Roundup: Poilievre punches down

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Pierre Poilievre made a lot of statements yesterday, and they were all alarming in their own ways. First up was expressing support for Bill S-210, which aims to require ISPs to ensure age verification for any online porn sites, or face massive penalties—a bill that passed the Senate and is now headed to committee with opposition support in the Commons. It’s a hugely problematic bill that is going to be a privacy nightmare and cause more problems than it solves. Poilievre also said he doesn’t want this implemented by way of a government digital ID or that prevents people from access legal materials, and his MPs keep handwaving and insisting that there must be some kind of technological solution here. There’s not, this is bad, and frankly is pretty Big Government/gatekeeping, which Poilievre claims to hate. What it does, however, is tap into the moral panic over porn being the root cause of a bunch of social ills, and Poilievre loves getting in on that action.

He was then asked by Rebel Media about trans people and washrooms—because of course the far-right remains obsessed about this—and Poilievre stated that he was against trans women in changing rooms, washrooms, or women’s sports, which is an outrageous egregious overreach and is Poilievre punching down in order to appease the Rebel Media audience. (I will note that you had pundits on Power & Politics baffled by this, believing that Poilievre has this demographic “locked down.” Not true—he needs to actively court them because they see him as being too soft and establishment—see Christine Anderson referring to him as “Pussyvere”—and he has to constantly prove himself to them). It’s also worth noting that for Poilievre’s press conferences, which are limited to five questions and no follow-ups, Rebel and True North are often at the front of the line for questions, which is another particular sign of who he’s speaking to. Justin Trudeau did respond and push back about this making trans people unsafe, which is true, but this is another moral panic Poilievre is trying to cash in on.

The last bit was perhaps the ugliest, where Poilievre was asking about the upcoming online harms bill, and he said that Trudeau shouldn’t be the one to bring it in, claiming this would be censorship, misquoting the line about “those with unacceptable views” (again, playing to the “convoy” audience who took up this misquote with great aplomb), and then launched into a tirade about how Trudeau needs to look into his heart about his past racism and Blackface. And then, because of course, a certain CBC journalist wrote this up (which I’m not going to link to) and devoted half of the story to rehashing the Blackface history including photos, because they didn’t learn a gods damned thing about how Trump got in (and this goes beyond just egregious both-sidesing). None of this is good.

Ukraine Dispatch:

With the loss of Avdiivka, Ukrainians are expecting more advances from Russians. This has spooked enough of the elderly in villages in the area, who are now heading for safer regions, worried that their towns are going to be the next to be ground to dust. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is downplaying the loss of Avdiivka as he calls for more western arms and support, but it has been relentless grind for Ukrainian forces. This said, western intelligence suggests that Russia doesn’t have the domestic capacity to manufacture the ammunition it needs either, so we’ll see how long they can keep up their current pace. Meanwhile, anti-corruption authorities in Ukraine are investigating more than sixty cases involving the defence sector.

Good reads:

  • Prime minister Justin Trudeau was in Edmonton to announce $175 million in Housing Accelerator funds, and Danielle Smith threw a tantrum because of it.
  • Trudeau also said that the long-overdue online harms legislation will be tabled next week (which is going to be a five-alarm clown show).
  • Mélanie Joly summoned the Russian ambassador for a dressing-down over the death of Alexei Navalny.
  • Dominic LeBlanc announced another $15 million over three years to help police coordination in combating auto thefts.
  • Anita Anand announced $14 million for three programmes as part of a way to help Black civil servants who have been discriminated against.
  • Ahmed Hussen has returned from his trip to the Gaza border, and is calling for more humanitarian aid in the region, as well as an immediate ceasefire.
  • Harjit Sajjan led an emergency response minsters’ meetings in Ottawa in preparation for the year ahead, which could see worse wildfires than last year.
  • Canada is preparing to get behind a Czech Republic initiative to ship tens of thousands of artillery shells from different countries to Ukraine.
  • The federal government reached a $59 million settlement agreement with a BC First Nation over a century-old land seizure.
  • The federal programme to keep war criminals out of Canada hasn’t made any public reports in eight years, to which the department cites “modernisation.”
  • Here is a look at GC Strategies, which is at the centre of much of the ArriveCan controversy, and who are being compelled to appear at committee.
  • Convicted RCMP spy Cameron Ortis is seeking an acquittal, claiming he couldn’t get a fair trial; the Crown is appealing the length of his sentence.
  • The King says that all of the good wishes from the public over his cancer diagnosis has him “reduced to tears.”
  • Danielle Smith gave a televised address about the upcoming budget and how it is going to essentially contain cuts because of softer oil prices.
  • BC is walking back from promises to change their Land Act to require more Indigenous consultation around decisions involving public land.
  • Kevin Carmichael reflects on the power of expectation when it comes to central bankers setting and sticking to monetary policy goals.
  • Philippe Lagassé considers some of the politics around Trump’s penchant for mobster diplomacy, particularly around NATO.

Odds and Ends:

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