There has been some attention paid lately to the fact that Leslyn Lewis is promoting a House of Commons e-petition that calls on Canada to withdraw from the UN, in the name of our “sovereignty.” Which is ridiculous, because the UN doesn’t impact on anyone’s sovereignty (which is partially why it’s such an ineffective body), but not unexpected. Lewis has peddled many a conspiracy theory around the WHO, or the World Economic Forum (which is a particular conspiracy theory that leans heavily into antisemitism), and has not only not received any rebuke from her party, but they actively encourage some of these same conspiracy theories—particularly those around the World Economic Forum (and then turn around and wonder about the rise in antisemitism. Gosh).
This largely went unmentioned in legacy media for a few days (but hey, a lot of people are still on vacation), but I do find the absolute silence from the Conservatives to be interesting. Some of their former staffers have tried to offer a bit of polish to this, but you can’t actually polish this. (And no, she’s not even data-mining on this kind of petition because it’s through the House of Commons’ portal, not her own or a party website). The simple fact of it is that the Conservatives are more than willing to engage in this kind of nuttery because they think that these are accessible voters in the next election, because these have tended to be people who didn’t used to vote, but then Maxime Bernier offered them something to vote for, and they flocked to his banner, and now Poilievre wants them under his, so he’s willing to entertain this dangerous nonsense and to keep shifting the Overton window in order to try and win those votes, even though it’s almost certainly a fool’s errand because they can see how hollow he really is. Nevertheless, he won’t stop trying, and we can expect more of this kind of nuttery going forward, because that’s who they are these days.
This would hold water if she merely presented it in the House of Commons without comment or endorsement.
The truth is, Lewis has been promoting it over social media, which is a pretty good indicator that she does support it. https://t.co/HN1541mF2w— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) January 4, 2024
Ukraine Dispatch:
While there has been little movement on the front lines, long-range attacks back-and-forth carry on, with the Russians having acquired ballistic missiles from North Korea, while Ukraine has launched drone attacks both against military targets in occupied Crimea and the around the Russia city of Belgorod. A Ukrainian parliamentary committee is debating changing the rules around mobilisation, and increasing sanctions for draft evasion.
The casualties come amid active fighting in the area as Russia seeks to occupy the entirety of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk Oblast. https://t.co/doD2O8Vopd
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) January 4, 2024
First family in Ukraine used e-Restoration housing certificate to buy a new house after their home was destroyed during the war. A family from Hostomel chose a house in Bucha.
Source: Oleksandr Kubrakov, Minister of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure pic.twitter.com/rymaTutfP0— UkraineWorld (@ukraine_world) January 4, 2024