Roundup: Positive feelings about a useless meeting

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We seem to be caught in a pattern where Donald Trump will invite a world leader to the White House—yesterday it was NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte—and he goes on an unhinged rant while they’re sitting there, trying to avoid saying anything that will set him off. And yesterday’s rant included a full-on threat to annex Greenland (while Rutte tried to downplay NATO’s involvement in any way, which is true to the extent that it only operates by consensus), and went on an extended rant about Canada not working as a real country, and made up the lie that America pays for our military (not true in the slightest), before repeating the falsehood that the US subsidizes us.

Meanwhile, Dominic LeBlanc and François-Philippe Champagne had their meeting with Howard Lutnick, with Doug Ford along for the ride as he continued to try and make himself the main character (and I watched Conservative talking head pundits also putting forward this distorted view of reality). Ford came out of the meeting, effusive about how “positive” it was and how they were going to have more meetings next week (and was later corrected that officials were going to meet, not him), while the two ministers basically talked a lot and said nothing, because nothing could be accomplished here. But they had to pretend that something came from this meeting when obviously nothing did, as there were no changes to any tariffs, and Ford’s pressure tactic around the electricity “surcharge” remains off the table again.

Elsewhere, Trump’s pick for US ambassador to Canada had his Senate confirmation hearing, and when asked, he said that Canada is a sovereign country, and tried to claim that Trump’s expansionist rhetoric is about “negotiation tactics,” but it certainly doesn’t seem to be. And yeah, he said the bare minimum to ensure that he wasn’t PNGed before he could even arrive in the country. Closer to home, Scott Moe continues to call for capitulation to China regarding their tariff fight, because of course he did, and claimed it was about protecting Quebec’s industries over Saskatchewan’s, except Quebec doesn’t really have much of an auto sector, but Moe’s brain is pretty smooth, after all.

Ukraine Dispatch

An overnight attack on Dnipro injured three women and damaged apartment buildings. Ukrainian forces are in retreat in parts of Kursk region, which means losing a bargaining chip in possible peace negotiations. And Putin has all kinds of conditions on a possible ceasefire, because he’s not serious, and Ukraine only went along with the plan to call his bluff.

Good reads:

  • Here are the leaks and rumours about the Cabinet shuffle and the very pared down composition, per CBC, CTV, and The Canadian Press.
  • Justin Trudeau posted a thirty-second farewell video from his office yesterday.
  • On his way out, Trudeau proposed a different path forward for the future of 24 Sussex, which seems a little late in the day (and I think the process is dubious).
  • From Charlevoix, Mélanie Joly is trying to get her G7 counterparts unified on maritime cooperation, as the US remains offside around Ukraine and tariffs.
  • François-Philippe Champagne is calling on his department to prioritise projects that will primarily use Canadian steel and aluminium in response to the tariffs.
  • Marc Miller has said the government plans to offer “discretionary” citizenship to a cohort of “lost” Canadians while they apply to the court to extend a deadline.
  • Here’s a look at the Canadian Rangers, who are at the forefront of monitoring and defending Canada’s North.
  • A BC woman is being held in Arizona after her visa application was denied, and Global Affairs says they can’t intervene.
  • Wired has a longread that maps Elon Musk’s digital coup of the US government.
  • The King met with the Senate Speaker and Black Rod in Buckingham Palace on Wednesday to present Black Rod with a new ceremonial sword for his duties.
  • Mark Carney’s latest book was supposed to be published in May, but he and the publisher decided to push the date until possibly July.
  • Conservatives and their proxies are ramping up online ads against Carney, particularly as they hit well with the tech bro algorithms.
  • Emmett Macfarlane calls out Doug Ford’s empty bluster and his capitulation to Trump, and how dangerous it is for the country in the long term.
  • Althia Raj has six storylines she’ll be looking at in Carney’s Cabinet choices.
  • My Xtra column looks back on Trudeau’s LGBTQ+ legacy, and the work that he’s left Mark Carney to do on the file.

Odds and ends:

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One thought on “Roundup: Positive feelings about a useless meeting”

  1. At this point, I wish leaders would stop meeting with Trump. The NATO chief sitting there while he rants about annexation…how does that help anything?

    Reply ↓

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