Roundup: Unrealistic Ring of Fire promises

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Pierre Poilievre was in Sudbury to pronounce that if he forms government, he’ll set a deadline of six months to approve any federal permits for mining in the “Ring of Fire” region in Northern Ontario, and put $1 billion toward connecting roads in the region to the highway network (to be paid for by cuts elsewhere). Absent from his pronouncement? Any representatives of the First Nations in the region, for whom consultation and cooperation is necessary (and yes, most of the First Nations in the region were not thrilled when they heard this). Poilievre says that there aren’t shovels in the ground because the Liberals have a “keep it in the ground” mentality, which is hard to square with the fact that they have been moving ahead on plenty of other critical mineral projects that are better connected to existing infrastructure, the pipeline they bought to get oil to tidewater, and the fact that oil and gas production are at record highs. So much keeping it in the ground! He also didn’t learn a single gods damned lesson from the Harper years, where trying to slash the review process for big projects only meant that they wound up in litigation.

Meanwhile, a group of energy sector CEOs are demanding that, because of the trade war, the federal government use “emergency powers” to approve more resource (mostly oil and gas) projects, which seems hard to square with the fact that a) there isn’t much in the way of emergency powers that could be deployed, let alone that could affect provincially-regulated projects; b) that they are vague on the market for these products if they’re not going the US, particularly as there is little in the way of cross-country pipeline infrastructure or the fact that the East Coast isn’t going to want to pay a premium for western Canadian oil; or c) the changing energy market means that they seem to be advocating to build a bunch of assets that would be stranded before too long. As this is going on, Danielle Smith is trying to pass yet more unconstitutional/useless legislation to prevent the federal government from acquiring oil companies’ data for their planned emissions cap, because yes, everything is that stupid.

On a related note, you have farmers and Saskatchewan premier Scott Moe urging capitulation to China in order for them to lift their canola tariffs, which were placed in retaliation for the EV tariffs (which in turn were done at the Americans’ behest under Biden in order to protect the EV industry they were trying to build from Chinese dumping). Well, China just executed four Canadian dual-nationals on drug-related charges, in spite of pleas by the Canadian government for clemency. It’s a message that they’re not looking to seek our favour in spite of the fact that Trump has turned against us (and his other allies). Caving to China on this canola issue is not going to work out well in the long term, because they know this is a pressure point that they can exploit. They have exploited it in the past, and it’s why they’re doing so again, and if we cave again, they’ll just move the goal posts and make more demands of Canada that will be harder and harder to resist.

Ukraine Dispatch

Russia claims that Ukraine is trying to sabotage the moratorium on striking each other’s’ energy facilities after a drone strike on an oil depot. Ukraine also attacked an airfield near a Russian strategic bomber base in southern Russia. Russia and Ukraine each swapped 175 prisoners, one of the largest exchanges to date.

Good reads:

  • Here is more about Mark Carney’s plans to shift toward Europe as the US is now an unreliable partner and ally.
  • Mélanie Joly says that Canada is in the “advanced” stage of negotiations about joining Europe’s defence partnership, spurred by Trump’s annexation talk.
  • The federal government is providing $20 million in additional funding to support the BC forestry industry because of the trade war.
  • The Department of Finance says the caps on NSF fees at banks will come into effect on March 12, 2026.
  • The government will be providing $2.55 billion in low-cost financing for apartment construction to be administered through CMHC.
  • Only 40 percent of our existing fighter jet fleet is currently serviceable.
  • The Future of Sport Commission has been given more time to complete its final recommendations, extended now until March 31, 2026.
  • Here is a look at the status of Parliament’s attempt to buy Wellington Street in front of Parliament Hill from the City of Ottawa, who appear to want more money for it.
  • None of the federal parties will say how they’re vetting Indigenous ancestry claims by prospective candidates, in spite of them making hay about it over the past year.
  • Pierre Poilievre says that Trump is endorsing Carney because he’s too afraid of Poilievre because he’s a “strong leader” and a “tough guy to deal with.” (Sure, Jan).
  • Philippe Lagassé suspects that after the Federal Court decision on prorogation that vice-regals will further limit their discretion as the courts are claiming that power.
  • Althia Raj calls out the Conservatives for praising the journalists who got under Carney’s skin on his tour, while refusing reporters on their campaign plane.

Odds and ends:

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