Tag Archives: Israel

QP: Concern trolling over the Environment Commissioner’s report

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The prime minister was off in Quebec making housing announcements, while his deputy was in Winnipeg, while most of the other leaders were absent as well. Pierre Poilievre led off first in French saying that the Jewish community in Montreal is being targeted, and then switching to English to relay the recent incidents including gunfire at two different Jewish students, and decried the “theatrical words” of the prime minister and wondered what concrete action the government has taken. Karina Gould unequivocally condemned the incidents, stated there is no room for hate or antisemitism, and that they stand with Jewish Canadians, and that criminal investigations are ongoing. Poilievre returned to French to say that words don’t protect people, before he turned to the issue of Sustainable Development Technology Canada, and that the president of the Fund spent $200,000 of those funds on her own business and wondered why she wasn’t fired. François-Philippe Champagne responded in English that they demanded a third-party investigation the moment they heard the allegations, and that they took action once the report was received. Poilievre returned to English to again decry that the chair of the fund directed funds to her own company and demanded that she be fired. Champagne repeated in French this time that the second they heard the allegations, they called for an investigation and the corrective measures. Poilievre then got back up to decry that the government has no real climate plan because carbon pricing “doesn’t work” and insisted that the carbon on price is just a tax plan. (Drink!) Steven Guilbeault objected to this, and pointed to emissions reductions that were achieved. Poilievre repeated his same mocking assertions, and this time Guilbeault pointed out that they haven’t missed any of their targets because their only target was for 2030.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and demanded that the government offer a tender for surveillance aircraft so that Bombardier has a chance to compete. Jean-Yves Duclos notes that they have supported the industry in Quebec throughout. Therrien decried that Bombardier doesn’t want a handout (erm…) but a chance to compete. Duclos reiterated that they have given plenty of work to Quebec, citing the Davie Shipyard as an example.

Alexandre Boulerice rose for the Bloc to pat himself on the back for getting anti-scab legislation tabled, and wanted a committment to making it law as soon as possible. Seamus O’Regan took his own turn to pat himself on the back for the work that went into the bill. Peter Julian then stood up to decry that two grocery giants rejecting the voluntary code of conduct, and demanded the government support their bill. Champagne got back up to thunder that the government did the right thing in calling in the grocery CEOs, and demanded they support the government’s legislation. 

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Roundup: An incompetent vaccine rollout

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In case you were under any illusion that the Ford government had somehow managed to get past their murderclown-level incompetence as the we’ve moved into the “ignore and hope it goes away” phase of the pandemic, well they haven’t. And the rollout of the latest round of COVID vaccines has proved this yet again as they have mishandled this spectacularly badly. Below is a thread from a Toronto-area pharmacist who is recounting that the Ford government had botched this so badly that they have to stop offering the vaccines. This is very, very bad, but like we’ve established, murderclown-level incompetence from the Ford government from top to bottom.

Way to go, Uncle Doug. Still managing to kill people after all this time.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Ukrainian forces continue to hold off Russian advances at Avdiivka, while Russians have started attacking energy systems again in advance of winter. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that they can still deliver battlefield results before the year is out. He also pledged that they can ensure that reconstruction is free of corruption. Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia were told they are advancing in their desire to join the European Union, while Balkan states are being moved to the back of the queue. Russian state media claims they are using Ukrainian POWs as soldiers for their side, but it’s hard to take the claim seriously.

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QP: More fiction, more soliloquies

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The prime minister was present today, while his deputy was on her way to Winnipeg. All of the other leaders were present, and it remained to be seen in today would be as abysmal as the past week has been. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and he started off with a slam of the Bloc for voting with the government, claiming this was a new “coalition” and wondered what deal he offered them. Justin Trudeau said that he offered Quebeckers what he offered all Canadians, which was a plan to grow the economy with a plan to fight climate change. Poilievre decried that he mixed up the Bloc with all Quebeckers, and repeated his demand to know about the supposed deal. Trudeau noted that half a million Quebeckers still use home heating oil, particularly those in lower-incomes, which is why they were offering to replace them with heat pumps. Poilievre switched to English to mouth some slogans and again repeated the falsehood that there is a coalition with the Bloc, and his demand to know what he offered them. Trudeau said that the only division in the country was within the Conservative Party on the issue of climate change, and praised the rebates that the carbon price system offers. Poilievre raised the Environment Commissioner’s report that the government’s climate plan wasn’t going to reach its targets, and again claimed there was a coalition. Trudeau trotted out his line that while the country agreed to phase out coal, they are now doing the same with heating oil. Poilievre raised the premiers’ objections to the heating oil pause, and said that Trudeau was partnering with the separatists to divide the country. Trudeau went into a tear about about how the government was helping Canadians while the Conservative had no plan.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he wanted the government to demand a ceasefire in Gaza. Trudeau recited his call for a “humanitarian pause” that can get aid in and Canadians out, while they support a two-state solution. Blanchet noted that Israel has broken the trust or the international community, and demanded stronger action from Canada in calling for a ceasefire. Trudeau said that they are working with partners around the world to protect civilians and restore peace in the region, but we also need to beware of the rise in hate seen in Canada.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and denounced the “Liberal and Conservative corporate coalition” before he demanded support for the NDP’s Supply Day motion on eliminating the GST on heating and imposing a windfall tax on oil companies. Trudeau noted his “confusion and consternation” the NDP’s incoherent position in the Conservative vote, and said that it disappointed progressives around the country. Singh declared that the government has missed all of their climate targets (not actually true), before repeating his question in French. Trudeau repeated his same response. 

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Roundup: The premiers want their cut

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I have to say that it’s extremely precious to see the premiers getting bent out of shape because the federal government has started taking action on the housing crisis by dealing directly with municipalities and using the Housing Accelerator Fund to incentivise them to get rid of restrictive zoning practices that limit housing development. They’re claiming that the federal government is encroaching on their jurisdiction, but these very same premiers have abdicated this responsibility for decades now. They have the ability to eliminate these zoning restrictions with provincial jurisdiction, and they have time and again refused to. So, the federal government stepped in, and now they’re getting huffy about it. And to their credit, the federal ministers are pushing back on this, as well they should (especially because once again, they’re being blamed for the provinces’ failure to act on this crisis).

One of the excuses is that Quebec had a deal for money that flows to the province and not municipalities, because the province has legislation that forbids the federal government from cutting such deals. Okay, but what’s the motivation here? Are they sore because they’re not being invited to the photo ops when these deals are signed? Or are they sore because they can’t take a cut of those funds and use them for their own purposes, you know, like they have done with health transfers for decades now, or how they took funds meant for pandemic supports and simply applied them to their bottom lines so that they could run surpluses while letting their health care systems collapse around them? Because neither is a good look.

Even more to the point, the provinces keep insisting that Ottawa should be the one to pay for things cities need, like transit, or social housing, or major infrastructure, because they don’t want to have to spend the money. They keep crying poor and saying Ottawa has all of the money, but that’s also bullshit because the provinces have the same ability to raise revenues as the federal government does, but they choose not to because they don’t want to be the bad guy by raising taxes, even though it’s all the same taxpayer in the end. But this is how federalism has degenerated in this country, and it’s time people start holding the premiers to account for their failures (for a change).

Ukraine Dispatch:

Ukrainian forces say that they repelled more pushes along the various front lines and in particular around Avdiivka. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is calling for unity as he dismisses the notion of wartime elections, and when he has been publicly disagreeing with his top general about the current phase of the war.

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1721960135759741409

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QP: Same scripts on demanding free votes for individual MPs

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While the prime minister was in town but not in QP, but most of the other leaders were absent as well, even when they just gave media availabilities in the Foyer. The PM’s deputy was present for a change, which has become something of a rarity. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and he took shots at the Bloc for supporting the government’s carbon price plans, and that they planned to vote against their Supply Day motion on removing the carbon price on all home heating, and wondered what concessions the prime minister made to them. Chrystia Freeland said that the government was proud to follow in Quebec’s footsteps on child care and climate action, because Quebec was a leader on both. Poilievre stated that the question was for the prime minister, who was “hiding,” and repeated his insinuation that there was some kind of coalition deal with the Bloc, which is obvious nonsense. Pablo Rodriguez got up to worry that the Conservatives want to take Quebec backwards, whether it’s with women’s rights, gun control, or climate action, and declared the the Conservatives want to send Quebec back to the “Stone Age.” Poilievre switched to English to carry on with the empty chair gambit, said that Gudie Hutchings’ comments were “revolting,” and demanded a free vote on their carbon price motion. Jonathan Wilkinson somewhat wearily recited that the cost of heating oil is four times as much as natural gas and they have a plan for free heating pumps. Poilievre tried to pick off the two Alberta Liberals to demand a free vote, and Wilkinson again reiterated his same points. Poilievre insinuated that the prime minister was hiding and demanded more deee votes for more Liberal MPs. This time Chrystia Freeland got up to call out Poilievre for “hiding” on the Alberta pension issue, and that it took him 29 days to denounce the plan.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and demanded that the government safe television after all of the TVA layoffs. Pascale St-Onge rose to say that her thoughts are with those whose jobs were affected but the landscape in media has changed, which is why they need the cooperation of all parties to safe Canadian media. Therrien decried that television was in danger and demanded federal action, to which St-Onge again decried the Conservatives trying to block their abilities to help the sector.

Jenny Kwan rose for the NDP, and decried how much rent has increased (which is provincial), and demanded more investments in social housing. Sean Fraser said that he agreed with the slams against Poilievre and patted himself on the back for their investments to date. Daniel Blaikie got up to denounce the government in general and demanded that they support the NDP bill on competition reform. François-Philippe Champagne said that they should support the government’s bill on competition reform.

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Roundup: No, that’s not how inflation works

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Because some of you at the back still don’t get it, no, carbon pricing does not contribute 16 percent of inflation. It contributes 0.15 percent, because inflation is a year-over-year measure, and when the increase is steady and holding, the actual impact on inflation is negligible, because that’s how inflation works. But several of you you keep insisting that your math is correct when it’s not, and so here’s economist Trevor Tombe to try and get it through to you:

https://twitter.com/trevortombe/status/1720919364172697678

Ukraine Dispatch:

Ukrainian missiles struck a shipyard in occupied Crimea, damaging a Russian warship there. There are conflicting reports about the state of the counter-offensive in the Zaporizhzhia region, where Russia claims they have halted any advance, while Ukrainians say that they continue to advance, albeit slowly. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pushes back against the notion that they have entered into a stalemate, and says they need more air defences so that Russia can no longer dominate the skies. Here’s a look at Ukrainian soldiers who have turned to jiu-jitsu after losing limbs in the war.

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Roundup: Paying too much attention to one senator’s opinion

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Sometimes the way the media cycle operates in weird ways in this city, and yesterday was no exception. On Wednesday, Senator Percy Downe wrote an op-ed that said that the Liberal Party should be having discussions as to whether they think Justin Trudeau should lead them into the next election, and a few people started frothing about it, but a day later, it got particular traction because Pierre Poilievre was using it in Question Period to attack Trudeau, as though Downe was a big name or had a network that was significant.

And that’s the part that mystifies me. Once upon a time, Downe was a chief of staff to Jean Chrétien, but senators haven’t been part of the Liberal caucus since 2014, when Trudeau famously expelled them as pre-emptive damage control in advance of the Auditor General’s (massively flawed) report on the Senate’s expenses, and claimed it was to give them more independence. Furthermore, Downe jumped ship to the fledgeling Canadian Senators Group right after he helped the Senate Liberals transform their caucus into the Progressives, which alienated him from the remaining Liberals in the Senate (who no longer call themselves such in the current environment). I fail to see how he has any kind of sway or influence at all. And when Trudeau was asked about Downe’s comments on his way into Question Period yesterday, he gave a classic “I wish him well” response and laughed it off.

Meanwhile, the attempt to make Mark Carney happen aren’t stopping either, as the Globe and Mail cornered him a climate summit in town this week to demand to know his leadership ambitions and *gasp!* he didn’t say no! Let’s gossip about this more! Never mind that Carney would likely mean the second coming of Michael Ignatieff for the party, if you ignore that he has no political machinery around him that could even support a bid (which he should avoid at all costs because it damages the Bank of Canada and its current governor, whether he likes to believe it or not). But seriously, this whole thing is ridiculous, and I cannot believe how much air time and digital space has been used up on it.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russian drones have hit civilian targets in Kharkiv region, but no reports of casualties as of when I’m writing this. Ukrainian forces repelled a new Russian assault on Vuhledar in the east.

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QP: A bizarre false version of reality with a draconian coalition in place

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The prime minister was present today, which has become unusual for a Thursday, but since he wasn’t here yesterday it was good that we at least got a second appearance in the week. Not every leader was present today, and neither was the deputy PM, for what it’s worth. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and name-checked Catherine McKenna, Mark Carney, and Senator Percy Downe in pointing out people disappointed with Trudeau, and pounced on Downe’s call on Trudeau to resign, as if Downe’s opinion carries any weight at all. Justin Trudeau stood up and recited prepared lines that they are focused on helping Canadians while tackling climate change, and that the team is togetherness. Poilievre noted that he didn’t answer the question, and accused the government of not caring about Canadians who need heating. Trudeau listed things that the Conservatives would cut if they got into power. Poilievre switched to English to say that Trudeau hadn’t denounced the things Gudie Hutchings said about people voting Lineral, and demanded a yes of no answer to whether they would support his supply day motion whether his MPs would have a free vote. Trudeau rambled about phasing out heating oil and called on provinces to sign up to the heat pump programme. Poilievre noted he didn’t answer the question and wondered if the NDP would also get a free vote, which should have been out of bounds. Trudeau instead talked about how many people in Alberta, Saskatchewan and BC use heating oil and called on those provinces to partner about heat pumps. Poilievre asked if they would make his Supply Day motion a confidence vote, but Trudeau again rambled about heat pumps and said that Poilievre was making a mistake if he thought Canadians didn’t care about the environment. 

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and raised the issue of immigration levels, and consulting Quebec on them. Trudeau read that Quebec has their own targets and that the federal government provides resources to the province for integration. Blanchet again demanded proper consultations before firm targets were set, but Trudeau repeated his response.

Peter Julian rose for the NDP, and in French, he called on support for their call to take the GST off of home heating (which, again, is unworkable administratively and disproportionately benefits the wealthy). Trudeau responded that the thousand of people in BC who rely on heating oil should take advantage of the heat pump programme. Taylor Bachrach took over to relay a constituent’s problems with the heat pump rebate and wanted the same programme for Atlantic Canadians extended to the whole country. Trudeau said they wanted to, but provinces need to partner with them.

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Roundup: A focus on heat pumps

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There has been a lot of attention paid to the subject of heat pumps and just what they are over the past few days in light of the government’s “pause” on carbon prices on heating oil in a bid to give people more time to make the conversion, particularly in places like Atlantic Canada. So what are they and why is the government subsidising the transition, going so far as to make them free for low-income households (in provinces where they have an agreement with the provincial government)? The Canadian Press has an explainer on what they are for starters.

There is an issue that the detractors keep raising which is that in particularly cold weather they may be insufficient and a secondary heat source would be necessary. In many places, they use electric heat as that secondary source, particularly given the simultaneous push toward clean electricity generation in this country (some eighty percent already comes from non-emitting sources). We should take heed that Nordic countries, which also have very cold winters, have been making the move to heat pumps for a while now, and the newer models can deal with far colder weather than earlier models, but that doesn’t mean that the transition doesn’t have complications.

https://twitter.com/robtpublic/status/1719579403427213557

You can bet Scott Moe and others will be concern trolling on this, and some of the criticisms do have merit, but it will become a real task to sort out just what is legitimate criticism, and what is being stated in bad faith (because look where it’s coming from). By the same token, the government shouldn’t oversimplify things here, or the scope of the challenge that this conversion may present itself to people who will need more assistance in navigating the other government retrofit programmes that can help them with that transition.

Ukraine Dispatch:

A Russian drone attack hit an oil refinery in the central Kremenchuk region, while Russia also dropped explosives on the Black Sea shipping channels that have been used to transport grain. Ukraine’s commander-in-chief says they are entering into a static and attritional phase of the war, and they need new capabilities including more air power if they want to break out of it. Since the start of the war, more than 260 civilians have died from stepping on landmines, which is more of the lasting damage that invasion like Russia’s leaves behind.

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QP: The Empty Chair gambit makes a return

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Even though the prime minister was in town and in his office, he was not in QP today, and neither was his deputy, and other leaders were absent as well. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and he complained that Quebeckers would be paying for the fictional “second carbon tax,” and claimed it was to fund the scandal at the clean energy agency. Diane Lebouthillier stood up to ask what plan the Conservatives had for the environment, and then answered that it was nothing. Poilievre tried to be cute about Trudeau not being present, claimed there was “carbon tax chaos” and demanded he cut the carbon price. Fergus gently warned Poilievre not to do indirectly what he can’t do directly, after which Randy Boissonnault asked if the Conservatives would pressure western premiers to sign up to the heat pump programme. Poilievre got on the empty chair tactic and demanded the prime minister answer, and this time Jonathan Wilkinson said that Poilievre was too busy patting himself on his own back to do his homework, and explained about heating oil being a driver of energy poverty which is why they were phasing it out. Poilievre carried on with the empty chair gambit, and this time Boissonnault launched into an attack on the Conservatives not standing up to Danielle Smith for her attack on CPP. Poilievre again railed at the absent prime minister not answering, and demanded support for a motion about removing the carbon price on all heating. Wilkinson pointed out that the government was doing public policy rather than slogans.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and demanded that the government consult with Quebec before announcing their immigration targets later in the day. Mark Miller said that they have been consulting, and that the spoke with the minister, and even if they don’t agree, they were still consulted. Therrien railed that they had not consulted on the “federal targets,” and Miller launched into an explanation about the immigration funding that they provide to the province.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and railed about the carbon price “pause,” and demanded the government tax the profits of oil companies to provide relief to all Canadians. Wilkinson suggested that Singh do his homework, disputed that there was an onerous process for the heat pump programme while they fight climate change. Singh repeated the question in French but with an added mention of “the era of Duplessis” for local Quebec flavour, and Wilkinson repeated his answer.

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