Roundup: The virtual meeting with the premiers over Trump

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Prime minister Justin Trudeau had his virtual meeting with the premiers yesterday evening, and it has been a really interesting divergence in reactions. Jagmeet Singh is panicking and demanding performative forcefulness, while Pierre Poilievre is trying to leverage the moment for his own political ends, claiming that the solution is to do everything he says (conveniently!). Premiers have been all over the map, going from caution to outright boot-licking (looking at you, Danielle Smith), and this was one of the messages that emerged from that meeting. I also find it particularly crass the number of premiers who set up American flags for their backdrops before their media availabilities before and after the meeting. Seriously, guys?

Chrystia Freeland met with reporters and spoke about the need for a united front and not to be seen to be squabbling with one another, but premiers with their own agendas haven’t really seemed to warm to that necessity, because they’d rather score points against the current government with boneheaded accusations that they were “blindsided” by the threats, and that they don’t have a plan. (They’ve had a plan for over a year, guys. You might want to actually pay attention). And after the meeting, most of the premiers made their own individual points about how they want so many more resources poured into their province (such as more RCMP members that don’t exist because they can’t recruit and train them fast enough, or retain them in the toxic culture of the Force), but Smith remains particularly stubborn in trying to leverage this into foregoing the emissions cap and trying to say that Trudeau shouldn’t be leading the effort to defend Canada (again, to her benefit).

Meanwhile, Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, took a much more aggressive stance with threatened retaliation (which Trudeau has thus far not threatened, preferring a “methodical” approach). Sheinbaum had a call with Trump and basically pledged to keep doing what they were already doing, and Trump declared victory, so maybe Canada will do the same? Trudeau has talked about strengthening border measures, which has been an ongoing process, particularly since the amendment of the Safe Third Country Agreement, so maybe that too will be enough to get Trump to declare victory? I guess we shall see, but in the meantime, we’ll see how many premiers can keep their cool.

Ukraine Dispatch

Explosions were heard in Odesa, Kropyvnytskyi, Kharkiv, Rivne and Lutsk amid reports of a cruise missile attack last night. Three were wounded in a drone attack on Kyiv the night before. Russian forces claim to have taken the settlement of Nova Illinka in Donetsk region. Germany’s intelligence chief says that Russian sabotage in NATO countries could trigger Article 5.

Good reads:

  • The government split up their planned bill so that the GST “holiday” will be its own legislation that the NDP will support, but the rebate cheques are not included.
  • Steve MacKinnon says he won’t use federal powers to end the Canada Post strike, as mediators take a break because the parties are still too far apart.
  • The federal government has reached a settlement in the class-action lawsuit for non-union employees affected by Phoenix pay system problems.
  • The military released a report that warns about an incoherent Arctic policy and equipment that is on the verge of rusting out.
  • Mark Carney made comments at an event, saying Canada didn’t live up to its values with immigration, but also didn’t hold provinces accountable for their failures.
  • The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Quebec is in breach of obligations to First Nations in its north to provide funding for Indigenous policing.
  • Senator Woo has been downplaying Michael Chong and Jenny Kwan’s claims that they have been targeted by Chinese foreign interference (except CSIS warned them).
  • Liberal MP Chad Collins was threatened with unspecified “consequences” if he votes against the planned $250 cheques, because he wants them to go to more people.
  • The Liberal candidate in the upcoming Cloverdale—Langley City byelection removed “Métis” from her profile after complaints, while she gets documentation.
  • Surprising nobody, Danielle Smith’s government didn’t consult industry before she unveiled her useless plan to somehow shield them from the federal emissions cap.
  • Kevin Carmichael takes a broader view of the tariff threats and counsels people not to panic, but to be alive to the challenges that it poses.

Odds and ends:

For National Magazine, I took a deep dive into the translation turmoil at the Supreme Court of Canada over its pre-1970 decisions.

Need a copy of my book “The Unbroken Machine,” or “Royal Progress,” which I contributed to? Want to give a copy as a gift? Dundurn Press is having a 25% off site wide sale!

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2024-11-18T23:53:05.945Z

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