Tag Archives: Public Service

Roundup: Bad Supreme Court reporting is bad

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There is a reason why journalists should have beats, and why it can be dangerous to write about topics or institutions when you’re not familiar with them. There was a case in point yesterday in the National Post which was trying to sound some kind of alarm about what’s going on at the Supreme Court of Canada—except there’s actually no story here. I’m really not trying to pick on the reporter of the piece, because he’s a good journalist, but he just doesn’t know the file, and got swept up in what a particular lawyer was telling him without having a proper bullshit detector.

The supposed crisis is that the Court is hearing fewer cases lately, and a lot of what it is hearing is being decided in rulings from the bench, meaning they generally don’t release written decisions, and that this is somehow bad for developing case law. Because he talked to one lawyer who tracks stats, he figures that’s the story. Except it’s really not. They’re hearing fewer cases as a direct result of the pandemic, which slowed down the ability to hear cases at the trial court level, which then slows down appeals, which slows down their ability to get to the Supreme Court. They piece pooh-poohs that almost four years later this is still a problem, when of course it is. These things take a long time, particularly when courts were operating on a minimal standard for nearly two years. And because they were operating minimally, most of what they did hear were criminal cases, because they have timelines attached lest they get stayed for delays. That means that most of what does filter up to the Supreme Court are criminal cases, many of them as of right (meaning that at the appeal level, it wasn’t unanimous, so it automatically goes to the Supreme Court of Canada). That’s why a lot of these cases are being decided from the bench—there isn’t any matter of national importance being decided, so they have few needs for written rulings. In the Court’s current session, only two of the cases are not criminal because that’s how the lower courts have been operating. It’s a problem for sure, but it’s one because provinces aren’t funding courts adequately, and the federal government is too slow to make appointments to fill vacancies. This is not a Supreme Court problem.

Furthermore, the piece quotes from a literal constitutional crank—a particular law professor who is of the “burn it all down” school—because it’s a lazy journalist’s trick to make the piece sound more controversial or edgy. But here, he’s saying that he can’t believe they weren’t hearing certain cases without actually saying what he wanted them to hear, and then, out of nowhere, says the Court is going to have to expand, but doesn’t explain why. It makes no sense other than it’s piggybacking on an American issue that has nothing to do with our Court. There is also concern that the court’s decisions are a lot more divided these days and not unanimous without actually exploring that. This is largely because of the different styles of chief justice—under Beverley McLachlin, she strove for more unanimous decisions, and in the end, many of the rulings became so narrowly focused in order to achieve unanimity that they were largely useless for the purposes of developing case law. There is more dissent now because Richard Wagner isn’t concerned with achieving unanimity to the detriment of the decisions, and you have a couple of judges on the court who like to be contrarians. That’s not a bad thing. There is no crisis with the Supreme Court, and if the reporter had any grounding in the institution, he would have seen that there’s no smoke, no fire, and stats without context are useless.

Ukraine Dispatch:

The fighting is now inside the city of Avdiivka, which Russians have been trying to capture for months. There was another prisoner swap yesterday, with 100 exchanged on each side. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has replaced the top army commander, looking for fresh ideas on how to push Russian invaders back. (More about the new chief here).

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Roundup: The muted federal response to Danielle Smith’s latest policy

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As expected, there was a federal response to Danielle Smith’s draconian anti-queer/trans policy video, but it was mostly just words of condemnation. Marci Ien and Randy Boissonnault had a scrum about it, but basically said that because they don’t have any document from Smith—the legislature isn’t sitting, and Smith herself said later in the day that nothing would be formally in writing until autumn—they don’t know how best to respond to this, so in the meantime, they’re going to consult and come up with ideas at the Cabinet table as to what the federal government can do, but one supposes that something like a reference to the Supreme Court of Canada of this policy, along with those of Saskatchewan and New Brunswick, may be in the works. We’ll have to see, but it’ll take time, so for the moment, it’s a lot of words of affirmation.

Smith did hold a press conference, nearly twenty-four hours after her video was released, and in it, she kept repeating that she was trying to protect youth from “irreversible medical decisions,” which both conflates the purpose of any social transitioning that they may do beforehand, and buys holus-bolus into the moral panic that kids are being indoctrinated into being trans and then “mutilating and sterilizing” themselves, even though there are vanishingly few “top” surgeries for minors, and no “bottom” surgeries at all. But dubious and discredited reporting that echoes through the right-wing media ecosystem has convinced parents that it’s happening (thus the outsized concern for their “right” to know), along with the pre-existing notion that if they’re told, they can stop their kids from being queer or trans (in other words, de facto conversion therapy). But nobody wants to talk about this moral panic. (More analysis about Smith’s move here).

Meanwhile, Pierre Poilievre’s office has instructed his MPs to say nothing, especially to the media, and to report all requests to his office, and if they are to say something, it’s to emphasise “parental rights over decisions related to their children,” which a) is not actually a legal right in Canada, and b) has been the dog whistle for anti-queer and anti-trans rhetoric for a long time now. And of course, he wants them to stay quiet, but not because he’s worried about another homophobic eruption from someone like Cheryl Gallant, but rather he doesn’t want anyone coming across as too sympathetic because he needs to keep demonstrating to the far-right, reactionary crowd that he thinks is going to win him the election that he’s not too “woke” or small-l liberal, because that would doom their support. It’s little different than Smith keeping this up because she doesn’t want the leopards in her party (like the “Take Back Alberta” crowd) to eat her face like they did Jason Kenney. When you let your party get taken over or be entirely beholden to the crazies, you lose control, and that’s exactly what is happening here.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Ukrainian forces say that seas drones were used to sink a small Russian warship in the Black Sea, while Russia claims that Patriot missiles fired from Ukraine brought down the plane that was totally carrying POWs and wasn’t a psy op (really). Ukraine’s army chief published a series of priorities and challenges are rumours of his rift with president Volodymyr Zelenskyy continue to circulate.

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QP: Memory-holing past indifference

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The prime minister was elsewhere, meeting with the president of the Slovak Republic, who is currently on a state visit to Canada, but his deputy was present for a second day in a row (which is a rarity these days). Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and mocked the prime minister saying that all spending has been absolutely necessary, but noted that a large percentage of consultants hired for ArriveCan resulted in no work done, and demanded the money be recovered. Chrystia Freeland said that Canadians understand that when Conservatives talk about spending, they want to cut things like dental care and child care. Poilievre said that the ArriveCan app was an example of “corruption,” and then railed that the Bloc did an “about face” on their support for Bill C-234, and demanded the government pass it in its original form. Freeland insisted that while she can’t speak for the Bloc, the nation of Quebec understands the need to combat climate change. Poilievre switched to English to repeat that number of ArriveCan contracts were not fulfilled and demanded the money be recouped. Freeland insisted that the Conservatives only want to cut services. Poilievre then pivoted to Trudeau’s vacations, and demanded to know if he paid the “full carbon tax” on each ton of emissions. Freeland asked if he knows how much the heating of Stornoway costs, and that the government was helping people with climate rebates. Poilievre insisted that he pays for his own vacations, and demanded that the government undo the amendments to Bill C-234 and pass it. Freeland pointed out that Poielivre also doesn’t pay rent on Stornoway, and that he wants to take away the climate rebates people rely on.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and decried Quebec’s settlement capacity for immigrants and refugees, and railed that this was impacting housing. Sean Fraser praised the agreement that they came to with Quebec to build more houses. Therrien railed that immigration levels were still going up, and demanded the targets be lowered. Marc Miller pointed out that they already have an agreement with Quebec to manage its immigration levels.

Jagmeet Singh blamed the Liberals for the housing crisis in Toronto, and demanded they capitulate to Olivia Chow’s blackmail. Freeland praised Toronto, and said they were having “constructive conversations” with the city and the provinces, and that they have given more than any previous government. Singh switched to French to decry that the government has called for another investigation into grocery chains rather than taking action. François-Philippe Champagne said that the best solution is for more competition, and that he has asked the Commissioner to use his new powers for this.

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QP: Watch out, the kids are back

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The prime minister had not planned to be in the Chamber today, and yet there he was, present for the moment of silence on the Day to Combat Islamophobia, and then stuck around for the Leaders’ Round. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, raised the prime minister’s vacation, and then blamed him for rising rents in Montreal. Trudeau stood up and gave a statement about the Day to Combat Islamophobia in French. Poilievre again blamed the prime minister for students living in shelters and demanded he end inflation and let developers ensure affordable housing. Trudeau noted that the was merely launching personal attacks, and that he voted against actions to help accelerate housing. Poilievre switched to English, and returned to the issue of Trudeau’s vacation, and wanted to know if he paid the “full carbon tax” on the flights he took. Trudeau read that Poilievre has no plan for climate change, while climate change causes droughts, which causes droughts, which rises food prices, and Poilievre has no plan for that. Poilievre called Trudeau a “high-carbon hypocrite,” and Trudeau called out individual Conservatives for voting against things they previously believed in. Poilievre then accused Trudeau of “muzzling” backbencher Ken McDonald and demanded he put his leadership up for review. Trudeau recited how they are working with mayors to build housing, before calling out Leslyn Lewis’ lunch with Christine Anderson.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he returned to his private little conspiracy theory about the Century Initiative around immigration levels. Trudeau pointed to the need for immigrants, and that the levels are stabilising. Blanchet then demanded better distribution of asylum seekers, and Trudeau insisted that hey were working with provinces. 

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and he railed about homelessness but it was hard to hear him over Conservative roaring. Trudeau read a script about using every tool they have to ensure housing affordability, such as their announcement that morning. Singh switched to French to decry renovictions, which is a provincial issue. Trudeau read some boilerplate language.

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Roundup: Frozen Alberta’s electricity woes

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Amidst the frigid cold-snap on the prairies over the weekend, Alberta started facing a crisis of its power grid, with emergency alerts going out to ask people to reduce consumption lest rolling blackouts start happening. People complied, and crisis was averted.

Nevertheless, this gave the opportunity for certain premiers to try and blame this on clean energy rules, or to misconstrue those rules in the face of what took place over the weekend in order to tout how great coal is in order to score points, none of which helps anyone. But when your only calculus is to score points, well, that’s what politics has become.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russia fired 37 missiles and three drones at Ukraine early Saturday, and only eight of those missiles were shot down, likely because of a deficit of air defence ammunition, and as a result, Dnipro and Chernihiv were struck. Meanwhile, Russians have been spending big on infrastructure projects in occupied territories to both draw closer links to Russian territory, but to convince people that they can better rebuild the territories.

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Roundup: Ed Broadbent passes

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Early afternoon Thursday, the Broadbent Institute put out a statement that their founder, former long-time NDP leader Ed Broadbent, had passed away at 87.

With this in mind, The Canadian Press has a few stats about his life, as well as quotes from prominent Canadians reacting to his passing, while CBC has some photos of his career from their archives.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Speaking in Estonia, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterated the point that any ceasefire will only benefit Russia and not Ukraine. Ukraine’s defence minister said that the hotly contested mobilisation bill has been withdrawn and that a new one is ready to be tabled in their parliament.

https://twitter.com/zelenskyyua/status/1745537331270930924

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Roundup: Making excuses for the Ukraine votes

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You will have seen in Question Period yesterday, and over social media last night, the Conservatives are starting to backtrack juts at tiny bit on Ukraine, but it all rings pretty hollow. In QP, the only tangible thing that Pierre Poilievre could point to their supporting Ukraine was that they called for lethal aid to be sent over before the invasion began (whereas the federal government held off until the invasion happened, and then suddenly started sending it). The rest were all non sequiturs that dated to the Harper era.

Later in the evening, Michael Chong listed a bunch of historical things Conservatives have done to support Ukraine, but concluded that they couldn’t support the free trade agreement because of carbon pricing. Yes, the same Michael Chong for whom carbon pricing was the centrepiece of his leadership campaign. It’s horseshit and Chong knows it, but he sold out his morals, ethics, and credibility long ago to curry favour with the party, and here we are.

Ukraine Dispatch:

The Wednesday missile attack on Kyiv has upped its casualty total to 53 injuries, including several children, but fortunately no deaths. Ukraine’s largest mobile carrier says they are restoring voice services after the Russian-linked cyberattack that crippled their operations.

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1734886178149503279

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Roundup: Another useless vote-a-thon over

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After about thirty hours, the vote-a-thon “filibuster” was complete (it wasn’t a filibuster), and MPs went home. Well, probably not home, as they all missed their flights, so a bunch will either be trying for a weekend flight only to turn around and fly back 24 hours later, or they’ll stay in Ottawa for the weekend, and fume about missing family and constituency events, and it’ll be Conservatives fuming as much, if not more so than anyone else. It bears noting that Justin Trudeau was present for much of the voting in person, and most of his front bench was as well—François-Philippe Champagne arrived directly from his flight from Dubai and immediately headed to the Chamber to vote, with some jokes that he didn’t know what time it was supposed to be after the flight. Pierre Poilievre, on the other hand, was absent for nearly all of it. After taking off for a Hannukah event in Montreal (there is a whole sub-plot of Conservative MPs going to Hannukah events where Liberals didn’t because these were confidence votes on a money bill) and then a fundraiser, he arrived late in the night bearing fast food, tried to move a motion to end the vote-a-thon if the Liberals would accede to his demands and “axe the tax,” which they wouldn’t, and then he took off again and was mostly absent the rest of the vote-a-thon. Because he’s a leader like that. (Coverage of the votes from The Canadian Press, CBC, the Star and the National Post, each making different observations).

This vote-a-thon technique has been done before, and it’s failed before, because it never connects to whatever the Conservatives are demanding. They are merely exploiting the fact that for Supply, they can engineer to vote on individual line-items, so they force these vote-a-thons as some sort of “punishment” for the Liberals, but this has all of the same logic as being mad at your partner and withholding sex. The end result is that you really only end up punishing yourself. The Liberals treated this as a big team-building exercise at a time of great caucus unrest and division, and according to all of the reports, morale was high throughout, while Poilievre is going to be hearing about this from his angry backbenchers. Not to mention, the whole logic of thinking that the minor discomfort of a thirty-hour vote-a-thon is going to force the Liberals to abandon a signature policy that they won three elections on and is supported by every other party in the Chamber is ludicrous. That the Conservatives are trying to spin this as a pressure tactic is risible.

And spin is what they are indeed trying to do. Scheer tried to spin this as a “victory” because they made the House lose a sitting day, even though that was a Friday, so not very many hours of debate were really lost. Poilievre has since been insisting that he’s going to prevent the government from going “on holidays,” but he has no power to do that. The Standing Orders have a fixed date to rise, and changing that would require a unanimous consent motion, which he’s never going to get. This was just an impotent exercise in wasting everyone’s time for a temper tantrum based on the lie that carbon pricing is what is driving unaffordability (that has been debunked so many times), but these are the times we live in, where this is all for performance and clips—which the Liberals have been making their own of, where Conservatives voted against line items about the very things they claim to care about, and in particular things like NATO exercises and support for Ukraine—votes that will be going into dossiers in the capitals of our allies, as they know just who Poilievre will be should he ever form government.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russians conducted missile strikes against the central part of Ukraine, with 14 missiles shot down outside of Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk, while they again pressed the attack at Avdiivka and Kupiansk. Media were invited to see Ukrainian troops training for winter combat at facilities in Poland. Here is a look at the attempt to get better casualty figures for the war, particularly from the Ukrainian side, where they aren’t published for fear of harming the war effort.

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1733078163360477582

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Roundup: Google signs a deal to avoid transparency

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With days to go before the Online News Act would start applying, Google has come to an agreement that sees it pay $100 million per year into a fund, rather than to have individual deals with news outlets. This is one of the things that seems to escape most of the critics of the Act—this was about ensuring that the deals that Google and Facebook were already signing with news outlets were subject to transparency and had an arbitrator—the CRTC—at the ready in the case of disputes. This was never a “link tax” or some such nonsense, it was about putting structure into the same deals that were already being made, and it was the transparency that they objected to. This deal ensures that they are not subjected to that transparency, because it’s one lump sum, which is the real takeaway from this deal.

Of course, none of this fixes the underlying problem with is the domination of the ad tech space where Google and Facebook control all aspects of it and are siphoning money at each stage, which is why they have starved news outlets of advertising revenues. Of course, nobody wants to talk about that aspect. To deal with this, there still needs to be stronger anti-trust action, particularly in the US, but this deal is a start, nevertheless.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russians claimed that they launched missiles from their Black Sea fleet against “military targets,” but nothing has been verified. Ukraine’s foreign minister says that the EU has delivered about 300,000 of its promised munitions shells so far.

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QP: Hyperventilating about Stellantis

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While the prime minister was present, his deputy was in the lock-up, meeting with reporters about the Fall Economic Statement in advance of its release at 4 PM. All of the other leaders were present, ready to demand to know what was in the update before its release. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, returns to the Scotiabank report he raised yesterday, and blamed the federal government for driving inflation, before demanding a balanced budget in the fiscal update. Justin Trudeau responded that the solution to this difficult period is not austerity, but strategic investments in helping families. Poilievre switched to English to repeat his same question, and lo, got very much the same response from Trudeau. Poilievre blamed the federal government for fast-rising rents, and demanded that the government cap the carbon price until the next election. Trudeau said the solution to rising rents is to build more units, which the government is doing, before mocking Poilievre’s assertion that the government is doing “damage” to Canada through child benefits, child care, or dental care. Poilievre then pivoted to the Stellantis plant and the overblown concern that it would use temporary foreign workers.  Trudeau noted that Poilievre would use any misinformation to denounce plans he doesn’t like, but he didn’t actually debunk the assertion. Poilievre said that no, it was Trudeau who spreading misinformation, and repeated his same overblown and false assertions. Trudeau said it was flat-out false and fear-mongering, but again, didn’t actually explain what the truth was, because of course not.

Yves-François Blanchet lead for the Bloc, and he demanded that the government include an increase in old-age security and an extension to CERB repayments in the economic update. Trudeau noted that they have been increasing payments for seniors, and that they supported those small businesses in COVID, but Blanchet would have to wait a couple of hours. Blanchet wondered if he should send his questions in advance so that he could get a real answer, before he repeated his same demand. Trudeau said he would be happy to send Blanchet a schedule that shows the update is released at 4 PM.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and he too raised the spectre of temporary foreign workers at the Stellantis plant, to which Trudeau said that while nobody was surprised that Poilievre would fall prey to disinformation but it was disappointing that Singh did too—but again, didn’t explain the truth. Singh switched to French to demand a competition changes to target grocery giants. Trudeau patted himself on the back for their plan to summon grocery CEOs, and said that there would be competition measures in the economic update.

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