Roundup: Giving Dean French undeserved credibility

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In an attempt to keep litigating the “revelation” from court documents that there was a “potential breakthrough” with the occupation in Ottawa in advance of the invocation of the Emergencies Act, the CBC credulously brought the “negotiator, Dean French, onto Power & Politics to give his side of the story. It was a complete gong show. French was self-aggrandizing while trying to appear faux-humble, and insisted he wasn’t taking sides when he clearly was, particularly in repeating the patent horseshit from former Newfoundland and Labrador premier Brian Peckford, who spent the occupation claiming he’s the last living signatory of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (he’s not), and that the public health measures violated the Charter and that the government was operating illegally (they’re not, and the courts have pointed out that those measures are saved under Section 1 of the Charter, which is reasonable limits in a free and democratic society). Yet there was French, unchallenged by the host of the show, repeating these claims from Peckford in justifying his assertion that the government was in the wrong. It’s also patently absurd on its face that French’s negotiations would have done anything about the occupation—shifting a few trucks from residential streets and packing them even tighter onto Wellington was not any kind of solution, not that there was agreement among the occupiers on even doing this much. That was not a solution, because the occupation would still have been in place, and the occupiers would have continued to terrorize the residents and businesses in the area. There was no “breakthrough” to be had, and I cannot believe that CBC would go along with the fiction that there was. No, wait—I do believe it, because they uncritically both-sides everything, just like they did with this French interview, and even more to the point, gave French credibility in this. (French, for those of you who may not be aware, was Doug Ford’s initial chief of staff who was forced to resign because he was handing out government appointments to unqualified people with whom he had a lacrosse connection. And yes, I’m being completely serious). The complete lack of critical thinking on the part of P&P’s producers and host when it came to this interview, or the choice they made in pursuing this losing line of inquiry is particularly troubling. Credulously both-sidesing is not journalism—it’s stenography, and that is costing us our democracy.

 

Ukraine Dispatch, Day 176:

Ukrainian forces say they beat back a Russian attack in the southern region of Kherson, while Russian forces shelled the city of Kharkiv in the north, killing more civilians. This as the UN Secretary General is set to meet with president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the western city of Lviv. Meanwhile, it sounds like Russia sacked the head of their Black Sea fleet after the recent explosions in Russian-occupied Crimea, and that they have relocated more of their planes and helicopters either deeper in the peninsula or into Russian territory.

Good reads:

  • Harjit Sajjan says that it’s not safe for Syrian refugees living in Lebanon and Jordan to return home yet.
  • The government is opening four new passport sites, and say that 300 new staff are now trained and on the job as they work to tame the backlog.
  • The CBC has a look at the passport process, in case you’re curious.
  • Health Canada is reviewing both Pfizer and Moderna’s omicron-specific COVID vaccines, and the government has already ordered doses.
  • An intelligence report obtained under Access to Information shows concerns that there wold be “violent revenge” after the occupation in Ottawa was shut down.
  • New census data shows increasing linguistic diversity in the country, so of course Quebec’s languages minister is freaking out about the alleged decline in French.
  • The number of Indigenous language speakers has declined in the country, but is increasing in youth.
  • The NDP are making noises about the “just transition” being a priority in their deal with the Liberals, but the government has been working on this for years now.
  • Professor Eric Mathison debunks the recent alarmist reporting on assisted dying.
  • Erica Ifill reminds us that the point of attacking journalists and their credibility is to make it easier for bad actors to act unchallenged, and people are letting it happen.

Odds and ends:

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