So much of the weekend was spent parsing what happened at Mar-a-Lago on Friday, particularly given that Justin Trudeau didn’t put out an official readout of the meeting (probably because Trump is not officially in government yet), while Trump posted about it on his social media where he called it “productive.” The takeaways appear to be that the tariffs threats cannot be avoided immediately, because Trump believes in them and wants to use them to balance the budget (good luck with that), but that we may be able to carve out exceptions. There was also talk about the border and fentanyl, according to Dominic LeBlanc, and talk about more drones and helicopters to patrol the border (but who knows where the helicopters and personnel will come from—we are not flush with excess capacity).

None of this was good enough for Pierre Poilievre, who took to the microphones on Sunday to claim that Trudeau went in a “position of weakness” (because that’s Poilievre’s go-to line these days), and lamented that Trudeau came home “empty-handed,” as though these things are done in a day, particularly with a mercurial chaos agent like Trump. Poilievre also says he wants a cap on asylum seekers, because he claims there are too many bad actors, and said he would allow a reprieve in the ongoing filibuster if there is a border plan that meets his approval on the table. But when asked what he would do different, Poilievre says he’s not the prime minister, and walked away. So…that happened.

In a fight between Canada and the US, with the incoming US President engaged in disinformation about the Canadian border, Pierre Poilievre sides with the US.

— Emmett Macfarlane (@emmettmacfarlane.com) 2024-12-01T19:19:43.012Z

Meanwhile, Doug Ford insists that the premiers are “unanimous” that they want us to accelerate defence spending to reach our NATO target sooner than later. No word yet on what fiscal demands they will give up from the federal government to reach that spending target faster (because the money has to come from somewhere).

“Stay in your lane,” the premiers kept telling the federal government about putting strings on healthcare funding or child care, but they want to dictate how the federal government deals with areas in its own exclusive areas of jurisdiction.
Rules for thee but not for me. https://t.co/VDZUq28vja

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) December 1, 2024

Ukraine Dispatch

A Russian drone hit a residential building in Ternopil overnight, killing one and injuring several others. Drones also targeted Kyiv the night previous, and killed three in a strike on Kherson. Russians claim to have overtaken the settlements of Illinka and Petrivka in Donetsk region. Ukraine says it will increase the use of unmanned ground vehicles over the coming year.

Last night, and throughout this week, our air defense forces, mobile fire groups, and all air defense units worked to protect Ukrainians from Russian aerial terror. Over 30 strike drones were shot down in a single night. In total, over the course of the week, Russia has used more… pic.twitter.com/40H5xmgjgZ

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) December 1, 2024

⚡️Russia loses almost 46,000 troops, over $3 billion worth of military equipment in November, Defense Ministry says.

The Russian military also lost 2,030 soldiers in one day, which is the highest rate of Russian losses in a day since Feb. 24, 2022.https://t.co/AsucznmPMQ

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) December 1, 2024

Good reads:

• Steven Guilbeault says he is disappointed that an agreement on a plastic pollution treaty could not be reached during talks in South Korea.
• The federal government has signed a modern treaty with the Manitoba Métis Federation, though more details will be hammered out in future negotiations.
• The cybersecurity bill has hit a snag in the Senate because a particular drafting/numbering error in the bill that has derailed progress.
• Canada Post claims to have offered a framework for the negotiations as the labour dispute continues, but no work when mediation will resume.
• The CBC visited an immigration detention facility to get a sense of what they are.
• Here’s a look at how police in Cameroon target gay men in the hopes of getting bribes, and how they want Canada to advocate for those laws to change.
• As well, here is how Ghana has been using new anti-LGBTQ+ legislation as a scapegoat from the other problems the country faces, as democracy backslides.
• Pierre Poilievre told a crowd in Aurora that municipal governments are “bursting with cash,” and are wasting it all and don’t need any more federal money.
• Kevin Carmichael notes that the ongoing filibuster and shenanigans in parliament are getting noticed in the international business community, and it’s not good.
• Shannon Proudfoot observes the version of Trudeau that exists in Poilievre’s head, and how Poilievre seems to think it would be different if he were in charge.
• Pauls Wells reflects on the current state of affairs, including Canadians who will always be willing collaborators, and Trudeau reminding himself he’s still the PM.
• My weekend column worries that a “Team Canada” approach to Trump may no longer be possible with too many domestic political agendas at play.

Odds and ends:

You can't "cut bureaucracy" to solve Canada's defence budget crisis. We need more, not less bureaucracy: if the government were to magically pour billions on defence tomorrow, it would not have the capacity to spend it.
(*but yes, there is much need for procurement reform)

— Thomas Juneau (@thomasjuneau) December 1, 2024

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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