Pierre Poilievre held another Sunday press conference (which I fear is going to become a regular feature for the coming months, because the calculation is that it lets them set the agenda for the week), wherein he proposed a “blue seal” programme for doctors, nurses, and other medical practitioners, akin to the “Red Seal” programme for skilled trades, so that they can work anywhere in the country. Gosh, it’s as though nobody had ever thought of this before, and that these kinds of regulatory non-tariff barriers have been a bane on the country since literally Confederation. But hey, I’m sure because he’s demanding it, it’ll be different this time.
This being said, some provinces have been finally moving ahead on this kind of thing, with the Atlantic provinces loosening restrictions so that doctors can practice in any of those provinces, so there is progress. But it has taken a crisis for us to get to this point (because that is apparently how we overcome our pervasive normalcy bias in this country) and not because Poilievre goes around calling things “broken.”
Ukraine Dispatch:
Ukrainian forces destroyed five Russian ammunition depots near Bakhmut on Friday, and say that they are still able to supply their forces in the city and get wounded to safety, as they continue to cause massive damage and casualties to Russian invaders. Meanwhile, Russian president Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to occupied Mariupol, which Ukrainian officials regarded as “the criminal always returns to the scene of the crime.”
The Russian occupiers are tactically unable to complete the operation to capture #Bakhmut and suffer huge losses during the fighting. #RussiaUkraineWar️
Source: Serhii Cherevaty, spokesman for the Eastern Group of Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine pic.twitter.com/8VDzHEW2QT
— UkraineWorld (@ukraine_world) March 19, 2023
https://twitter.com/defencehq/status/1637345862077513730
More Canadian military aid is en route to Ukraine.
We will #StandWithUkraine for as long as it takes. pic.twitter.com/xDUR4ybt4U
— Anita Anand (@AnitaAnandMP) March 18, 2023