Tag Archives: Trade

Roundup: The worst policy for retail politics reasons

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With the smell of desperation lingering in the air, Justin Trudeau and Chrystia Freeland announced a “GST holiday” for two months on all sorts of items—ready-made meals, children’s clothes, diapers, books, toys, beer, alcohol below a certain percentage, restaurant meals, you name it—to happen between December 15th and February 15th, to be followed by $250 cheques in April for anyone who worked in 2023 and whose household income is below $150,000 (so, not the top five percent of wage-earners).

OMG this two-month GST holiday is the dumbest idea ever. Who came up with this? Did they read any of the literature from the US sales tax holidays on school supplies? Includes restaurant meals, takeaway, fastfood, beer, wine, in addition to kids clothes, toys, etc.

— Dr Lindsay Tedds (@lindsaytedds.bsky.social) 2024-11-21T16:23:50.682Z

It’s absolutely terrible economic policy, it’s poorly implemented (and is going to be an absolute nightmare all around to ensure implementation happens) it will benefit higher-income households disproportionately, and it’s not going to do any favours for the deficit situation that they insist they want to put on a downward trajectory, but it’s apparently good retail politics. (And good for the restaurant industry, particularly during their slower months, but a dog’s breakfast for retailers). Apparently, the Liberals are frustrated that all of their good work with the Canada Child Benefit, $10/day childcare, dental care and any incoming pharmacare deal with provinces (and not to mention rebounding faster from the pandemic and tacking inflation faster than any other comparator government) isn’t helping them in the polls, so they’re resorting to direct bribes, because reasons. It’s so stupid. We live in the stupidest times, and everyone is just going along with it.

If this GST holiday is an NDP initiative then I ask them what do they think this accomplishes over enriching the GST/HST refundable tax credit. The primary beneficiaries of the tax holiday are high income households. The primary beneficiaries of an enriched rebate are low income households.

— Dr Lindsay Tedds (@lindsaytedds.bsky.social) 2024-11-21T16:40:37.584Z

I haven't calculated the impact of this GST holiday but if consumption doesn't drastically change, this GST holiday will likely mean that families in high income deciles will see a large reduction in the GST paid whereas families in lower-income deciles will see more moderate declines.

— Gillian Petit (@gillianpetit.bsky.social) 2024-11-21T17:22:59.293Z

As a reminder that ableism starts by imagining a lack of disability as the normal or default state for members of society and permits or even promotes the unequal or inferior treatment of persons with disabilities. Linking the GST rebate to working income is ableism.

— Dr Lindsay Tedds (@lindsaytedds.bsky.social) 2024-11-21T17:11:20.096Z

Amendment! Not quite no matter what. Backgrounder says “earned up to $150K net”. But that’s a bit fudgy. It could be total net income but it doesn’t say that. If I have $140k in wage income but $25k in investment income do I qualify?

— Jennifer Robson (@jrobson.bsky.social) 2024-11-21T20:11:22.726Z

Part of this was a sop to the NDP in the hopes that they would help end the filibuster in the House of Commons, but they’re not all that keen on that (as they are happy to watch the Liberals twist in the wind), and are talking about trying to push a programming motion to pass the bill with these promised tax changes in a single day, which is not terribly bright, and the government really, really needs to actually pass the capital gains changes, because they’re already being applied while the legislation has been held up by this filibuster. Can the government play hardball with the NDP to break the filibuster and send the privilege matter to committee? I guess we’ll wait and see.

Ukraine Dispatch

Russia fired new hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missiles at Dnipro on Tuesday, claiming to be in retaliation for long-range strikes inside Russian territory, hitting an industrial enterprise and a rehabilitation centre. (Curiously enough, a Russian spokeswoman was giving a briefing on the missiles when she was called mid-conference and told not to talk about them). Russia’s strikes over the weekend have badly damaged Ukraine’s largest private power producer, while Russians are now claiming they have taken the village of Dalne in eastern Ukraine.

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Roundup: Boissonnault out (for now?)

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Just before Question Period yesterday, a very brief press release was issued that prime minister Justin Trudeau and Randy Boissonnault “agreed” that Boissonnault would step away from Cabinet in order for Boissonnault to clear the allegations against him. The wording was a little curious, but at this point it was probably inevitable given the sheer volume of stories coming out, never mind that most of them involved coincidences, or unproven allegations about his former business partner and not him.

I’m not going to remark much about any of the allegations, including those of “race-shifting” because Boissonnault has been issuing corrections to media outlets for more than five years that he didn’t say he was Indigenous even if the party said he was (which seems to never get mentioned in these stories), and the Ethics Commissioner keeps looking at each new allegation and saying there’s nothing to investigate. However, what I will note is that we are back to the situation where there is no longer anyone around the Cabinet table from Alberta or Saskatchewan. Now, Freeland did grow up in Alberta and can claim some credibility there, and Jonathan Wilkinson used to work for the Saskatchewan government, so he has some credibility there too, but Trudeau doesn’t have many options when it comes to replacing an Alberta seat because his only other alternative is George Chahal, who pretty much burned his future prospects when he got caught removing a rivals flyers during the campaign, and he has recently been vocal about looking to see Trudeau resign as leader.

I will also note that it remains particularly curious that for as much as media outlets and the National Post most especially have been pouring time and resources into these Boissonnault allegations, and every time they call up another Indigenous leader to denounce Boissonnault and call for his resignation, there is a particular silence around Danielle Smith and previously claims she has made about Indigenous ancestry, which have definitively been proven false. If the Conservatives are so offended by claims Boissonnault may or may not have made, or have been made about him, I have yet to see a single Conservative or pundit in this country call Smith a “fake” or a “fraud,” or a “phoney,” and demand that she resigns for the very same offences they are accusing Boissonnault of having made, when Smith’s has been plainly on the record for a couple of years now. As far as I can determine, the Post ran a single story about it, and not three weeks of constant, breathless reporting about it. It’s incredibly funny how that happens, no?

Ukraine Dispatch

Ukraine has now fired UK-provided cruise missiles into Russian territory, striking targets in Kursk. Ukraine also says it successfully struck a command post in the Belgorod region, likely in a drone attack. Here is a look at the Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy system.

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Roundup: Who cares about the Speaker’s peril when there are talking points to parrot?

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Because this is sometimes a media criticism blog, I want to point you to a piece that was on The Canadian Press wire this weekend about a potential procedural showdown between the ongoing privilege filibuster and the coming end of the supply cycle, when the Supplementary Estimates will need to be voted on. This could have been a fascinating discussion that focuses on the pressure that will be on Speaker Fergus to get it right—which, to be frank, he did not when he made the ruling that allowed the privilege filibuster to begin, and pretty much every procedural expert I’ve spoken to has said he got the ruling wrong, and even more to the point, even a former Law Clerk of the Commons has said that this shouldn’t be a privilege issue because the powers to demand papers doesn’t extend to turning them over to a third party as is the case here.

But did the CP story touch on this? Hardly at all! There was some vaguely-worded talk about how this showdown could be unprecedented, but doesn’t actually explain the procedure, or the ruling the Speaker would have to make, and instead spends most of the piece both-sidesing the Liberal and Conservative talking points about the filibuster, because that’s what CP does best in their desire to be as scrupulously neutral as possible. Because who needs actual facts or an explanation of parliamentary procedure when you can quote talking points? This is a problem that CP refuses to address for itself, as news outlets across the country become more and more reliant on wire copy as the number of parliamentary bureaux for legacy media outlets continue to shrink.

Any of it, really.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2024-11-17T01:44:06.383Z

Ukraine Dispatch

Russia launched a massive missile and drone barrage against Ukraine overnight Saturday, which hit an apartment buildingin Sumy, killing eight. Russia launched a further 120 missiles and 90 drones overnight Sunday, targeting power systems and killing at least seven people, which will likely mean power cuts. The invasion is now 1,000 days old, and Russia is continuing to expend massively, including in lives, for small territorial gains. It also appears that President Biden has finally okayed the use of long-range weapons provided by the Americans to strike targets inside Russia. It appears that a Russian factory has been producing hundreds of decoy drones meant to overwhelm Ukraine’s defences, while certain drones will carry thermobaric warheads. (More on that investigation).

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Roundup: Clapping back at the provinces and their JPs

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Justice Minister Arif Virani has been honing his responses to the cries for bail reform lately, both in pointing out that the provinces are not living up to their responsibilities—whether that’s with properly resourcing the court system so that trials are conducted in a timely manner, or in dealing with overcrowded remand centres where people are locked up awaiting trial, and because of the overcrowding and poor conditions, many accused are being given bail rather than subjected to those conditions. Even more recently, he has started pointing to how certain provinces, and Ontario especially, have been appointing Justices of the Peace, to decide on most bail hearings.

Ontario in particular had this whole song and dance about how great it was that they were appointing JPs who weren’t all lawyers, because it gave them greater breadth of experience or whatever, but if it’s true that they’re not actually applying the law of bail properly, that’s a problem. It could simply be that their training is inadequate, which again is a provincial responsibility, because if they are being expected to read, understand and apply case law that the Supreme Court of Canada has laid out when it comes to the law of bail, then again, that is a problem that the provinces need to solve.

And yes, there are going to continue to be voices chirping that the law is the problem, and that the Liberals created an “open door” through two pieces of legislation, but this has been an orchestrated disinformation campaign. The one law that the Conservatives refer to codified Supreme Court jurisprudence, and actually toughened bail in certain respects, especially around domestic violence; the other law they refer to had to do with doing away with solitary confinement in federal penitentiaries, which has nothing to do with bail in the slightest, but repeated lying that has not been pushed back against by both-sidesing media has led a whole lot of credulous people to believe the bullshit. The law of bail is not the problem—it’s everything else that is, and the provinces are once again being allowed to get away with not doing their jobs.

Ukraine Dispatch

Ukrainian security services have detained a special forces unit commander accused of being Russian mole. Russian air defences claim to have downed a series of Ukrainian drones in a number of different regions. There could be another mass displacement of Ukrainians if energy systems continue to be damaged over the winter. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had a call with Putin, asking him to withdraw his troops and negotiate, which of course Putin won’t, and now Zelenskyy is angry with Scholz because these kinds of calls decrease Putin’s isolation.

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Roundup: Refusing to defend his own bill

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Because this parliament has descended to the absolute depths of performative uselessness, Conservative MP Arnold Viersen is refusing to testify to his own private member’s bill, and his Conservative colleagues on the justice committee are filibustering to keep the clock running out on the bill rather than extend the time to hear from witnesses, in the hopes of reporting back without amendments. And why is Viersen avoiding testifying? Because the Liberal and NDP members are likely to ask him about his pro-life views and activities—for clips for their own socials.

The bill, which would mandate certification of age and consent for those who appear in porn, got all-party support before going to committee, but I suspect that this bill is completely unenforceable (as we are net importers of porn), and is likely to suffer from some of the same problems from the other age verification bill, which is unworkable and an absolute privacy nightmare. And it would be great if the committee could actually hear from experts who could say so, but they are unlikely to at this stage. (Conservative filibusters also limited witness testimony on the age verification bill, which meant they could not hear from experts who would tell them it’s unworkable and a privacy nightmare).

Nevertheless, I think that because of these kinds of shenanigans, if an MP refuses to testify about their own bill, the committee should vote it down, and it should be killed as a consequence for wasting everyone’s time. I’d even be happy putting that in the Standing Orders. We also need to change it so that if a PMB needs a royal recommendation, it doesn’t even get debated rather than the current practice of letting it go as far as the final vote, because again, that wastes everyone’s time, and time is a precious commodity in Parliament, and plenty of MPs could have used that time for their own PMBs who won’t get the change.

Speaking of committees, the Conservatives want an “immediate” recall of the public safety committee, rather than waiting for its regularly-scheduled meeting next week, to discuss the arrests of two teens who planned to bomb a pro-Israel rally on Parliament Hill. But in spite of the seriousness of the topic, we all know what this is really about—getting clips for their social media of them talking about how “divisive” Trudeau is, and that he personally caused this kind of radicalisation. It’s as predictable as it is stupid, but this is where our Parliament is right now.

This is a serious issue, but recalling the committee “immediately” is about nothing more than gathering clips for social media, and probably ones that try to blame Justin Trudeau’s “divisiveness” for this. #cdnpoli

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2024-11-13T19:11:02.519Z

Ukraine Dispatch

Ukrainian forces shot down two cruise missiles, two ballistic missiles and thirty-seven drones headed for Kyiv, where it looks like renewed attacks are being made on power systems ahead of winter. Ukraine’s General Staff also says that they repelled four attacks on the city of Kupiansk in the northeast. Here’s a look at Ukrainians trying to support those on the front lines while they collectively wait to see what Trump 2.0 brings.

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Roundup: Remembrance Day 2024

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In case anyone was wondering, there was a prayer offered by the rabbi who spoke at the National Remembrance Day ceremony, and that the Conservatives have been shamelessly peddling the lie that prayer has been banned.

Here is a look at ceremonies around the country, and photos from the national ceremony in Ottawa. Veterans who were victims of the LGBT purge from the military laid a wreath at the War Memorial this year.

I popped into Twitter to see that yet again, the royal family’s feed is using an image of the King and Queen taken on Remembrance Day in Ottawa during their 2009 tour. Their poppies are Canadian, Queen Camilla is wearing the Maple Leaf brooch, and King Charles is wearing a Canadian uniform

— Patricia Treble (@patriciatreble.bsky.social) 2024-11-09T21:26:39.849Z

This year’s Ottawa Citizen “We Are the Dead” feature, the final before the programme shuts down, profiles Arthur Reid, whose plane never made it back from a mission delivering an agent and supplies to the French resistance.

Ukraine Dispatch

Russian glide bombs, drones and missiles all struck southern and eastern Ukraine on Monday, killing six and injuring at least 30 others. It also appears that an attack on the central Dnipropetrovsk region killed three and injured at least 19. Ukrainian forces are currently hard-pressed fighting not only 50,000 troops in the Kursk region of Russia, but the escalating fighting along the front lines in the east and south of the country.

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Roundup: Reactions to the Trump win

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The (somewhat) surprising victory of Donald Trump meant that the government here in Canada, and other world leaders, had to jump to action to offer obsequious, fulsome (in the proper meaning of the term) congratulations to Trump, while Cabinet ministers insisted that this wasn’t a complete disaster. None was more painful to watch than Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s, where he had to put on a show of making Trump feel like a tough guy in the hopes that Trump won’t immediately sell out Ukraine to Putin. We’re in for a rough few years of thuggery, kleptocracy, outright authoritarianism, and the possible breakup of NATO. It is also not lost on anyone the way in which Viktor Orbán offered his own congratulations to Trump, given that MAGA Republicans have been big fans of Orbán’s work, and hope to replicate it in America, much as Orbán is hoping Trump will help him damage Europe for Putin’s benefit.

In terms of fallout, The Logic has a look at what the economic impacts for Canada are likely to be under the second Trump administration, as well as gets the government’s line about how ready they are for the return of Trump to power. The Star has its own grab-bag of reactions from industry, federal and provincial governments, as well as a look at how this win is likely going to impact plans to combat climate change. The CBC has a look at the various pressure points in the relationship that could be exacerbated.

In reaction, Emmett Macfarlane points out that while the Americans have been dismantling their guardrails, Canada’s are still robust, including our courts and vice-regal officers, in spite of creeping nastiness. The Line makes an interesting supposition about the “collapse of the moral authority of the institutional left,” and while I don’t agree with all of their thinking, there is a point to be made in it. Paul Wells gives his own bigger-picture take, which includes his thought that the Trump win is more of a rejection of governance that has been failing people than anything, while nobody seemed to notice or acknowledge that damage.

I will add that if someone is feeling vindicated today, it’s Justin Trudeau because all of those people who told him to step aside in the hopes that it would replicate the energy and excitement of the Harris campaign, only for Harris to lose. This will just convince him to stick around longer, particularly given his history with Trump, and it will further cement his saviour complex and to disregard the fact that most Canadians are tired of his face (and voice) and that he is becoming the biggest drag on his party.

Ukraine Dispatch

Ukraine says it downed 38 out of 63 drones overnight Tuesday, while a drone attack early morning Thursday damaged an apartment building in Kyiv. Russians claim to have captured two more settlements in Eastern Ukraine. US officials confirm that North Korean troops have engaged in combat in the Kursk region of Russia, which Ukraine occupies part of.

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QP: Swagger around the Trump election

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In the wake of the U.S. election results, the prime minister was present today to answer all questions, while his deputy was away. All of the other leaders were present, and Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and claimed that Trudeau had previously caved to Trump on softwood lumber and claimed he would do so again. Justin Trudeau dismissed this and noted how they successfully renegotiated NAFTA, and stood up to other tariffs. Poilievre’s tried this again in English, and Trudeau repeated his same points with the added note that Poilievre wouldn’t get his security clearance. Poilievre went on about what is “dumb” and claimed the carbon levy was driving jobs and investment in the U.S., and Trudeau said that they were going to grow the economy together, and said that that government takes defence and security seriously, and pointed to the defence cuts under the Conservatives and his refusal to get His clearance. Poilievre patted himself on the back for the Conservatives “crushing the Taliban and ISIS,” claimed Trudeau couldn’t shoot down a Chinese weather balloon. Trudeau accused Poilievre of talking down the Canadian Forces, and called him out for not committing to their two percent NATO timeline. Poilievre returned to French to claim that Trudeau has destroyed the economy, and Trudeau listed ways in which they have stood up for Canadian workers and took defence seriously, before one more swipe at the security clearance. 

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and worried about the crush of Americans heading for the border to avoid Trump. Trudeau noted that they have been making preparations before some economic back-patting. Blanchet felt that was too vague, and Trudeau again offered some bland assurances that they are protecting the border, and the steps taken to better distribute refugees around the country.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and worried about the American tariffs would raise prices in Canada. (Huh? How?) Trudeau listed the workers they stood up for workers the last time and will do so again. Singh said was “cold comfort” before repeating the question in French, and Trudeau, related his same back-patting.

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QP: Blaming Trudeau for sectarian violence

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While the election was happening south of the border, the prime minister was present for Question Period, as were all of the other leaders. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and led off with a bit of an exaggeration about the softwood lumber agreement that Harper signed with the U.S. (which the industry objected to), as his way of demanding an election. Justin Trudeau noted that the Conservatives advocated capitulating to the Americans in previous trade disputes while his government stood up to Trump and won. Poilievre then made the false claim that the government is “impoverishing” Canadians, to which Trudeau dismissed this as more of Poilievre’s false “broken” narrative. Poilievre switched to English to repeat his first question and its false assertions about softwood lumber. Trudeau noted that he has already answered this in French, and took the opportunity to denounce the violence seen at Sikh and Hindu temples. Poilievre ignored that entirely and repeated his false narratives around the GDP per capita, and Trudeau noted Poilievre’s silence on the violence in the South Asian community, and used that to wedge in his condemnation that Poilievre wouldn’t get his security clearance. Poilievre said this was a distraction from the economy and blamed Trudeau personally for the sectarian violence, rise in hate crimes and division in the country. Trudeau said that while Poilievre is so assured that he knows the causes of these problems, he won’t get his clearance to get proper briefings.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and wondered why the emissions cap was being done by regulation and not statute, but Trudeau didn’t explain the difference, but went on a soliloquy about the oil and gas sector doing their fair share. Blanchet demanded tougher standards to take to the electorate, and Trudeau stated that no sector should be allowed to pollute without limit, and that they should re-invest their record profits into lowering their emissions.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and complained that a Loblaws-owned company is charging for families doctors. Trudeau noted that this is provincial responsibility, but their latest transfers included earmarks for hiring doctors and mental health services. Singh gave a scripted retort before repeating the question in French and got the same answer in French.

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QP: Low-energy economic bafflegab

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On a rainy Monday, the prime minister was in town but not at QP, while his deputy was in his stead. Some of the other leaders were present today, but not Pierre Poilievre, unusually. That left Andrew Scheer to lead off to read some utter nonsense about “economic vandalism” and a “per capita” recession, and demanded a cancellation of “tax hikes.” Patty Hajdu got up to first speak to the passing of Senator Murray Sinclair. Scheer said they joined in sending condolences, before returning to his claims of economic vandalism and railed about the proposed emissions cap, and demanded it be scrapped. Jonathan Wilkinson said that they are moving to address climate change, and that low-carbon sources will be more valuable. Scheer read some statistics without context to claim the government was creating jobs in the U.S., to which Steven Guilbeault responded that Scheer should actually read the regulations, and not that production was still projected to increase. Luc Berthold took over in French to read the same non-sequitur economic stats, and Chrystia Freeland shot back with countering statistics about how much better the situation in Canada was compared to the U.S. Berthold insisted that the wealth gap is growing between countries, and Freeland quoted an American economist who suggested companies leave New York for Toronto.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and he railed that the Senate needed to pass the Supply Management bill, lest there be economic doom. Lawrence MacAulay reminded him that he as been a farmer under the system his entier career, and that the government supports it. Therrien railed further about the Senators holding up the bill, two which Marie-Claude Bibeau reminded him that Senator are independent and that only a Liberal government would protect it.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP to point to doctors in Quebec offering private options, and demanded the government do something. Mark Holland recited the paean about public healthcare and suggested that they work together to pressure provinces. Singh repeated the same in French, and got much the same paean en français.

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