As you probably saw, the big news yesterday was Jagmeet Singh melodramatically ripping up the supply-and-confidence agreement with the Liberals—well, except he didn’t really, but he posted a social media video and hid from reporters the whole day, and locked down all of their MPs from speaking…but then put up the party president, who didn’t know what she was talking about, and basically humiliated herself on national television, so that was…something. I’ve already expounded upon the events in a column here, but I will reiterate that the procedural warfare we’re about to see is going to be absolutely ridiculous, and Singh not only doesn’t understand jurisdiction, but also how Parliament works. He’s doomed the very things he claims to care about for the sake of hollow performance.
Procedural warfare has been a *problem* with our parliament since 2019, which nobody wants to talk about. Today just made it 100% worse, because it’s going to be done with the added preening for social media clips. https://t.co/3VzKSx5pa5
— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) September 4, 2024
https://twitter.com/journo_dale/status/1831387238279819412
Here’s a look at what was accomplished from the agreements in the deal and what wasn’t. Pharmacare hasn’t crossed the finish line, so I’m not sure why both the Liberal and NDP are talking like it has (especially because no province has signed on yet). There was also an unfinished commitment to a safe long-term care legislation, which has only completed consultations, but again, this is pretty much entirely within provincial jurisdiction, so I’m not sure how meaningful any federal legislation is going to really be on it. As well, the Elections Act changes promised in the agreement are still being debated. More than anything, the fact that the NDP pulled out of the deal nearly a year early when the Liberals were living up to their side of it looks an awful lot like Singh and the NDP are operating in bad faith, and it doesn’t speak highly for anyone trusting them in any future agreements.
In pundit reaction, Althia Raj defends Singh’s actions, saying it was necessary for the NDP to rebrand themselves as change candidates in the next election. The legendary Don Newman points out that Singh traded policy wins for political power, and that this move will actually cement Trudeau’s leadership since it will be deemed too risky to hold a leadership contest now. Paul Wells notes that Trudeau’s tactic appears to be just staying the course and saying or doing nothing as everything happens around him, so we’ll see how that works for him as the fall rolls along. And as always, the Beaverton got it right.
Jagmeet Singh asserts independence by doing exactly what Pierre Poilievre told him to https://t.co/jdRcbo4xLB
— The Beaverton (@TheBeaverton) September 4, 2024
The next year in Parliament is going to be one big game of chicken. https://t.co/nM4dKMiSHb
— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) September 4, 2024
Ukraine Dispatch
The overnight missile and drone attack Wednesday killed four people in Lviv, while more energy facilities were targeted in nine regions. Here is a lengthy piece about the first F-16 pilot killed in the war. Ukraine’s foreign minister has also resigned in advance of an expected government shake-up.
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ireland has steadfastly supported Ukraine, providing assistance amounting to approximately €380 million. Today, together with Ireland’s Taoiseach @SimonHarrisTD, we signed an Agreement on Support for Ukraine and Cooperation… pic.twitter.com/ouMPbpWPdW
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 4, 2024
⚡️Cooling tower at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant requires demolition after fire, IAEA chief says.
A cooling tower at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant will require demolition after a fire on Aug. 12 rendered the structure unusable, International Atomic Energy…
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) September 5, 2024
Good reads:
- Justin Trudeau was in Newfoundland and Labrador to announce that they had signed an agreement with that province for their school food programme.
- A recent report shows a growing divide between political staff and civil servants, both in terms of faithful implementation but also how they are abused as props.
- The Canadian Press thought it newsworthy that two LGBTQ+ activists think that Trudeau should step down because they’re (justifiably) afraid of a Poilievre win.
- A Quebec court has ruled in favour of a class-action lawsuit alleging racial profiling by Montreal police, and that victims deserve up to $5000.
- The Alberta government is pulling funding from Calgary’s Green Line LRT project for purely political nonsense.
- Kevin Carmichael parses the Bank of Canada’s interest rate decision.
- My column gives a quick assessment of Singh’s short-sighted move, and what this means for the next year in the House of Commons with constant procedural warfare.
Odds and ends:
RCMP issues statement amid flurry over NDP video, about former Canada bureaucrat who plead guilty to breach of trust charges after 72 sole-source contracts directed to a company the official owned: pic.twitter.com/DA9HNX9pci
— Paul Vieira (@paulvieira) September 4, 2024
And these are the face-eating leopards Danielle Smith is currently pandering to in the hopes that they don’t eat her face like they did Jason Kenney’s. https://t.co/xEA90hLusR
— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) September 5, 2024
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