Over the past couple of days, Justin Trudeau and Karina Gould have been intimating that Pierre Poilievre has “something to hide” by not seeking his security clearance. It’s a stupid talking point, it trivialises the seriousness of the issue, and it descends to the same childish accusations that the Conservatives are lobbing at the government over the refusal to turn over certain unredacted documents related to SDTC as part of a banana republic production order (as the subject of the current privilege filibuster). It’s not cute, and it doesn’t make them look like the adults in the room.

And then along comes Michael Chong, who gave this cockamamie story to the Globe and Mail that because security clearances can involve invasive questions like sexual partners or past drug use, and that Trudeau is “so desperate” that he would use that information to publicly undermine Poilievre. But, and former CSIS director Ward Elcock made the point in the same piece, CSIS would never turn that information over to the PM, no matter the political pressure, so not only is Chong just making up conspiracy bullshit (as he has been wont to do increasingly of late), he is actually adding fuel fire by making it look like Poilievre does indeed have something to hide. Like, my dude, did you even think about your stupid conspiracy for five whole seconds before you blurted it out to Bob Fife? Honestly.

Remember when Michael Chong was a man of principle and didn't just constantly make up shitty conspiracy theories to suck up to his leader? #cdnpoli www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/art…

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2024-10-24T17:20:23.744Z

We all know that the reasons Poilievre won’t get the clearance is because it would require him to lie slightly less than he does currently. Poilievre even tacitly admitted this when he declared in QP “This prime minister will not gag me!” (Phrasing!) But by trying to take this “hiding something” schtick across the board is just tiresome when everyone should be striving to be grown-ups about this.

Ukraine Dispatch

Russians launched a thermobaric ammunition attack on Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region, while Ukrainian forces shot down 40 out of 50 drones overnight. Russian forces have been making a fast advance into the town of Selydove, which they have been trying to take control of. Ukrainian intelligence suggests that North Korean troops are already in the Kursk region.

#Russia has committed 664 crimes in #Ukraine️ against media and journalists since the beginning of the full-scale war.

As of October 24, 91 media workers have died in Ukraine as a result of the full-scale #Russian aggression, 12 of whom were killed while performing their… pic.twitter.com/ipgWXMY3Id

— UkraineWorld (@ukraine_world) October 24, 2024

During the interview, Scholz said that NATO allies "have described a perspective" on Ukraine's eventual accession to the alliance, adding "but I think that beyond that, there is currently no need for any new decision."

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) October 24, 2024

Good reads:

• Justin Trudeau made the announcement on the plan to reduce immigration targets for the next three years alongside Marc Miller.
• Mélanie Joly is off to Paris to attend a summit on aiding Lebanon given the current situation while groups in Canada warn that of a shortfall in donations to be matched.
• It turns out that one of the reasons we aren’t expelling Russian diplomats is because our own presence in Moscow is bare-bones and can’t afford the retaliation.
• The Foreign Interference inquiry wrapped up hearings yesterday, and now Justice Hogue is off to write the final report.
• A CIHI report shows that 5.4 million people don’t have a family doctor, but surgical backlogs are finally back to pre-COVID levels.
• Here is a look at the extent of the disinformation targeting Canada on the allegedly Russian-funded Tenet Media podcasts.
• Liberal dissenters are a little disappointed Trudeau was dismissive of their concerns less than 24 hours after he said he would “reflect” on their words.
• Conservative-turned-independent MP Alain Rayes says that anti-abortion activists have fully infiltrated the Conservatives, which is one reason he left.
• The NDP will use their upcoming Supply Day (whenever that is) to move a motion on abortion access—because they really are taking all of their cues from the US.
• A third-party group calling itself “Protecting Canada,” made up of former Liberal and NPD staffers, are launching anti-Poilievre ads.
• Shannon Proudfoot describes the weird mood in Parliament on Wednesday before, during and after that caucus meeting.
• Susan Delacourt looks to Trudeau’s past patterns to determine what she thinks he’ll do next with his backbench rebels.

Odds and ends:

For the millionth time, please stop pushing governments to commit to emissions targets decades from now and start pushing them to commit to policies and to provide projections of what those policies will achieve. A target with no policies is an excuse, not a plan.

— Andrew Leach (@andrew_leach) October 24, 2024

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