Roundup: Zelenskyy speaks with his inspiration, Trudeau

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We are now in day eight of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and attacks against hospitals, schools and critical infrastructure continue. Russian casualties are mounting, but Putin shows no sign of stopping, even as we are well into war crimes territory (and Ukraine is also making announcements of policy changes that would also be war crimes, so this is not solely a Russia problem). When it comes to sanctions, Germany has seized the yacht of one of Russia’s oligarchs, and one can expect more seizures to come in the days ahead. Canada has also joined 32 other countries in denouncing Russia’s use of propaganda in its campaign against Ukraine.

While there was no new announcement of sanctions from Canada yesterday, there was a call between Justin Trudeau and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who apparently thanked Canada for our efforts and stressed the need to keep expanding sanctions (which is happening, but being done in a coordinated fashion with allies). Also, interestingly, an old tweet of Zelenskyy’s was circulating yet again, where he cited Trudeau as one of his inspirations to join politics—which must really burn Trudeau’s critics, who are hailing Zelenskyy for his leadership in a crisis.

Good reads:

  • Russian agents are pushing disinformation about Chrystia Freeland, which is being amplified by useful idiots both in “independent” media, and a number of partisans.
  • Sports minister Pascale St-Onge has criticised the International Paralympic Committee for letting Russian athletes compete under a neutral banner.
  • At the bail review of occupation organizer/grifter Tamara Lich, she tried to argue that the justice of the peace that denied her bail was “biased.”
  • Mark Holland won his dick-measuring contest against John Brassard when it comes to the Emergencies Act Parliamentary Review Committee (which has a deadline).
  • Interpreters are still burning out in Parliament and hybrid sittings are still a problem that isn’t being addressed, because MPs only pretend to care.
  • The Conservative Party has set September 10th to be its leadership date, and the rules are being finalised, which will affect who decides to enter the race.
  • Jean Charest was in Ottawa last night to meet with Conservative MPs and senators, and will continue to have one-on-one meetings today while mulling the leadership.
  • Michael Chong is contemplating another leadership run, as is Roman Baber, an MPP kicked out of Doug Ford’s caucus for being an anti-lockdown advocate.
  • As his MLAs line up against him, Jason Kenney says 50 percent-plus-one is just fine to survive his upcoming leadership vote. (Erm, really?).
  • Kevin Carmichael reads the signs of the Bank of Canada rate hike in light of economic data despite the war in Ukraine and its economic impacts.
  • Paul Wells sees the occupation as a manifestation of the fact that the Liberals have found it easier to cast blame than to accomplish what they touted they could.
  • Jen Gerson notes how Russia squandered its opportunities and now Ukraine is winning the propaganda war in poignant ways.

Odds and ends:

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One thought on “Roundup: Zelenskyy speaks with his inspiration, Trudeau”

  1. So, Canada is going to forego most of its immigration policies to allow unlimited numbers of Ukrainians into the country, a noble gesture of humanitarianism. Just a look under the headline….we have a severe housing shortage in Canada. Rentals if available are sky high. There are thousands of women…victims of deadbeat husbands who can’t afford proper housing for their children and must use food banks to feed them. They can’t afford childcare so these women can’t in many cases work regular jobs. It is possible that because we have a very large Ukrainian diaspora here that lots of refugees may be taken in by relatives however judging by the pressers of late, the PM, VPM and the Minister of Immigration deftly skirt the cost to the Federal, Provincial and Municipal governments. There is no mention of the cost to our health care. No mention of how the economy will be able to create jobs for these folks, considering our current unemployment rate. It is also interesting that these measures were not taken in the numbers anticipated in this crisis over the numbers of refugees from middle east, Asian or Muslim countries in recent years. Could this be because Ukrainians are predominantly white and christian? Of course, our Conservative members of parliament are in complete agreement that we should pull out all the stops in this program. The majority of Canadians of Ukrainian descent have historically voted conservative. This policy by the ruling Liberals smacks of bowing to the flavor of the day. In future Canadians will of course expect that this magnanimous approach will lend itself to other beset populations. Does anyone think that? Succor for the endangered is noble. That doesn’t mean a complete retreat from policy and common sense. Yes, we have been told that there are many who will stay because they have familial ties in Canada. For those that don’t, with the carte blanche work permits, once those folks get a taste of the “good Life” in Canada, it will be very difficult to persuade them to return to their war torn country, that is if they can find a house to live in.

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