Roundup: Moe looks to capitulate as well

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There was another virtual first ministers’ meeting yesterday to discuss ongoing preparations for dealing with threats from Trump, and yes, Danielle Smith was in attendance (virtually, from Washington), and most of the premiers are on board with the need for dollar-for-dollar retaliation. Most. Smith herself was trying to sound conciliatory and saying that things were “better” from her perspective this time, but now Scott Moe is starting to say that he’s not in favour of dollar-for-dollar retaliation, because he too is more interested in capitulation to Trump. Then again, Moe is one who has a history of capitulation, like the time he caved to the demands of the so-called “Freedom convoy” and then begged them not to blockade the border crossings in his province. That’s who Scott Moe is.

Meanwhile, Danielle Smith says that the premiers agreed that they need to build more east-west pipelines, and good luck with that, mostly because people in Eastern Canada aren’t really keen on paying the premium that shipping Alberta oil and gas would cost (particularly on the east coast), particularly if we are moving to a carbon-constrained future where it would probably be cheaper and better in the longer-term to simply invest in building up capacity for a faster adoption of EVs rather than spend billions on infrastructure for stranded assets. Oh, and don’t think that more pipelines to the west coast are going to mean a boon for LNG either, considering that there are numerous LNG proposals on the books that have all of their approvals, but haven’t been built because the market hasn’t found a case for them, either in terms of investments or a willingness to sign long-term contracts for these projects.

There is some hope that the current situation may finally let provinces see the wisdom of eliminating internal trade barriers, largely around regulation and credentials recognition, but then again, this has been an irritant since Confederation, and that kind of inertia is really hard to overcome.

Ukraine Dispatch

Russian-installed officials claim that Ukraine launched a drone attack near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear facility.

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau will head to Poland next week to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.
  • Two years after promising to seize the Canadian bank accounts of Russian oligarchs, the government has not yet done so(possibly because it might mean compensation).
  • The Canadian Forces are relaxing some of their entry medical requirements in order to aid with recruitment efforts.
  • The military ombudsman is calling on the government to compensate Afghan-Canadians who went over as translators and advisors under contract.
  • Refugee advocates want the government to make an exception in the Safe Third Country agreement for potential trans refugees from the US.
  • Here is an interesting history on the name of the Gulf of Mexico (now that Trump is trying to rename it, at least internally).
  • In the Liberal leadership, Carney, Freeland and Arya have submitted their paperwork and deposits to officially be in the race.
  • Freeland now says she’ll undo the capital gains changes, claiming the “situation changed” with Trump, but all it will do is allow tax arbitrage to continue.
  • Harjit Sajjan says he’s not running again, while Helena Jaczek has changed her mind about retiring and will run again.
  • Pierre Poilievre is promising to cut the size of the federal civil service by not doing any replacement hires (good luck with that), but claims he’s fine with remote work.
  • When asked about Trump’s anti-trans executive order, Poilievre says he’s “only aware of two genders” and harangued a reporter who asked him about it.
  • Quebec’s provincial police are poised to deploy to the border in the event of a Trump-related migrant surge (but there are no signs of that just yet).
  • Following the Supreme Court of Canada ruling that allowed a multi-Crown suit, BC has had their class action against opioid companies certified to proceed.
  • Kevin Carmichael wonders if our problem is not that we don’t need more trade deals, but that we need more firms willing to trade outside of the US.
  • Susan Delacourt suspects that Trudeau’s impending exit is allowing him to leave on a stronger note because he can deal with Trump with no other distractions.

Odds and ends:

For National Magazine, I delve into the Federal Court challenge on prorogation.

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One thought on “Roundup: Moe looks to capitulate as well”

  1. Yes, and the Star-Phoenix reported that when some guy from Outlook drove his half-ton truck down to Regina to help with the “blockade” of the Legislative Buildings, he found that Regina police were all over the place preventing any traffic from parking anywhere near, then he had his truck towed and had to pay a big fine to get it back, and he wondered how come Moe wasn’t on his side. Surprise, surprise!!

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