The Globe and Mail’s ongoing pursuit of this story of alleged “tensions” between Chrystia Freeland and the PMO amidst the courting of Mark Carney continue to confound. While none of the substance of these stories actually make sense if you think about it for more than twenty seconds, as I point out in my weekend column, what I find particularly grubby is the way the Globe has been carrying on the story.

To recap, they started with this rather bullshit non-story about these “tensions,” which weren’t actually news because there are always tensions between a PM or Cabinet and a finance minister, because they have to say no to all kinds of grand spending plans. It as a non-story based on gossip and some “strategic” leaks that don’t actually serve any purpose, but they insisted this had ten sources, so it must be credible, but it’s hard to get a sense of what they actually said that would make this something that is actually news. The Globe then followed up with a story saying there’s a fresh attempt to recruit Mark Carney amidst these “tensions,” and the Conservatives put two and two together, and created this delusional scenario about Trudeau somehow throwing Freeland “under the bus” before he replaces her, which was not in the story, but they created this fever dream while simultaneously policing feminism, belittling Freeland while claiming Trudeau was bullying her (and also claiming that they don’t do tokenism in their party, which is laughable). It was pretty gross to watch.

So, what does the Globe do? Write up these fevered delusions as though they’re actually news, and then sends reporters to Freeland’s presser to have her respond to these bizarre, delusional accusations the Conservatives dreamed up, extending the non-story even further. In essence, they set the cat among the pigeons and then spend days writing about the aftermath, all of which is chasing phantoms, rumours, delusions, and frankly, misogynistic outbursts. I have a really hard time with this kind of “journalism,” which feels more masturbatory than it does ethical or in the service of educating the public. I get that they’re doing this for clicks, but it’s pretty icky, especially given how much misogyny has flowed from it.

Ukraine Dispatch

Russia launched a massive aerial attack on Ukraine on Friday, with 93 cruise and ballistic missiles, and more than 200 drones, targeting more critical infrastructure. Russian forces are also continuing their march toward strategic city of Pokrovsk. Ukrainian drones hit a fuel storage facility in central Russia, while the new head of Ukraine’s ground forces says he plans major improvements to troop training, management, and recruitment to help deal with manpower shortages. Ukraine also announced it was planning to send food aid to Syria because Russia has cut them off from the aid they were providing.

https://twitter.com/DefenceU/status/1867521042912325739

The statement comes as analysts raise concerns about a growing risk of Ukrainian units being encircled in the area.

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) December 13, 2024

Good reads:

• Justin Trudeau was in North Vancouver for the launch of HMCS Protecteur, the first of the new Joint Supply Ships that have been nearly a decade in the making.
• Trudeau’s episode of Hot Wings Quebec has aired, and here are things he said.
• Chrystia Freeland says that the government will remove the cap that prevents pension funds from owning more than 30 percent of a Canadian company.
• Freeland also says that Trump’s strategy is to create economic uncertainty in other countries in order to attract investment in the US, so don’t play his game.
• Steven MacKinnon is calling on the Industrial Relations Board to postpone Canada Post’s labour action until May in order to allow more time for negotiation.
• Marc Miller laid out some of the changes he’s looking to make to the asylum system in order to close loopholes and speed processing.
• AFN National Chief Cindy Woodhouse-Neepinak is calling on MPs to send the First Nations water bill to the Senate before they rise for the holidays.
• An Ontario court has reluctant granted a three-month extension on the deadline to pass the “lost Canadians” bill, and made some scathing observations.
• Airline executives were at the transport committee, and they want governments to swallow fees in order to lower air travel costs. (Good luck with that).
• Pierre Poilievre says he will honour existing defence spending commitments, but that it will also be subject to his “dollar for dollar” nonsense (so cutting other areas).
• Former Liberal MP and Halifax mayor Mike Savage was sworn-in as lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia.
• Paul Wells reflects on the current moment of trying to find a “Team Canada” response to Trump, and the premiers who are going their own way.
• My year-end Xtra column points to all of the ways in which 2024 was the year of creeping authoritarianism, both abroad and here in Canada.
• My weekend column points out all of the ways in which the overblown stories about Chrystia Freeland Mark Carney don’t make the slightest bit of sense.

Odds and ends:

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