Roundup: Capitalizing on the climate strikes – or not

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It was a slightly less ridiculous day on the election campaign for a change, and first up of the day was Jagmeet Singh was in Ladysmith, BC, to announce that he would spend $40 million to protect the coast line, which includes protecting salmon stocks and clearing derelict vessels, as well as cancelling Trans Mountain and stopping that tanker traffic. He then went to the climate strike march in Victoria.

In Montreal, in advance of the Climate Strike, Justin Trudeau met with Greta Thunberg before announcing that he would ensure that two billion trees would be planted over the next decade, which would also create 3500 seasonal jobs (and it includes urban forests), and it would be paid for by the profits of the Trans Mountain pipeline.

Andrew Scheer went to Coquitlam, BC, to announce more infrastructure plans for roads and bridges, cancelling the Infrastructure Bank calling it a “boondoggle” (reminder: These kinds of things take time to get up and running, and they did more than the Conservatives’ P3 Canada in its entire existence). Of course, on a day where everyone else was focused on climate change because of the strikes and protests, Scheer was pushing for more traffic infrastructure, and had the utter gall to say that it would help reduce pollution because people wouldn’t be in traffic as long. This of course is completely wrong, because traffic fills the available volume – it would create more traffic, and higher emissions (and congestion would be just as bad within a short period of time).

https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt/status/1177669904566292480

Other election stories:

  • The person who alerted Time Magazine to the Trudeau blackface photos insists that he’s not a partisan and wasn’t paid for it.
  • Here’s an exploration of the Liberal ad on gun control and its depiction of Conservatives holding guns, ignoring their own candidates who do the same.
  • The Conservatives are accusing the Liberals of stealing their ideas because three policies have a superficial similarity.
  • That figure of “31 cents per litre” that Conservatives claim Liberal policies will increase gas prices by? Completely misleading. (Shocking, I know).
  • Jagmeet Singh says he wasn’t joking when he said he wanted Trump impeached – which is pretty much proof that he has no actual desire to be prime minister.
  • Elizabeth May went to a rally supporting Jody Wilson-Raybould…even though she has a candidate running against her.
  • CBC’s fact-checker takes a gander at the Green’s “costed” platform.

Good reads:

  • The avowedly racist Quebec woman that Trudeau called out when she heckled him at a 2018 event is trying to sue him for $90K for “psychological distress.”
  • In light of the RCMP’s director of intelligence being arrested, we find that security clearance renewals within the Force are backlogged.
  • Ruh-roh! Crown corporation Defence Construction Canada has been hit by a cyber-attack that affected its operations.
  • Here’s a piece that looks at the frustration of living in a “safe” riding for a party (even though stuff happens and sometimes “safe” seats aren’t really safe).
  • The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that journalists’ sources should only be revealed to authorities as a last resort.
  • Kevin Carmichael looks to the McCain empire as an example of a company taking climate change seriously and trying to both meet demand and carbon reduction.
  • Susan Delacourt hopes that people would use the election to talk more about the strength of our democracy and avoiding a slide into Trumpism in our rhetoric.
  • Colby Cosh bats around the notion of the Learn to Camp programme and bursary, and tries to divine what meaning the government is trying to derive from it.
  • My weekend column calls out Andrew Scheer’s plans to make the Supreme Court of Canada a political actor for his convenience.

Odds and ends:

Good news, everyone! The Chateau Laurier addition may be in jeopardy after their request for a “minor” variance was denied.

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