Roundup: On the policing of Trudeau’s feminism

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One of the sub-plots around the lead-up to Chrystia Freeland’s resignation was the continued policing of feminism by the Conservatives, because it’s in their interests to dismiss Justin Trudeau as a “fake feminist.” The CBC has a whole write-up about how gender was never mentioned in the letter but is being used as an attack line. I’m inclined to agree with University of Calgary’s Melanee Thomas, cited in the piece, who notes that the only real gendered element was the “frustration” that qualified women can experience when men in power dismiss their advice.

I have to say, though, that the piece lacks some of the specific comments that the Conservatives made, and chose some of the tamer quotes rather than the unhinged ones, where Freeland was belittled as someone who apparently had no agency in order to attack Trudeau, which seems like a really interesting way to defend her, but also not really defend her. My absolute favourite was Leslyn Lewis standing up to declare that she wasn’t a token, with the obvious implication that Freeland was, which again, is hard to square with defending her honour (but not really) by insisting that she had no qualifications and was only there as a quota. It was pretty grotesque, and also a little delusional, because if there is anyone who is more likely to be a token, it’s Lewis, who is a crazy conspiracy theorist who shouldn’t hold a portfolio and yet does, and sits in Poilievre’s camera shot for quite obvious reasons.

One of the most common refrains from the Conservatives as they have tried to denigrate Trudeau’s feminism, as performative as it might be, is that they keep insisting that women and minorities in their caucus all earned their places, but any in the Liberal ranks were all token diversity picks, which is incredibly dismissive, and just perpetuates the very notions that straight white men are the only ones who can really be considered “qualified” without question. It makes it really, really hard to take the feminism-policing from those who continue to push that kind of a narrative, whether they think that’s what they’re doing or not.

Ukraine Dispatch

South Korean intelligence suggests that at least 100 North Korean troops in the Kursk region have been killed so far, another 1000 have bene injured in combat, and that they are struggling with drone warfare. Here is a look at why Russia is so eager to take Pokrovsk. A combined Ukrainian missile and drone strike damaged an oil refinery in the Rostov region. Russia alleges that Ukraine has used white phosphorus in attacks, which Ukraine denies and says Russia is the one who used it.

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau is said to be trying to “chart a path forward” as more MPs are saying they won’t run again if he stays on as leader.
  • Dominic LeBlanc says he’s been given assurances that he’s not going to be replaced by Mark Carney, and that “those discussions have concluded.”
  • Marc Miller has made some change to the immigration system to prevent future instances of “flagpoling” by those using the Express Entry rules.
  • Canada Post put out a press release to say letters to Santa will be delivered by December 23rd, but won’t be answered this year.
  • A group looking for answers as to what happened at the Mohawk Institute residential school says they are insolvent without government funding.
  • The newest Order of Canada honourees includes Ryan Reynolds and those who fought against the military’s LGBT “purge.”
  • At least 16 Liberal MPs are now openly calling for Trudeau to resign.
  • Jagmeet Singh insists he doesn’t want to “box himself in” on the issue of bringing the government down because of the threat of Trump tariffs.
  • Shannon Proudfoot paints the scene of the Liberal Christmas party where Trudeau deployed his “family disagreements” line.

Odds and ends:

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