Roundup: Misguided “free-rider” complaints

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The Wall Street Journal had an unsigned editorial board op-ed yesterday that denounced Canada as a “military free rider,” but then did little to actually back up their assertions, omitted a bunch of facts, and went on a tear about the current government’s mission to fix the toxic culture within our armed forces, citing “See how that cultural manifesto works on the Ukrainian front lines.” Um, considering that our soldiers are successfully training the Ukrainians into a fighting force that is nimble and not just throwing bodies at the enemy like the old Soviet system did, it’s working fairly well? And how is Russia’s toxic masculinity doing on the battlefield anyway? Oh, right. In a similar vein, the editorial rages that we don’t spend enough on defence while we “shovel money into public unions and social-welfare programmes.” Like our health care system, which even in its current broken state is still far superior to the Americans? I mean, really?

To add to Steve Saideman’s comments, where the paper seems to fall into that same basic trap of not understanding how NATO works, which is that it requires participation from countries, and we participate. We may not spend to the same percentage, but several high-spending countries don’t actually participate, and because the two percent target is a really stupid metric, it ignores that the denominator is far higher in Canada than in a lot of these higher-percentage countries. Could our spending be better? Yes. Is our procurement system completely screwed? Yes. Have we been something of a free-rider in continental defence because we know the Americans will be there regardless? That’s fair. But trying to assert that it’s because we’re too “woke” is just puerile.

Oh, and about their seeming to prefer Poland, who is sliding into illiberalism and who has a major problem with homophobia, there was this gem on the wire yesterday about how that government broke EU law by suspending a judge who for criticising the government. Yeah, that’s totally who should be replacing Canada at the G7 and in a leadership position in NATO. Well done, WSJ. Slow clap.

Ukraine Dispatch:

At least 20 Iranian-made drones attacked mostly the Kyiv regions early Thursday, with debris wounding two people. American intelligence suggests that Wagner mercenary forces are no longer participating militarily in Ukraine in any significant capacity. Russia appears to be detaining thousands of Ukrainian civilians without charges, and appear to be planning to create even more prison colonies.

Good reads:

  • A tentative agreement has been reached in the PC port strike, and operations should resume today.
  • Karina Gould met with her provincial and territorial counterparts to work together on developing the early learning and child care workforce around the country.
  • Steven Guilbeault is calling on businesses and banks to do more about climate change, and wants climate finance on the agenda of the next UN climate summit.
  • Treasury Board is doing a broader review of social media apps on government devices following the decision to ban TikTok.
  • Delays at Transport Canada continue for processing medical certification for pilots.
  • Researchers are seeing just how little data there is to prove whether past health accords between the federal and provincial governments were effective.
  • There are concerns that the current worries about foreign interference could lead to more unfair decisions for would-be immigrants.
  • Canadian film and television projects are likely to be affected by the SAG-AFTRA strike in the US, and the Canadian union ACTRA is pledging solidarity.
  • Unsurprisingly, Ontario’s Attorney General didn’t offer past AGs from other parties King’s Council designations, but claimed that’s why Caroline Mulroney got hers.
  • An Alberta refinery has been operating for possibly as long as 22 years without provincial approval, and no one is quite sure how that happened. (Corruption?)
  • Danielle Smith wants her energy minister to design “incentives” for industry to clean up old wells, as though the law and Supreme Court rulings are not enough.
  • Theo Argitis argues that the Bank of Canada is likely to overdo it when it comes to bringing down inflation because their credibility in doing so is on the line.

Odds and ends:

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