Category Archives: Reporting

Stories I’m reporting on in my own independent capacity

Zelenskyy’s Second Speech to Parliament

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The usual Friday schedule had been abrogated, and the Chamber fitted for a podium in front of the Speaker’s Dias, and the usual Hansard desks in the centre aisle taken out for VIP seating—most of those VIPs being the handful of senators who opted to stay the extra day and not fly home on Thursday night (owing in part to quirks in the Senate’s travel rules)—but some of Zelenskyy’s party, including his new defence minister. There were a surprising number of seat-fillers on the Conservative side of the aisle—staffers, spouses, a child or two—while there were some into Liberal benches, but not nearly as many.

When things got underway in earnest, well behind schedule, the deputy Speaker gave a five-minute warning as he has made a habit of doing over the previous speeches. When Speaker Rota took his place, he noted that this was Zelenskyy’s second address to this Chamber, and that they are celebrating friendship and solidarity.

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Justin Trudeau took to the lectern first, and he spoke about the attacks on the international rules-based order, and why it was important to host Zelenskyy. He noted the start of the invasion, and the inspiring courage of the Ukrainian people in fighting for their freedoms. He noted that he had had a change to speak to Ukraine’s parliament, and was happy to see the Canadian flag in that Chamber. He mentioned some of the things they spoke about—nuclear hostage-taking at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, and the ecocide of the burst dam. Trudeau spoke about seeing the bombed-out neighbourhoods in Kyiv, and the haunted look in the eyes of the people there. He noted the funding for support for mental health care in Ukraine, and of the First Lady’s championing that cause. He noted the blocked grain exports causing suffering in other countries, and that Zelenskyy is holding the rules-based order in the balance. He called Putin’s action a “break with civilisation,” to weaken democracy and assert autocracy, but that Ukraine has held against his imperial ambitions. He noted the populists who give rise to demagoguery and the rise of disinformation, but that rules will protect us, but we need to stand up for them and live by them. 

“History will judge how we defend democratic values, and Ukraine is at the tip of that spear,” Trudeau said.

After noting some of the Ukrainians who fled the war in the Chamber with us, and that some were scientists leading the way on the clean economy, and others were Ukrainian-Canadians leading the charge to help those from their original homeland. He announced a new longer-term agreement on stable and predictable aid for Ukraine, with more armoured vehicles built in London, Ontario, and for more trainers for Ukrainians. He spoke about the need for a real and durable peace and not just a false one that would allow Putin to re-arm, and so that Ukraine can determine their own future. This meant following Ukraine’s peace formula, which is what they just fight for. He gave another paean for the fight to defend democracy, and praised Zelenskyy for staring down Putin every day.

Zelenskyy took to the lectern, and once the applause died down, he spoke about how Edmonton hosted the first monument to the victims of the Holodmor in the world in 1983. At the time, Ukraine didn’t have their own monuments because they were still under Soviet control, and that a lot has changed since then, that Ukraine is restoring their own historic identity. What has not changed in that time, was that Moscow is bent on controlling Ukraine, including the use of genocide. He stated that this was not an ordinary conflict, but saving millions of lives, and that the destruction on their cities or villages must not go unpunished. 

“This Russian aggression must end with our victory,” Zelenskyy declared. “Moscow must lose once and for all.”

Zelenskyy noted that justice is not an empty word in Canada, and that we don’t make political cause with hatred and enmity and that we are always on the right side of history. He praised Canada’s leadership, and stated that false neutrality is immoral. He thanked Canada’s support, not only just with military support but also with de-mining, the encouragement around sanctions, and training soldiers. He called Ukraine and Canada partners and friends, and noted our help with getting them off of their dependence Russian nuclear power technology, which Russia uses as a means of control. He noted Canada’s leadership in seizing Russian assets to help them rebuild, before taking about the importance of justice, particularly as a warning to other would-be aggressors. He thanked Canada for making those Ukrainians in our country feel at home, which is not just a legacy of history, but a legacy of character. After a few more parting words about freedom, and standing up to evil, he spoke about future monuments to their victory in this war, their common victory and the legacy of good. He mentioned his meeting with Mary May Simon.

 

“She taught me a word in her mother tongue—Ajuinnata,” Zelenskyy said in conclusion. “The meaning is don’t give up. Stay strong against all odds. Ajuinnata, Canada. Ajuinnata, Ukraine.”

Senate Speaker Raymonde Gagne took to the podium, her first address as Speaker, and in French, she spoke about the honour of hosting them, and stated that Canadians have heard them. Switching to English, she spoke about the importance of role models, and that young people see the example that Zelenskyy sets to the world. She praised his iconic video of proclaiming himself here in Kyiv when the invasion began, and that he has remained steadfast in the time since, which was inspiration for the world. Her message for him to take back to Ukraine was that the Canadian people stand with Ukraine and aren’t going anywhere.

Speaker Rota closed out the event with a few remarks of his own, noting that Zelenskyy has joined a small group of those who have addressed Canada’s parliament a second time, and one of the only others to do so was Nelson Mandela. He quoted Mandela’s praise for Canadians, before raising Sir Winston Churchill’s address to Parliament during World War II. He noted the presence of a 98-year-old Ukrainian WWII veteran, who later fought to help Ukraine’s independence, who is also from his own riding. Rota noted that Ukraine’s parliament has not stopped sitting through the war, and that he has developed a friendship with its chairman, and that he has also conveyed what is at stake—not only Ukraine’s freedom, but the future of the rules-based order, which is necessary for the world to move forward. He vowed that Canada will continue to stand with Ukraine, before one last round of applause.

Overall, it was nice to see Zelenskyy in the House of Commons in person rather than by video, and something else that was different this time was that Zelenskyy spoke in English the entire time—the video address was almost entirely in Ukrainian and translated. It was also a better speech from Trudeau than when Joe Biden was here earlier in the year, while Zelenskyy’s speech was also better than Biden’s. For Trudeau, he was far less focused on applause lines and while he did point out a couple of people in the galleries, it was less obvious and gimmicky than when Biden was here, as though he were aping a State of the Union Address. Zelenskyy also wasn’t focused on those constant applause lines like Biden was, which made for better flow and frankly better impact overall.

Biden’s Speech to Parliament

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Unlike the speech from European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen three weeks ago, the galleries were packed, and there were far fewer staff filling desks on the floor below. In the galleries were some notable faces like Joe Clark, Michaëlle Jean, Jean Chrétien, Dalton McGuinty, RoseAnne Archibald, Natan Obed, Cassidy Caron, and the two Michaels. And this time, unlike with von der Leyen, Pierre Poilievre deigned to show up.

Things were late in getting started, not unsurprisingly given the two personalities involved, during which a brief psychodrama played out around Poilievre claiming he didn’t get an invite to tonight’s gala dinner with the president, the PMO sending screen shots of said invitations and Poilievre belatedly accepting it.

When things did eventually get underway, about 30 minutes delayed, the Commons Speaker, Anthony Rota, gave the official greetings to the president and his wife, and taking a moment to remark on the cooperation between the two countries, citing the NORAD base in his riding.

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Ursula von der Leyen’s speech to Parliament

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The Chamber and the galleries were filling up, with a number of senators filling the seats in the centre aisle. Curiously, the Conservative benches were pretty empty—even Pierre Poilievre was absent. Normally at events like these, they let staffers come in as seat-fillers, and even with a larger-than-expected number of staffers in the Conservative seats, the back row was still largely empty, which was a bit mysterious and makes one wonder about the reasons why.

Justin Trudeau was up first, noting that he spoke at the European Parliament in Brussels last year, and how much of an honour it was to able to reciprocate. In French, he talked about how Putin thought he could divide Europe with his invasion of Ukraine, and a year later, it was clear how wrong he was. He praised von der Leyen’s defence of democracy, and that Canada is proud to call her a friend. He also noted that she is only the sixth woman to address the Canadian Parliament, the first European Commission president, and that she is standing up against autocracy. Trudeau also praised other woman taking a stand—Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, and the women of Iran, and that it was important to empower their voices. 

von der Leyen took the lectern, and thanked “Dear Justin,” the assembled parliamentarians and guests, and thanked them for welcoming her to the heart of Canada, and the home of Canadian democracy. She noted that hard times reveal true friends, which is what Canada and the European Union are. She noted the contributions of Canadians in wars in Europe, and noted her own German nationality and that it was Naziism that threatened the world, and that European allies including Canada brought freedom and democracy. She praised Canada for building a welcoming community, and compared it to the European Union as a community of values and destiny.

von der Leyen moved onto the invasion of Ukraine, and the effect that had on the people of that country, because Putin refuses to recognise their freedom, and that we cannot accept that an military power with fantasies of empire can just roll tanks over the borders of their neighbours. She praised Canada’s efforts to stand up for Ukraine and to stand up for the United Nations Charter. She praised Canada’s Operation UNIFIER, which has been instrumental in Ukraine’s resistance to Russian aggression, praising the professionalism that Canadian training imparted on them. “Canada has saved Ukraine in the first days,” she stated to applause. She praised Canada’s contribution to the support package Ukraine has put to get together, saying that Canada has contributed “beyond its fair share.” She also stated that Russia must pay for its crimes of aggression, and praised the unified price cap on Russian oil. She also said that Ukrainians must be the masters of their own future, particularly their desire to join the EU.

von der Leyen noted Canadians and Europeans took in displaced Ukrainians, and noted the stories of escape and warm embraces. She switched to French to talk about Europe shaking its dependence on Russian gas, that Putin’s blackmailed failed, before noting Canada’s role in energy exports (which was perhaps a bit exaggerated) before praising renewable energy. She praised Canada’s climate actions and commitment to renewables, including the carbon price. She said that democracies must work together to reduce risks, that our values are at stake, and that Canada is a natural partner for Europe because of its resources but also for its respect for the environment, labour rights, and commitment to Indigenous rights.

Switching back to English, von der Leyen talked about the weakening of the post-war commitment to human rights, and that she saw the atrocities that happened in Bucha, Ukraine, once it was Liberated. She decried Russia’s use of rape as a weapon of war, saying that the war was not only against human rights but women’s rights. She noted that in Ukraine, women were not allowed to be in combat operations when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, but that has since changed because those women insisted on it. Since the start of the war, the number of women in the army has doubled, while others do their part, pointing to Zelenskyy’s wife as emblematic of the courage of Ukrainian women, calling her an inspiration.

Noting that tomorrow is International Women’s Day, she praised Trudeau’s decision to name a gender-balanced Cabinet in 2015, and that she had followed his suit in the European Commission. She spoke about gender equality, and breaking down barriers for women, to build a world of fair chances. She said that while no democracy is perfect, all democracies are perfectible, before wrapping up her speech to yet more applause.

From here, we went to the responses. The Speaker of the Senate praised Europe’s friendship with Canada, and that protecting democracy and the rule of law is now more important than ever. Speaker Rota read some remarks about the EU being a bastion of hope and democracy, and that it was an inspiration. With one final round of applause, that was it. None of the other leaders got to give their own speeches, and the crowds filtered out.

In the House: Zelenskyy addresses a joint session of Parliament

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The House of Commons was possible the fullest it has ever been since moving to the temporary Chamber in the West Block, not only with most of the seats filled, but there was seating down the centre aisle for senators and other dignitaries, and the galleries were almost full for possibly the first time ever. Mind you, not all of the seats were occupied by MPs—as which happens during these kinds of events, empty seats were filled with staffers and spouses (and even then, the NDP still left most of their seats empty).

Prime minister Justin Trudeau led with a welcoming address, speaking of the Ukrainian diaspora in Canada, and the shared values between our countries. Trudeau personally addressed Zelenskyy as a friend, calling him a champion of democracy, to much applause, and Zelenskyy appeared touched. When the applause died down, Trudeau announced new sanctions laid that morning, and moved onto the incalculable human costs facing the Ukrainian people, saying that Putin must stop it now. Trudeau praised Ukrainians for standing up to authoritarianism, said they would stand with them as friends, and then turned over the proceedings to Zelenskyy. 

From the screen, Zelenskyy addressed the assembled parliamentarians and guests, including “dear Justin,” and asked them to imagine cities in this country being bombarded by Russia, and how to explain to their children about this war of aggression. He described the scene of the invasion, columns of military vehicles entering the country, the bombardment of schools and hospitals. He listed off Canadian landmarks and monuments to imagine coming under bombardment like in Ukraine. He compared the siege of Mariupol as a city like Vancouver, and asked Trudeau to imagine reading the daily reports of casualties, including 97 children currently confirmed dead from the attacks. He said that this is their reality, as they wait to the next bombs to fall.

Zelenskyy described more of the attacks on his country, including the fires at nuclear power plants. He noted the friendship with Canada, and made the plea for a no-fly zone (which cannot happen because it will mean a shooting war with a nuclear power). The video broke up a little, before he listed actions that Canada has taken, but noted that it has not ended the war. He called on Canada to do more to protect Ukraine and stop Russia. He said that he was not asking for much, and said that Canada has been leading, and asked for more of this leadership in order to get others onside to get these measures. He made another plea for a no-fly zone, before saying that Russia is attempting to destroy their future, their nation and their character. He asked Canada to expand their efforts, and asked the diaspora in Canada to provide practical support, so that they could show they were more than just part of Ukraine’s history. Zelenskyy expressed his gratitude to Trudeau and Canada, before ending the address with “Glory to Ukraine, thank you Canada,” to great applause.

Once things died down, Speaker Furey of the Senate made his remarks to thank Zelenskyy for his words, and he quoted a Hebrew phrase from the Old Testament meaning “here I stand,” that leaders would utter, much as Zelenskyy stands, and Canada stands with Ukraine. “Ukraine, simply put, is family,” Furey declared.

Speaker Rota gave his remarks, calling Ukraine woven into the fabric of Canadian society, and quoted Zelenskyy from two years ago about the heroes of Ukraine in the arts and culture, calling Zelenskyy one of those heroes.

Next up was Candice Bergen, declaring her caucuses admiration and respect for Ukrainians, and her personal respect for Zelenskyy. She spoke of the heartbreaking images, but also the inspiring scenes they see, noting that they are standing for all of us, as Putin’s attack on Ukraine is an attack on all of us. She noted the diaspora community, before returning to Putin and his war of aggression, his tuning over the international rules-based order, and his use of lies (which is a bit ironic there). She called for him to be brought to justice at The Hague, for air space to be protected over humanitarian corridors, and then promised that any Ukrainians who flee to Canada will be well taken care of before they are able to return home.

Yves-François Blanchet rose for the Bloc, and he called for more severe sanctions, so that pressure could come from within Russia to end the war, and wanted the Canadian government to remove barriers to welcoming more Ukrainian refugees, and the need for a “humanitarian bridge” to Ukraine. He noted with reluctance the need for more weapons, but called on more weapons to be delivered so that Ukrainians can fight for their homeland. He called the Russian people the first victims of Putin and praised Zelenskyy for turning the Russian propaganda machine against them. Blanchet empathised with the Ukrainians living through the current war, and praised their dignity and bravery, before declaring that Zelenskyy would win the war. 

Jagmeet Singh rose next, thanking Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people, before repeating what Zelenskyy asked people to imagine, and said that Canadians would stand with Ukraine and would provide as much help as possible. He promised more action on sanctions, and promising to meet the needs of Ukrainians. He recalled a Punjabi phrase from his mother about rising spirits in the face of difficult circumstances, and defiant optimism.

Finally, last to speak was Elizabeth May, who read the words of Ukraine’s Green leader, writing from a bomb shelter, her voice breaking as she did so. She noted that Greens around the world were united in knowing that a no-fly zone would only escalate a war with Russia, but called on Canada and the world to invent new means of helping Ukrainians in order to find a peace. She hoped that he would be able to join them in person, with a free and victorious Ukraine able to find Canada worthy of its friendship.

Rota made closing remarks, to more applause and chants.

Senator McCoy talks about the Independent Working Group

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I had a sit-down conversation with Senator Elaine McCoy a few days ago to talk about how things are progressing with the third quasi-caucus in the Senate, the new “Independent Working Group,” or “work in progress,” as McCoy calls it. She was elected the “Facilitator” of the group, acting as a kind of caucus leader and whip on what is promised to be a rotational basis, but merely for administrative purposes – not the other partisan roles of the leader or whip, which is convenient since the Working Group is made up of both former Liberal and Conservative senators, along with McCoy, who always sat as a Progressive Conservative outside of Conservative caucus, and without enough members to qualify for party status, the dwindling Progressive Conservative senators were independents for all intents and purposes.

“It’s coming along very well,” said McCoy of the Working Group. “We are designing it as we go. We couldn’t call it a caucus because several of us said that we are definitely not asking a political leader to recognise us, and we’re not gathering together for political purposes if you think of that in the sense of political party purposes. Our rules don’t leave us anywhere to go in calling ourselves a ‘caucus,’ so we’re hoping that that definition will change, and there are some of us who would be happy to call ourselves a caucus.”

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Senator Cowan talks about the move to independence

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As the Senate moves into the Great Age of Independence™, Senate Liberal leader James Cowan reached out to talk more about where he’s at in terms of this move. We had a fairly wide-ranging conversation, elements of which are recorded here.

“It’s interesting to see how this thing is evolving now,” Cowan said. “I did have a meeting with [future] Senator Harder – he called when he was appointed. We had a very friendly lunch, but I didn’t get any sense from him as to exactly how he sees the universe unfolding.”

That of course remains a question as to whether anyone can see at this point. Cowan has noted that there have been efforts to reach out to some of the other independent senators in the Chamber, but he remains wedded to the notion that despite still being Liberals, they are independent as far as the Senate goes because they have no affiliation with the party or the Commons caucus.

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The sitting roundups

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It being the last sitting day of the spring for the Commons, all three parties summoned the media to outline their particular versions of what happened the past few months.

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For the government, Peter Van Loan summoned us to the Foyer, where, along with Stephen Blaney to provide the French narrative, he outlined a simple message. “We got the job done.”

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Taking up all the oxygen in the Chamber

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Both major opposition parties summoned the media to the Foyer before the Commons got down to business this morning – the NDP had already booked their usual slot for another edition Monday Morning Sanctimony, leaving the Liberals to book even earlier. The topic of day was supposed to be the Liberal game plan for the Refugee reform bill back before the House this week, and the NDP to report back on what their “consultations” found over the last week.

But that really wasn’t what took up the airspace. No, that was really taken up by the discussions about the imminent back-to-work legislation around the CP Rail strike.

Speaking for the Liberals, Marc Garneau did talk about how they were the “real” opposition, and were working with Elizabeth May to move their 28 amendments that failed at committee at report stage – which May is able to do as an independent – in order to make the point that these changes are important. Both he and May later tweeted that they have approached the NDP to cooperate, but have yet to hear a response. On the omnibus budget bill, Garneau said that they were still planning on moving hundreds of amendments at Report Stage in order to delete many of the controversial clauses, saying that procedurally, this was the better tactic that “hyperventilating and making lots of noise.”

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PO2 James Anthony Leith on his military decorations

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As part of my story on the new Canadian Honours exhibition at 90 Wellington, I spoke to another of the attendees, Petty Officer 2nd Class James Anthony Leith, MMM, SC, MSM, CD, one of the most decorated members of the Canadian Forces – who, I will add, is one of the most humble and charming people I have ever interviewed. As I couldn’t get much of the interview in the story, I’m posting the whole thing here.

Q: Briefly, tell me what your decorations and medals are.

A: You never get these things by yourself – somebody always nominates you. They tell the stories that they shouldn’t have told to somebody else, and it gets passed up. I was gracious enough to know some big mouths. The one on the far left is the Canadian Forces Decoration, and you get that after twelve years of undetected crime – basically you’re a good boy. Next to that is my General Service Star for Afghanistan. I was fortunate enough to be invited to participate with the Army…in 06/07. Next one is the SWASM – South-West Asia [Service Medal] – it’s a theatre medal. Everyone who goes over there gets one, and it’s like being in the Boy Scouts – you get one if you go. The next one is a sacrifice medal – in 2006, I was in an armed personnel carrier that got obliterated by an IED, so there’s a bunch of us that got kind of injured from it, and we don’t have the wound stripe like the Americans do, so they commemorate it with a sacrifice medal. Everyone who theoretically bled on the battlefield gets one of those. Next to that is the Meritorious Service Medal – again, wrong place right time or right place wrong time. I was working in Halifax as a commercial diver as part of the fleet diving in the Atlantic, and Swiss Air 111 pitched and went into the sea. They immediately called us because of the depth, and we participated in the recovery because of the depth operation, and for that they gave us that little one. The next one is the Star of Courage – I was in Afghanistan in 06, and after we got blown up, we found some other nasties that the other team had put in the ground. All of my tools that had been in the first vehicles were destroyed, and that’s the story that everybody loves hearing. I basically MacGyvered the second IED with what I had left, which was my bayonet. Because I’d just been blown up […] and not have any of the proper equipment that I’m supposed to have, and the fact that I took apart that second one, somebody said that was either very brave or very dumb. Everybody loves a good story, and somebody told somebody else, and I was invited up here again to get this one. And next to that is the MMM – the Order of Military Merit. Because I have 20-odd years of service, and pretty well been a good boy for all that time, at a certain point in your career, after a long career spanning a lot of service, they nominate you, it goes before a committee and they sit down and figure out who gets what, and are they truly deserving, but again I don’t know who nominated me, but somebody put my name up there and wrote a very nice, lengthy, long-winded paragraph, and I’m sure they hummed and hawed, and it must have been the end of the day, and they said give it to the guy anyway.

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Dr. Jolly on her Order of Canada honour

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As part of my story on the new Canadian Honours exhibition at 90 Wellington, I spoke to one of the attendees, Dr. Elaine Jolly, the Founder of the Shirley E. Greenberg Women’s Health Centre, and recipient of the Order of Canada and the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal. I couldn’t get much of my interview in the story, but I figured I’d put the whole thing here.

Q: Tell me about your story.

A: Well, I’m an obstetrician and gynaecologist, and presently I’m the medical director of the women’s health centre at the Ottawa Hospital. I was very honoured and privileged to receive the Order of Canada in 1999, and was notified in 1998. It was for the activities that I had undertaken for women’s health, and as an academic – because I’m a professor at the University of Ottawa – I have had extensive experience with education and public education, and education of students and residents, and our own continuing medical education for physicians. With regards to accomplishments, I must say that when I got the Order of Canada, I was very overwhelmed because I didn’t think that I was doing anything terribly special that many other academics had done, but having a focus on women’s health – and at that time, I was obviously nominated and supported for this – they deemed that that was a good thing. What it did do, however, was spur me on to really fulfil things that I would have liked to have done, and I think it probably helped, and that’s the development of the Shirley E. Greenberg Women’s Health Centre. In Ottawa, I formed a women’s health council, because having a women’s health centre fell on deaf ears in the Ottawa hospital system. Not because it’s not a good thing, but because there were many other priorities, and women’s health is not one of them. It’s really not a priority still for the provincial government. If you have cancer, and that’s important, and if you have orthopaedic things like hip replacements and cataract surgery that’s good, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but we still have to really work hard to get the issues related to women’s health and obstetrics and looking after women who are pregnant seems to be a little more appreciated, but looking after women and their health, promotion of health, prevention of disease, looking at the number one issue that women have mortality with is cardio-vascular disease, and how does it differ from men’s health, because it is different – women don’t have that sudden, horrible chest pain – they have atypical symptoms. So looking at that, and osteoporosis, and cancers that women have, the number one cancer killer believe it or not is not breast cancer but lung cancer, so smoking cessation is pretty important. Looking at diagnosis and early management of breast cancer is important, and looking at the global picture for women’s health, and as a gynaecologist, I look at problems with women’s reproduction. At the Women’s Health Centre, we have a multidisciplinary group, but mainly gynaecologists looking at those areas that fit in. We have 30 gynaecologists, we see 30,000 women a year, we opened in 2005 – Shirley Greenberg was instrumental in giving us a lot of money, which we also raised to not totally match, but we came close to it. And then the government was sort of pushed into supporting us, and the hospital was pushed into supporting us because the women’s voices were heard, and I have to tell you that the women here in Ottawa and in Eastern Ontario are responsible, along with Shirley for improving women’s health. Being a catalyst for that sort of thing, along with my daily duties, it was a good thing. My story is pretty simple, but I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished.

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