGK

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) August 18, 2024

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