Tag Archives: Erin O’Toole

Roundup: The allure of citizens assemblies

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Yesterday in the mother parliament in Westminster, a group of Extinction Rebellion activists “super-glued” themselves around the Speaker’s chair in the House of Commons. Their demand—somewhat ironically, to “let the people decide” on climate change. Now, it would be ironic given that they are literally in the chamber where the people do decide, but no, what they are demanding is a citizen’s assembly, which is antithetical to democracy. There is a particular romance around these assemblies, which are composed of selected individuals from a perfect cross-section of society, and they are supposed to work by consensus to come up with some kind of solution, under the guidance of experts. Of course, therein lies the problem with this whole system—the people did not elect this assembly, and there is no way to hold them to account for the decisions that they make. As well, evidence suggests that they are fairly manipulable with the right “experts” guiding them, which is why groups like Extinction Rebellion or Fair Vote Canada are enamoured with them—because they are certain that with the “proper guidance,” these assemblies will come to the “correct” decisions, without the mess or compromises of democracy, or more to the point, going through the trouble of organizing that democracy requires to actually make change. This is no way to make big decisions, and politicians shouldn’t pander to groups whose aims are anti-democratic.

Ukraine Dispatch, Day 191:

Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency remain at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, and hope to have a full picture of the situation at the plant by early next week. Here is an explanation as to why this IAEA inspection is so important.

https://twitter.com/CFOperations/status/1565396106577690630

Programming Note: Because it’s a long weekend, posts will resume Wednesday.

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Roundup: O’Toole emerges, with zero self-reflection

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It’s day one-hundred-and-seventeen of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the standoff in Severodonestk continues amid worsening morale on both sides. There are reports that whole Russian units are refusing orders, between poor front-line conditions, poor equipment and lack of personnel. While president Voldymyr Zelenskyy visited cities in the south of the country, promising not to abandon them, NATO’s secretary general is warning members that this conflict could last for years at this pace.

Closer to home, Erin O’Toole has finally emerged from his basement podcast studio and ventured back to Ottawa, and he gave an interview to Chris Hall on CBC Radio late in the week, which was broadcast Saturday. I’m not sure what I should have been expecting, but it was about as self-serving as one might expect, and shows pretty much no self-reflection about his loss, or the fact that he has a problem telling the truth, which was just as evident in this interview as it’s been elsewhere. Sometimes people grow a conscience or a spine after a little time away from the office, but O’Toole certainly doesn’t seem to have done that.

To wit, he kept insisting that he was trying to find a “balance” when it came to the occupation, and that he wasn’t engaging with its leadership (debatable) but he wasn’t going to forbid his caucus from meeting with constituents (never mind that we could all see that their primary demand was to overturn democracy). He insisted that the party has never tried to politicise “personal health choices,” referring to vaccinations, but seriously? You have a significant portion of your caucus who opposes the personal health choices around abortion and who strongly politicise it, and you have others who are openly spreading conspiracy theories around vaccinations. He claimed that when people come up to him with WEF conspiracy theories or the likes that he tries to challenge them, which we know is bullshit because he has openly promulgated a variety of conspiracy theories as leader, and has been silent about his caucus promoting others. He is trying to blame China for the loss of several seats, crying disinformation over WeChat, but apparently irony died because he and his party have absolutely no qualms about disinformation on domestic issues when it suits them. As for his loss as either party leader or in the election, he offered no personal reflection or insight, aside from an admission he didn’t communicate well enough, but really? Nothing about realizing that you can’t try to play both sides out in the open, or that you shouldn’t be switching your positions on the daily, or that you utterly lacked convictions on anything? No, just that you didn’t communicate well enough. Okay, sure. Keep telling yourself that.

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Roundup: Proposing to ignore the virus

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In the wake of the demands by extremist-led “protests” to lift all vaccine mandates around the country, nowhere as this demand been capitulated to as fast as in Saskatchewan and Alberta, where both provinces are pretty much eliminating their mandates as soon as possible, with no consultation, and while their hospitals are still full. Federally, the Conservatives are making the same demand for this capitulation, and they’re using a bunch of specious arguments, like listing countries that are lifting their restrictions already, never mind that in most of those countries, they have better healthcare capacity than we do, and they are further along in their omicron waves than we are. Fortunately, Ontario is not rushing to join them for a change, so that’s one small favour.

What is more concerning, however, is this talking point about “learning to live with COVID,” but in abandoning all public health measures, including mask mandates, they’re not actually planning to live with COVID—they’re planning to ignore it, to let it rip, to capitulate to the virus as much as they are eager to capitulate to the extremists claiming to protest. Learning to live with the virus would mean adequate and sustainable precautions, better focus on indoor ventilation, ongoing mask mandates in indoor spaces, and so on—and the ongoing insistence on vaccination, because that’s what will save us in the long run. But that’s not what they’re proposing, because they are so keen to return to the old normal, never mind that said world no longer exists by any measure. And it’s not “following the science” to take the notion that we need to just let the virus rip at this point—it’s being intellectually dishonest and pandering to selfish instincts.

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Roundup: Bergen hopes to blame Trudeau for a “mood shift” in the occupation

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Day one of Candice Bergen’s tenure as interim Conservative leader, and already the leaks have started. In particular, internal party emails have leaked that show Bergen advising Erin O’Toole not to tell the grifter convoy to leave (before it was a full-blown occupation), saying “I understand the mood may shift soon. So we need to turn this into the PM’s problem. What will he take the first step to working toward ending this?” There is no charitable way of reading this—it is beyond cynical politics, and this has far-reaching consequences.

Also starting to come to light are the behind-the-scenes dramas that led up to O’Toole’s ouster, and surprising nobody was the sense that most of the MPs lost count of the number of times O’Toole deceive them. A serial liar lying to his own caucus? Imagine that! As for Bergen’s elevation to interim leader, The Canadian Press talks to Rona Ambrose about her history with Bergen, and Ambrose’s belief that the caucus chose her because she is a “steady hand” (but apparently not enough have a problem with her courting the extremists).

Meanwhile, Matt Gurney hears from a member of O’Toole’s inner circle about what all went down. Jen Gerson despairsthat the Conservatives seem unwilling or incapable of making reasonable critiques of pandemic policies, and that they are neither as clever or politically savvy as they think they are. Althia Raj takes the optimistic route, that the party can attract social progressives and marginalise the social conservatives if they’re willing to put in the work to do so (which is true!).

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Roundup: O’Toole out, Bergen in

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It wasn’t even a close vote—Erin O’Toole has been deposed as Conservative leader on a vote of 73 to 45, and he is done for. He says he’ll stay on as an MP, but we’ll see how long his appetite for that lasts now that is ambitions have been dashed. But rather than face the media, O’Toole put out a six-minute statement over social media that tried to claim the party was the founding party of Canada (nope—his party was created in 2003), and a bunch of other things to try and burnish his image on the way out the door. “This country needs a Conservative party that is both an intellectual force and a governing force. Ideology without power is vanity. Seeking power with ideology is hubris,” he recited. Erm, except the pandering to populism is not an intellectual or governing force, he couldn’t even identify an ideology given that he kept flopping all over the place, depending on who was in the room with him at the time. And he keeps floating this notion that Canada is “so divided!” but this has been his go-to talking point for a while, trying to intimate that there is a “national unity crisis” because Alberta didn’t get its own way and get a Conservative government (that would take them for granted and ignore their concerns), never mind that it’s not actually a national unity crisis, but mere sore loserism.

https://twitter.com/EmmMacfarlane/status/1488987184241811458

https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/1489082431936372742

Later in the evening, out of seven potential candidates, the party voted for Candice Bergen to be the interim leader, which is a curious choice given how much she swings to the angry populist side of the party, from her unapologetically sporting a MAGA hat, to her full-throated support for the grifter occupation outside of Parliament Hill currently. It makes one wonder about both the upcoming leadership and what that says about unifying the different factions of the party, or whether the party will splinter because these factions may prove irreconcilable. And perhaps it should be a lesson that hey, maybe you shouldn’t just lie to each faction saying you really belong to them, and hope the other side doesn’t find out.

Meanwhile, Paul Wells enumerates O’Toole’s failures, and worries about the direction the party is headed now that it seems to be tearing down the few firewalls it had to keep the worst of Trumpism out of its playbook.

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QP: In the shadow of O’Toole’s demise

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In the wake of the vote ousting Erin O’Toole as Conservative leader, he was absent from the Chamber, as one would very well expect. As well, because Justin Trudeau was still in COVID isolation, he would be answering everything by video. Candice Bergen led off, with her script in front of her, and she demanded that the prime minister bring resolution with the grifter occupation and let them know that they are being heard. Trudeau, by video, first thanked O’Toole for his service, before reminding them that there was an election where vaccine mandates were an issue. Bergen repeated that these grifters need to feel like they’re being heard (you do know that their demand is to overturn democracy, right?), and Trudeau recited that they are engaged in encouraging people to get vaccinated. Bergen worried about the supply chains as a result of this vaccine mandate, and Trudeau reminded her that the mandates have not impacted the supply chain, but COVID has, which is why they need to be vaccinated. Gérard Deltell took over in French and said a bunch of nonsense about the PBO blaming government spending on inflation, which Trudeau disputed given that COVID has ultimately been the cause. Deltell gave a somber recitation about food inflation and insisted that this was not a global problem but because of government spending—a complete falsehood—and Trudeau reiterated that this is a global issue, while they are there to help families.

Yves-François Blanchet, the only leader in person today, rose for the Bloc, and he too paid brief tribute to O’Toole, before worrying about the grifter occupation and wanted concrete action to end it. Trudeau reminded him that politicians do not direct police forces, but they would provide all resources necessary for law enforcement. Blanchet that Trudeau wasn’t taking action and wanted a timeline, and Trudeau noted that he did tell them that they had been heard and that it was time to leave, and that they would continue to work with law enforcement agencies.

Jagmeet Singh appeared by video, and he wondered why the laws to protect healthcare workers are not being enforced—because he just heard that governments don’t direct police, right? Trudeau recited about how they passed that law and that healthcare workers deserve a safe workplace. Singh then made a brief thanks to O’Toole for his service before repeating his question in French, and Trudeau repeated his response.

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Roundup: O’Toole’s day of reckoning

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Regardless of the outcome of today’s caucus vote, Erin O’Toole is finished as leader—the only question is how long he lingers. Thanks to the (garbage) Reform Act, what should have been an exercise in reading the room has come down to weaponization, threats, and now a legalistic battle of wills where anything less than fifty-percent-plus-one will mean O’Toole will try to lord over the caucus until an eventual grassroots leadership review, which may or may not be sooner than the current date scheduled (pretty much acceding to what Senator Denise Batters sidelined for calling for). But the fact that we’ve even reached this point, months in the making, where more than a third of his caucus is alienated, means he’s unable to lead the party no matter what, and frankly, the (garbage) Reform Act is just making this situation worse than it needed to be.

O’Toole apparently spent the day working the phones, and apparently has been saying that he’s willing to change his policies if he survives—but isn’t that part of the problem that got him here? That he keeps changing his positions depending on the audience he’s in front of? I’m not sure how he thinks this promise helps him. Also, “coincidentally” an Astroturf grassroots group calling itself the “Majority Committee” launched itself yesterday morning, conveniently parroting the exact same lines O’Toole used in his challenge letter to his caucus, so that doesn’t look staged at all. Meanwhile, his former allies are lining up against him, a number of former MPs have added their names to an open letter calling for him to step down, so any illusion that continuing on as leader after this is really just delusion.

https://twitter.com/BobBenzen/status/1488633402400071682

Meanwhile, Andrew Coyne argues that it’s not O’Toole that needs to be ousted, but rather the unhinged yahoos in the caucus that are causing the party its biggest headaches. (I don’t disagree, but appealing to the yahoos is part of O’Toole’s problem). Althia Raj correctly notes that whatever the outcome of tomorrow’s vote, it’s untenable for O’Toole to stay. Matt Gurney (by video) wonders if this winds up leading to the break-up of the party.

https://twitter.com/acoyne/status/1488522864269705222

https://twitter.com/acoyne/status/1488526887408353282

https://twitter.com/acoyne/status/1488528268106031108

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Roundup: O’Toole tells challengers to bring it on

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It’s all coming undone. Erin O’Toole’s grip on the leadership of his party is even more tenuous, as a third of the caucus has now signed a letter calling for a vote on a leadership review. While “sources” insisted that Garnett Genuis was one of the ringleaders of this group, in part over anger for the way in which the conversion therapy bill vote was handled, Genuis denies this and says this is an attempt by O’Toole to smear him. Others sources say this is because the party is angry that the Conservatives allowed too many bills to pass unopposed before the end of the year, but we’ll see what other narratives emerge as more MPs start leaking.

https://twitter.com/BobBenzen/status/1488308784703414272

O’Toole responded late in the evening, essentially saying bring on the vote, apparently confident that the other two-thirds of caucus will be with him, but that’s a pretty risky gamble to be making when he’s this weakened, and there is blood in the water. Also, the fact that O’Toole tried to bring up Derek Sloan is very curious considering that he initially protected Sloan when there was a move to expel him from the party after he made racist comments about Dr. Theresa Tam, only to turn against him once O’Toole had secured the leadership thanks to using Sloan’s voters to his advantage. It’s like he doesn’t think anyone can see his blatant opportunism staring them in the face. Oh, and the notion that Andrew Scheer wants to be interim leader is just the chef’s kiss in all of this—one presumes he misses Stornoway and the perquisites that come with it. Scheer is denying it (but it’s not like he’s a paragon of truth either)

Meanwhile, Paul Wells relays more of what he’s hearing from his Conservatives about O’Toole’s likely chances (not good), and fits it into the broader pattern of the party and its predecessor’s leaders going back three-quarters of a century.

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Roundup: The grifters make nice for the cameras

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The first part of the grifter convoy arrived in Ottawa yesterday, probably 80 trucks in total, and they largely blocked the street in front of Parliament Hill and made a bunch of noise, but that was it so far. Much of the day appeared to be devoted PR—the organizers swearing up and down that they wanted this to be peaceful, engaging with the police to that effect, who are on the lookout for “lone wolves,” telling reporters on the scene the fiction that they were frustrated with vaccine mandates (until you scratched the surface, and they insist that they are tired of the “tyranny” of the current “dictator” Justin Trudeau, whom you will all recall just won a free and fair election).

It’s all bullshit, however. All of it. This whole thing was organized by extremists, some of whom have ties to the Sons of Odin. If anyone with “genuine concerns” is really along for the ride, it’s because they’re a hapless moron who can’t do their due diligence before they got swept up into the grift. We don’t know where a lot of the money collected by the GoFundMe is coming from, but it’s a good bet it’s not all domestic—especially as this has been picked up by agitators in the American media ecosystem, who are seeing this as some kind of mobilisation effort (while repeating the bizarre falsehood that this is somehow 50,000 trucks and 1.4 million people headed to Ottawa, which defies credulity). They have a stated aim of overturning democracy and eliminating all public health orders (never mind that 99 percent of them are provincial or municipal), and it’s never going to happen because it’s impossible, but nevertheless, there are more and more Conservative MPs who keep giving them legitimacy while trying to play cute and insisting that they denounce extremism, even though the gods damned extremists are behind it. Erin O’Toole went so far as to stage a photo op with a supposed trucker family while in an RCAF jacket, which is a pretty dubious statement to be making considering this convoy’s goal is to overturn democracy, which includes him.

https://twitter.com/robert_hiltz/status/1487211790765338628

Meanwhile, Matt Gurney wonders how we deal with the impossible task of marginalizing the extremists, and proposes we actually start fixing the things that can be fixed to show that the system can work. (Not mentioned: Calling out the opportunists who feed the extremists’ irrational anger and the politicians who court them because they think they can use their energy and dollars). Colin Horgan, on the other hand, speaks for all of our weariness, as we are subjected to these conspiracy theorists who are all playing hero in their own minds, and believing their own juvenile bullshit, while even those with “genuine concerns” only make it worse by feeding into it all the same.

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Roundup: The many leaks from the Cumming Report

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The Cumming report on the Conservatives’ election failure was released to caucus behind closed doors yesterday, and lo, leaks appeared in every news outlet in the country, so let’s go through some of them:

  • From Global: O’Toole’s performance got mixed reviews, with a strong finish but was “over-managed” by the end of the campaign. It was determined he needed to spend more time on the road and not in his studio, and they need to completely rebuild their voter-identification database.
  • From The Toronto Star: Party memberships should be free (which is a terrible gods damned idea), and that the party’s reputation is still suffering from the “barbaric cultural practices tip line” promise in 2015.
  • From the National Post: They were hobbled by party infighting, a lack of ethnic outreach, and the soft response to Quebec’s Law 21. As well, it concluded that O’Toole is still the “right person to lead the party.”
  • From CTV: The party needs more diverse candidates.
  • From CBC: The party failed to craft policy on some important issues, and apparently O’Toole didn’t respond well to criticism in the question-and-answer session following Cumming’s presentation. And they went nuts when Global’s leaks hit the wires while Cumming was still speaking.

I did note that while O’Toole told a press conference afterward that he takes responsibility and promises changes, it was remarked upon that O’Toole seemed to change his tune on the use of the studio, which they crowed about through the campaign and insisted it was better than in-person events because they could reach more people through their teleconferences, but changing his tune about something is nothing new (as we all saw during the election, over and over again).

Meanwhile, O’Toole told said press conference that he was going to meet with truckers, but also denounced extremists among them, which is an extremely hard circle to square considering that it’s the extremists who organised the whole bloody grifter convoy, and any legitimate truckers frustrated by vaccine mandates are going to be hapless nitwits in the bunch. The fact that O’Toole remained silent about the fact that the organisers of said grifter convoy are demanding that democracy be overturned in favour of some delusional Jacobin committee comprised of said convoy organisers and senators is also a problem, as is the fact that he wouldn’t address the fact that these same organizers are doxing MPs, and the Sergeant-at-Arms is warning that their Ottawa residences are being targeted. It does show that O’Toole has basically left objective reality behind, as his latest shitpost video essentially demonstrates.

https://twitter.com/mattgurney/status/1486849795515953156

https://twitter.com/mattgurney/status/1486850305757167622

https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/1486755945292124167

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