Tag Archives: India

Roundup: Danielle Smith threatens to use a magical incantation

Posted on by

Alberta premier Danielle Smith has launched a new ad campaign trying to agitate against the federal government over the clean electricity regulations, trying to get other provinces to similarly fight back against them, claiming that people will freeze in the dark, and there will be rolling blackouts, and so on. None of this is actually true, and the fact that energy prices in her province have shot up have little to do with the clean electricity transition than the choices that her government made around how those prices are regulated. She has also lied and said that because the federal regulations use the criminal law powers that energy CEOs will be jailed in 2035 if they still use natural gas—an absolute falsehood that is not only lurid for the sake of scoring points, but ignores that not every criminal penalty is jail, but can mean large fines (because fines over a certain size become the domain of criminal law instead of administrative monetary penalties.

https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/1707491205678858379

The most hilarious part, however, is that Smith is “threatening” to invoke her risible “Sovereignty Act” to fight these regulations, which will do absolutely nothing. She might as well threaten to use a magical incantation for all of the good it will do. Unfortunately, there are far too many credulous journalists and pundits who actually believe that this kind of magical incantation has any power, which is disappointing and allows Smith to continue with her nonsense.

Anyway, here’s Andrew Leach with some actual facts that Smith is missing.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Not a lot of news out of Ukraine yesterday, except for a visit from NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who says that Ukraine is gaining ground in their counter-offensive, while president Volodymyr Zelenskyy continues to call for more air defences, given how many drone attacks they have been under in recent nights.

Continue reading →

Roundup: Exit Rota, and the curious process for his replacement

Posted on by

House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota announced his intention to resign yesterday, the effective date to be the end of sitting today, with the added caveat that he won’t preside over any further debates in the meantime (which is just as well considering how much of a hash that was on Monday). The timing of what comes next was somewhat up in the air—it would have sounded like the initial plan was for the election for Rota’s replacement would be on Thursday, but because that voting needs to be done in-person (it’s a secret ranked ballot—MPs can’t use their voting app for that), there were concerns about MPs who weren’t in town this week, and so on. That meant that the vote would have to be on Tuesday (because the Commons isn’t sitting on Monday), leaving two more days with no Speaker, and under the Constitution, they could not sit until they had a new one.

It was at this point that the House Leaders came up with a creative solution, that may be dubiously constitutional—they passed a motion by unanimous consent that declared that the Dean of the House, Bloc MP Louis Plamondon, is to be “deemed elected” and will act as interim Speaker until the election on Tuesday. Which is…interesting. I’m not sure why they wouldn’t just swallow the loss of two sitting days (which could be a blessed relief considering how overheated things are right now over this whole debacle). There is also the question of Rota’s status once he has given up the office, and whether the Liberal caucus will want him back in their ranks considering what has happened, and the fact that the Conservatives would love nothing more than to call them all “Nazi sympathizers” or some other such epithet as a result. I’ve heard that Rota told a local radio station that he didn’t plan to run again in the next election, so perhaps he may need to consider getting an earlier start to those retirement plans.

Meanwhile, the Conservatives are now pushing for some kind of committee study to “get to the bottom of what happened,” which is ridiculous because we know what happened—Rota didn’t do his job to politically vet his guest in the gallery. The notion that PMO should have vetted him is outrageous because it’s an assault on parliamentary sovereignty and the independence of the Speaker. It’s also little more than an attempt to set up yet another partisan circus where they can perform for the cameras, and gather a bunch more clips for future shitposts, because that’s what this parliament has become—little more than a clip factory. There’s nothing to study. We know what happened, and the fact that the Conservatives are deliberately conflating security screenings and political vetting is being done solely to score points, and they all know it. Hopefully the other opposition parties are smart enough not to fall for this (but I suspect they won’t be, because he have no serious MPs left).

https://twitter.com/dgardner/status/1706822083127234564

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russian drone strikes against Odessa have not only damaged warehouses, but also have suspended service of a ferry that runs between Ukraine and Romania. Ukrainian forces are claiming success around villages near Bakhmut. Russian state television claimed to show a video conference attended by that the Black Sea fleet commander that the Ukrainians say they killed.

https://twitter.com/kyivindependent/status/1706716260627616064

Continue reading →

Roundup: Rota’s apology for his fatal mistake

Posted on by

The warm glow of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s address to Parliament has given way to a bitter aftertaste as it turns out that the Ukrainian veteran that Speaker Anthony Rota introduced in his concluding remarks turned out not to have been either a Ukrainian-Canadian fighter or a Ukrainian partisan (as Rota’s introduction could fuzzily be construed as) but rather, was a volunteer for a Nazi-controlled unit, and it has turned into an absolute shitstorm of groups, particularly Jewish groups, being rightfully outraged, and partisan actors trying to use this to score points.

Rota released a statement of absolute, unequivocal apology, and I suspect that he will make a statement in the House of Commons first thing today, but it nevertheless casts a pall over him and his judgment, particularly because he has brought Parliament as a whole, and the government, into disrepute, and has quite possibly created an international incident over this where it feeds the interests of Russian propagandists who deride Zelenskyy and Ukraine as a whole as being some kind of Nazi stronghold. And I wish that I could say that this was atypical, but Rota has spent his time as Speaker largely being asleep at the wheel, and being a genial idiot who is more concerned with being everyone’s friend than he is in doing his job, which is tremendously unfortunately. And his trying to be everyone’s friend and being asleep at the wheel has brought us to this point here, and I have a hard time seeing how he has any choice in the matter here other than to announce his resignation on Monday morning, because his job is to protect Parliament, and he has done the opposite. There should be no walking back from this, no matter how well-intentioned he was, or how inadvertent the mistake.

Of course, the politics at play here have already spun all the way out of control, with Pierre Poilievre claiming that Trudeau met with said individual, while everyone else says that he hasn’t. People are insisting that Trudeau and the PMO should have known that this individual was invited, which I can’t see as possibly being the case if the Speaker, who is independent and does not run everything past PMO or PCO, had his own allotment of guest seats that he filled. I think that this will nevertheless obligate Trudeau to issue some kind of public apology, possibly in the Chamber, either before or after QP (assuming we have one if the Speaker resigns and they don’t have to suspend until a new permanent Speaker is chosen), and to offer a public assurance to Zelenskyy that he was unaware and that this situation is dealt with by Rota’s resignation. Unfortunately, this is going to play into so many propagandists’ narratives, and everyone is damaged by this.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russian airstrikes killed two and wounded eight in the southern city of Kherson on Sunday, and early this morning, they launched a drone and missile attack against Odessa. New Western weapons are exacting a significant toll on Russian forces in the fighting near Bakhmut. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered two Polish volunteers awards on his return to Ukraine, as the two countries are in a major dispute over grain shipments. Here’s a look at an airport in Poland which serves not only as an arrival point for Ukrainians badly injured and in need of care, both civilian and military, as well as a transfer point for military equipment.

Continue reading →

Roundup: Zelenskyy’s trip to Canada

Posted on by

It was Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s big day in Ottawa, his first since the war began, and he began the day paying a visit to Governor General Mary May Simon. She taught him the Inuktitut word “Ajuinnata,” meaning perseverance in the face of adversity, and it’s a message Zelenskyy took with him. (Simon also taught that word to the Queen when she was first appointed, and has been something of a calling card that she leaves with those she interacts with).

From there, Zelenskyy arrived on Parliament Hill and did the official greetings within the West Block before having an extended bilateral meeting that included signing new economic agreements and pledges of another round of economic and military support from Canada. And from there, to the House of Commons to address a joint session of Parliament, giving an excellent speech (that was far better than the one Joe Biden delivered a few months ago).

From there, Zelenskyy was off to Toronto to meet more business groups and supporters in Canada. The CBC has photos from the day here, and here is a summary of what was agreed to between the leaders.

Ukraine Dispatch:

While the cat’s away… Ukrainian forces launched a missile strike against Russian forces in occupied Crimea, and destroyed the headquarters of Russia’s navy in the region. On the eastern front, Ukrainian troops are vowing to fully re-take Bakhmut, but know that it’s going to be a challenge.

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1705219158013522222

https://twitter.com/rustem_umerov/status/1705273496157192520

Continue reading →

Roundup: The credible intelligence gets a lot weightier

Posted on by

At the UN General Assembly, prime minister Justin Trudeau reiterated what he said about credible intelligence pointing to Indian agents responsible for the murder of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil, and said that he is calling on India to help with the investigation. But what we have since learned is that the credible intelligence includes both human sources and signals intelligence from Five Eyes allies that includes Indian diplomats’ communications, and that is certainly lending a lot more heft to these allegations—on top of the fact that the director of CSIS and the National Security Advisory made trips to India to deal with government sources there, and sources are saying that behind closed doors, the Indian government isn’t denying the existence of this intelligence. That’s a pretty big deal, particularly as members of the Pundit Class in this country are trying to insinuate that this is really about Trudeau ginning up controversy to create a distraction (which doesn’t follow this government’s pattern at all).

https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/1705084748823961930

In the meantime, India has stopped processing travel visas from Canada under the transparently ludicrous excuse that their facilities face security threats, which affects a lot of people here hoping to visit family. Trudeau didn’t say if he would respond in kind, but it seems unlikely if he is serious about saying he’s not trying to provoke or escalate this with India, but to actually get to the bottom of this. (The fact that India doesn’t want to cooperate in public does appear to be something of a tell).

Zelenskyy Visit

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy landed in Ottawa last night. He will be visiting Governor General Mary May Simon this morning, followed by a visit to Parliament Hill, where he will be greeted my parliamentarians in advance of an address to Parliament that will take place around 1 PM Eastern.

https://twitter.com/journo_dale/status/1705081288808403189

Ukraine Dispatch:

While president Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in Washington, Russian forces pounded more Ukrainian cities, with more deaths being reported in the southern city of Kherson. There has been more shelling of Kherson early this morning. Here is a look at the Ukrainian soldiers fighting their way back to reclaiming Bakhmut.

Continue reading →

Roundup: The failed “1 Million March”

Posted on by

The supposed “1 Million March 4 Children” took place yesterday in cities across Canada, and in most instances, were drowned out by counter-protesters—a welcome sign to be sure. And to be clear, these protests have nothing to do with children, or “parental rights,” but is focused largely on the moral panic around trans rights (and the falsehood that they are mutilating and sterilising children), pronoun policies in schools, and the libel that this is somehow about gays “grooming” children, or indoctrinating them to be gay. The attendees are pretty much a toxic brew of leftover “Freedom Convoy” enthusiasts, grievance tourists, far-right nationals, and some Muslim parents whom they have temporary found common cause with (and don’t expect this to last, given that much of the far-right agitation in Canada has its roots in Islamophobia, but they’re happy to let the Muslims agitate against LGBTQ+ people on their behalf). A few arrests were made at some of the demonstrations, but they were largely peaceful in that regard. (Write-up of the Ottawa event here, with photos here).

In terms of political reaction, the marchers didn’t get much support, outside of New Brunswick premier Blaine Higgs who greeted them and made common cause with them, because of course he did. In Ottawa, Jagmeet Singh led a counter-protest march, while the Conservatives were instructed to steer clear and say nothing, not even when it was raised in Question Period, as they sat stone-faced when others clapped about the denunciation of anti-trans hate. This silence is of course deliberate—it’s not because of a lack of conviction, but because they don’t want to jeopardise any ability to try and eat into the PPC’s far-right voter base, because that’s how they think they’ll edge out the Liberals in the next election. And I really have to question how MPs like Melissa Lantsman and Eric Duncan can sit there through this as though this doesn’t affect them (because remember, there is not “good parts only” version of right-wing populism. You can’t try and dog-whistle about “gender theory” and think that it’ll stop there, because it won’t).

The thing that gets me through all of this so-called movement to “protect children” is this insistence that LGBTQ+ people must be “grooming” children or indoctrinating them because there’s this belief that they’re too young to know if they’re gay or lesbian, or even trans. In most cases, that’s not true—most kids know who they are, and most of us older LGBTQ+ people have been through miserable and unsupportive youth and adolescence, and want to ensure that the next generation doesn’t have to go through what we did. That these people are masking their homophobia and transphobia as concern is one thing, but it’s the complete lack of empathy on their part that really gets me.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russians conducted strikes in at least six cities, including Kyiv, Kherson, Kharkiv, Cherkasy, and Lviv. AP has a look inside a Ukrainian platoon that freed Andriivka. At the UN, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the Security Council about Russia breaking the UN Charter.

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1704473607273881853

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau told a climate event at the UN General Assembly that Canada is on track to exceed its methane reduction targets (but we did expand our fossil fuels).
  • As Trudeau has been having pull-aside meetings at the UN, Australia’s foreign minister calls the allegations about Indian agents “credible.”
  • Mélanie Joly relayed Canada’s “grave concerns” about Azerbaijan escalating military action in the Nagorno-Karabakh region involving Armenians.
  • Canada will pull some of its diplomatic staff from India following recent threats.
  • The Privacy Commissioner says Canada Post broke the law by harvesting information from envelopes and packages.
  • The Ombudsman for Responsible Enterprise is investigating Levi Strauss for possible forced labour in their supply chain.
  • Indian officials have suddenly started claiming students in Canada face risks to their personal safety, undermining their own High Commissioner’s comments.
  • American politicians are warning Canada against implementing a possible digital services tax on web giants (which we won’t do if the OECD gets its act together).
  • A group of senators are calling on the government to institute stricter criteria for schools that host international students.
  • Senator Jim Quinn introduced a bill to make the isthmus between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia federal jurisdiction (but that is a money bill and illegitimate).
  • Here is a look at Senator Marilou McPhedran’s outsized Senate expenses (which includes some journalistic malpractice, like getting quotes from the CTF).
  • Liberals from Atlantic Canada are calling out Conservative opposition to a bill that would extend the Atlantic Accords to include renewable energy such as wind farms.
  • Pierre Poilievre tabled his housing bill, which I’m dubious will even be voteable.
  • The Centre Ice Conservatives/Canadians group is calling their new political party “Canadian Future” (which is almost certainly a doomed venture).
  • A second Doug Ford minister, Kaleed Rasheed, resigned from Cabinet and stepped away from caucus over a trip to Vegas with Greenbelt Developers and lying about it.
  • Paul Wells pays a visit to Hamilton East Stoney Creek after the poll numbers look to be shifting there, and talks to the putative Conservative candidate about the mood.

Odds and ends:

Want more Routine Proceedings? Become a patron and get exclusive new content.

Roundup: Reaction to Monday’s assassination revelations

Posted on by

In response to Monday’s explosive allegations that agents of the Indian government may have had assassinated a Sikh separatist leader in Canada, the Indian government calls the allegations “absurd” and has expelled a Canadian diplomat in retaliation for the expulsion of one of their diplomats. On his way into Cabinet, Justin Trudeau said that he wasn’t trying to escalate with India but wanted cooperation on the investigation, and said that he did consult with allies before making his speech on Monday.

In terms of international support, the UK offered a fairly tepid statement of support, while the US’ initial lukewarm statement was upgraded to a much more supportive statement later in the day. This is, of course, going to put strain on trade talks, at least in the near term.

https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/1704216214283624787

There was reaction on the Hill from the World Sikh Organization and the National Council of Canadian Muslims, who said the allegations are not surprising, particularly given the actions of the Modi government to minorities in India. It also sounds like Hardeep Nijjar had been meeting with CSIS on a weekly basis up until his assassination, because of the threats against him, leading to questions about whether our security agencies did enough to protect him (but should probably be asking if they have the capacity to protect threatened community members more). Here is some reaction from Sikh and south Asian MPs and ministers.

Very curiously, Pierre Poilievre came out in the morning to change his tone from his speech on Monday, and is now demanding evidence from the prime minister about the allegations. Even more curious is the fact that there was a take-note debate on the subject in the House of Commons last night, and no Conservative participated, which is very, very unusual. I do have to wonder if this is the influence of new MP Shuvaloy Majumdar, who has been accused of having an anti-Sikh bias in his Indian foreign policy commentary in the past, and whom Conservatives lean heavily on for their foreign policy advice. (Then again, it might just be Poilievre fully engaging in dickish tendencies and not wanting to look like he’s letting Trudeau get any points for this, which is equally a possibility).

For some additional perspective, former CSIS director Richard Fadden and former national security advisor Vincent Rigby talk about what we know, why it’s not a surprise that India has been interfering in Canada, and the reason why it’s difficult to provide necessary protection to some of the people under threat.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russia’s drone attack on Lviv early Tuesday morning hit a warehouse containing humanitarian supplies, and killed one person. There were more deaths in Kherson due to Russian shelling. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was at the UN General Assembly to call on Russia to end the war so that the world can address more urgent issues like the climate crisis. Back home, there are more corruption allegations surrounding people close to Zelenskyy.

Continue reading →

QP: Lying by omission about inflation drivers

Posted on by

In light of the ugly inflation numbers released this morning, Question Period promised to be a gong show, and lo and behold, as things got underway, Pierre Poilievre led off in French, railing about so-called “inflationary deficits” as being the cause of what raised inflation, which is false. Justin Trudeau noted that some of the spending were investments in Canadians while still being fiscally responsible. Poilievre accused them PM of “printing money” which is a lie, and claims hr warned him about inflationary deficits and that they put oil on the inflationary fire. Trudeau said that what he took from that is that Poilievre is saying he wouldn’t have given people the “grocery rebate” or cut child care fees while the government did so while being fiscally responsible. Poilievre switched to English to decry headline inflation and demanded a balanced budget. Trudeau insisted that they helped bring down inflation while helping Canadians with groceries and child care while being fiscally responsible. Poilievre insisted that the government was not compassionate by loading on debt, and gave some specious math about inflation. Trudeau said that Poilievre was talking down Canadians and the economy, before patting himself on the back for cutting GST on rental constructing and stabilising grocery China. Poilievre went on a mendacious tear about “newly-printed money,” and worried about a mortgage crisis. Trudeau relayed that he met a mother in Oakville whose mortgage payments rose as much as her child care costs went down, which was good for her, but the Conservatives have made it clear that they wouldn’t do anything about child care.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc and demanded that the government release $900 million in housing funds to Quebec, presumably without any strings. Trudeau noted the $4 billion housing accelerator fund and that they were working with the government of Quebec to ensure that it gets the most effect. Therrien claimed to be baffled by this, and Trudeau repeated his response. 

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and he railed that the government was only trying to “stabilise” grocery prices and not bring them down—clearly demonstrating he has no idea what he’s talking about. Trudeau mouthed the pabulum about working with the CEOs. Singh then raised the allegation of the assassination by Indian agents, and wanted assurances of safety for those being threatened. Trudeau spoke about the rule of law and the being more to do, but didn’t really answer.

Continue reading →

Roundup: “Credible allegations” of an assassination on Canadian soil

Posted on by

It was an unexpected moment after Question Period, when Justin Trudeau returned to the House of Commons, and took advantage of the Statements by Ministers slot in Routine Proceedings to speak on an issue of “national security,” and revealed that credible intelligence from Canadian agencies has found that an agent of the Indian government was likely responsible for the murder of a Sikh leader in British Columbia several months ago. Other opposition leaders expressed their shock, and support for the government in this—being unusually less dickish than usual (until they denied Elizabeth May her own opportunity to speak—the dickishness resumed at that point). It also sounds like the timing of this announcement was earlier than anticipated—the Globe and Mail got a leak and went to confirm it with the government, and were asked if they could hold off publishing for a week, and the Globe said they had 24 hours, so Trudeau was forced to do this now, and not after he returned from the UN General Assembly.

https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/1703856088238416330

https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/1703879668842016904

Shortly thereafter, Mélanie Joly and Dominic LeBlanc scrummed in the Foyer and said that a high-ranking Indian diplomat was expelled from the country, and it sounds like the government is considering further measures in the near future. It also sounds like this was being discussed at the G20 meeting in India last week, as both the head of CSIS and Trudeau’s National Security Advisor were on the trip, and suddenly the frostiness with Narendra Modi and the cancelled trade mission make so much more sense, being as this was being pursued in back channels during the summit, not only with Indian officials but also with allied countries including the US and the UK.

For background, here is what we know about the victim, and the timeline of events surrounding the murder. India, predictably, refutes this.

Ukraine Dispatch:

There have been Russian attacks on both Lviv in the west and Kherson in the south. Ukrainian forces say they breached Russian lines near Bakhmut in the east, and have reclaimed two more villages. Six deputy defence ministers were fired, possibly in relation to a corruption scandal.

Continue reading →

Roundup: Barely a first step

Posted on by

With the excitement around Thursday’s announcement on removing HST from purpose-built rental homes, there is a lot more work to do, most of which needs to be done at the provincial and municipal level, but the federal government is starting to step up with more than some funds, which is something. I do worry that a number of provinces will decide that because the federal government is doing something, that they can step back—you know, like a number of them did with healthcare spending where they reduced their own spending by the same amount as an increased federal transfer, which defeats the whole purpose.

So yeah—I’m not popping any champagne just yet that we have some incremental moves. Meanwhile, here’s Mike Moffatt on what needs to happen next.

https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt/status/1702652572899619115

https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt/status/1702653469880975742

https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt/status/1702654065715384432

https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt/status/1702655085388452163

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russian drones attacked the central Khmelnytskyi region, likely attempting to hit the Starokostiantyniv air base, where the attack on the shipyards in occupied Crimea had been launched. Meanwhile, a Ukrainian sea drone damaged a Russian missile ship off of occupied Crimea. Meanwhile, a pro-Russian former government minister has been detained for 60 days with no option of bail for suspected treason.

https://twitter.com/defenceu/status/1702649870736105582

Continue reading →