Monthly Archives: April 2024

Roundup: Premiers want unconditional money

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The premiers are at it again. They’ve written yet another letter to Justin Trudeau to complain about the budget, and all of the ways that it infringes on their jurisdiction, and to call for a return to a “cooperative approach” that means just giving them “unconditional federal funding.” (It was also hilarious to watch certain premiers complain about federal spending as though they also weren’t running their own deficits, while simultaneously demanding more money from the federal government). And I get that they’re concerned that the costs of these new programmes will be downloaded onto them if a future federal government cuts their funding—it’s a legitimate concern. But at the same time, most of these programmes will have longer-term payoffs, whether it’s child care (which Quebec has proved will pay for itself), or pharmacare or dental care, which has the potential to reduce overall healthcare costs—costs the government is going to have to pay when they could have avoided doing so with proper investments.

Nevertheless, it’s not lost on me that we’ve spent years of people saying “nobody cares about jurisdiction,” and demanding the federal government do something—including some of the premiers—and when the federal government not only does something but attaches strings so that the money has to go to particular outcomes, those same premiers immediately go “No, not like that.” But once burned, twice shy—the federal government learned the hard way during the height of the pandemic when the billions they sent to the provinces largely went unspent but went toward their provincial deficits—so they’re going to very much demand strings attached to those dollars. So, of course the federal government is going to do what they can seeing as they’re shouldering the blame anyway, while the premiers continue to be precious about it.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russian missiles destroyed grain storage facilities in Odesa, as well as the foodstuffs they contained that were bound for Asia and Africa. Ukrainian forces say they shot down a Russian strategic bomber, while Russia claims it crashed due to a malfunction. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the command post used by the troops defending Chasiv Yar in the east.

https://twitter.com/defenceu/status/1781227417404600676

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Roundup: Bullshitting about pharmacare

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In a radio interview yesterday, Pierre Poilievre claimed that the proposed federal pharmacare programme would force people to give up their existing private insurance and onto a federal programme—something that is entirely no true, and boggling as to how he could think that, particularly because the government has been pretty clear that to start, the only thing it proposes to cover are diabetes medications and devices, and contraception. (This is, of course, subject to provincial approval, because the federal government can’t do this on its own).

In spite of being called out by health minister Mark Holland on the lies and “fake boogeymen,” Poilievre has gone on to try and shift the goal-posts on the different programmes that the federal government has been trying to roll out, saying things like dental care hasn’t cleaned a single tooth (not true—the initial tranche of the programme was apparently fairly well-subscribed, while the current programme only came into being in December and is still rolling out), or that the school food programme is just a press release (again, the programme is about enhancing existing programmes, not creating anything new). Regardless, there is a complete inability to be truthful about anything, whether it’s outright lies, or it’s bullshit (and there is a difference in there between them, even if the line is fairly narrow).

This should be a warning about the next election, where he will say absolutely anything, shamelessly, and media outlets will be scrambling to do any basic fact-checking, while mostly just both-sidesing the whole thing, because that’s what legacy media does best—especially in an election, where fact-checks can come days or even weeks too late, or the rather useless exercise the Toronto Star engaged in where they listened to each leader’s speeches for a week apiece, and tried to data-journalism it into a quantitative exercise when it’s fairly qualitative, and can require nuance about degrees of dishonesty or disinformation to appreciate how it’s working. Nevertheless, this is not a good sign of things to come.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russian missiles attacked an apartment building and train station in Dnipro, killing at least eight people. Ukraine’s spy agency says that their attack on the airfield in occupied Crimea seriously damaged four missile launchers and three radar stations. Here’s a look at Russia’s tactic of making smaller attacks to keep exhausting Ukrainian forces ahead of a likely spring advance. A Polish man has been arrested on suspicion of gathering information on behalf of the Russians for a possible assassination plot against Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The burgeoning defence industry in Ukraine is looking for more certainty around orders as they deal with a lack of investment and needing to relocate production facilities to avoid being targeted by Russia.

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QP: Gold heist concerns

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Neither the prime minister nor his deputy were present today, as they started their cross-country sales budget, and I will say it was quite a neat trick where the one day Chrystia Freeland showed up was the day Trudeau gave all the answers, so that nobody can ask her about the budget. As for the other leaders, none of them were present. Melissa Lantsman led off, and raised the biggest gold heist in history and that the suspects are already out on bail (because they’re not violent criminals?) Arif Virani noted that they passed significant bail reform legislation already, and that the budget has measures to combat money laundering and organised crime, and he hoped for their support. Lantsman claimed that the Liberals passed the bill that made this kind of bail possible (not really true—much of the law on bail has been set by the Supreme Court of Canada), and seemed to imply these criminals paid off the government. Virani noted that they have been dealing with the causes of crime, and that bail reform is there for violent, serious offenders with the support of law enforcement, before repeating his exhortation to support the measures in the budget. Lantsman switched to gas prices in Ontario, and falsely blamed the carbon levy, before demanding an election. Jean-Yves Duclos cited that eight out of ten families get back more in the carbon rebate than they pay. Dominique Vien took over in French, and she blamed the carbon levy on the cost of living crisis, particularly in Quebec (where it doesn’t apply). Duclos quoted that Poilievre only created six affordable housing units when he was “minister, and that they just created 173 units in her riding. Vien blamed the government on inflation (again, not actually the cause), and Duclos got back up to repeat the six housing units stat.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and accused the prime minister of threatening provincial transfers if they don’t agree to federal dictates, just like the Conservatives. Pablo Rodriguez noted all the things the Bloc are for that are in the budget, and yet they are threatening to vote against it like the Conservatives. Therrien said the budget was only about pandering, and about securing the election given how much money flows afterward. Duclos noted that it’s not happening in the future, but the 8000 housing units happening now in Quebec.

Alexandre Boulerice rose for the NDP, and complained about the planned elimination of 5000 public service positions rather than subcontracting. Anita Anand noted that these positions were likely to be eliminated through natural attrition. Don Davies raised a report that says the government doesn’t track job creation from subsidies, and demanded corporate accountability. François-Philippe Champagne took the opportunity to praise the investments in the budget.

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Roundup: A dog and pony show at the bar of the House

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There was the extremely rare instance of a private citizen being summoned to the bar of the House of Commons yesterday to be admonished and to be ordered to answer questions—something that hasn’t happened since 1913. The person in question was Kristian Firth, one of the partners of GC Strategies, who was part of the ArriveCan imbroglio, and he was summoned for refusing to answer questions at committee and prevaricating in cases, and was accused of lying to the committee in other circumstances.

As expected, this became a dog-and-pony show from the very get-go, because that’s about the level at which most parliamentarians operate these days. The government didn’t want to ask him questions because he had a doctor’s note explaining he’s being treated for “mental health episodes” and is supposed to avoid extreme stress. Too bad, the Conservatives said, and refused to delay this to another day, and began their own questions, which were theatrical in nature, intended for clip-gathering, and for constructing an alternate reality where the Cabinet was somehow implicated in this whole affair and that Firth was somehow covering for them—something for which there has been absolutely zero evidence, but the Conservatives have absolutely no qualms about lying in order to tarnish reputations and try and paint the government as corrupt, in spite of the fact that there are no links between the political players and what happened on this file. The Conservatives made additional hay when they learned that the RCMP had executed a search warrant at Firth’s home for electronic records in an unrelated case, and they were quick to spread that all over social media along with the clips they had choreographed of this whole exercise. To be clear, nothing new was really learned, most of the Bloc and NDP MPs spent their time soliloquising on the record rather than asking real questions, and nothing has really changed other than the new social content gathered. What a way to run a parliament.

More budget coverage:

Because there weren’t enough stories on Budget Day itself, here are more of the follow-up stories:

  • Here is an explanation of the capital gains changes, and Chrystia Freeland pointing out that this was carefully researched and that the measures help restore fairness.
  • Here are more details on the plans to turn government buildings into housing.
  • The budget promises to redefine what counts as “rural” to qualify for the carbon rebate top-up, but offers no details as to how they’ll do that.
  • There is a measure in the budget about exploring how to make “halal mortgages” more available for Muslim Canadians.
  • The CRA is getting more tools to combat tax avoidance and evasion, including a requirement for more transparency around crypto transactions.
  • Here is a recounting of some of the angry pushback to what’s in the budget (and some of it is complete bunk, others are letting the premiers skate once again).
  • AFN national chief Cindy Woodhouse Neepinak says the budget isn’t sufficient for Indigenous people and wants a first ministers’ meeting on the subject.
  • Disability groups are deeply disappointed with how little the Canada Disability Benefit provides, but government indicates it will go up over time.

https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt/status/1780726502008512549

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russian missiles hit Chernihiv in northern Ukraine, killing at least 17 people, while Ukraine attacked an airfield in occupied Crimea. There was also a Russian drone attack against the Ivano-Frankivsk reg9ion in the country’s west, the debris causing fires. Ukrainian soldiers are also accusing Russia of illegally using tear gas on their trenches.

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QP: No, you’re the ultra-wealthy!

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Wednesday post-budget, and both the prime minister and his deputy were present, as were all of the other leaders who wanted their camera time decrying the budget, Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and gave a direct-to-camera appeal of “who will pay for this orgy of spending” and claimed it wouldn’t be the wealthy, but “you, the ones who are paying too much taxes. The Speaker warned him that comments need to be directed through the chair. Trudeau insisted that Poilievre was defending the wealthy, while he was defending the Middle Class™. Poilievre insisted that after nine deficits, it was not a fair county for young people. Trudeau insisted that they made the choice to invest to build a stronger economy while the Conservatives only wanted austerity. Poilievre switched to English and repeated the talking directly to the camera appeal, and got a second gentle caution from the Speaker. Trudeau repeated that Poilievre was defending the wealthiest 0.1 percent. Poilievre railed that Trudeau was blaming the rest of the world for his failures that raised inflation (erm…) and repeated the same line about the government repeating the same mistakes and hoping for a different outcome. Trudeau repeated that Poilievre is only looking out for the ultra-wealthy, to which Poilievre insisted that Trudeau was the ultra-wealthy. (No, he’s really not). Trudeau said not on a tear about the people that they are standing up for and the Conservatives were standing against.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and said that the prime minister was so enamoured with areas of provincial jurisdiction, and wondered if he would run in his preferred province—Ontario. Trudeau noted he as a proud Quebecker and praised the investments they were making to enhance programmes in provinces like Quebec. Blanchet shot back that he was such a proud Quebecker that he wanted them to be their own country, and demanded unconditional transfers. Trudeau went on a paean about his pride in Quebec being secure in Canada, and praised Quebec for being ahead of the rest of the country with their programmes, and that the government was there to help Quebec advance those programmes. 

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP and started shouting about “corporate greed” and that the government was not clamping down on it in the budget. Trudeau praised the measures in the budget to help younger generations. Singh repeated the question in French, and Trudeau spoke about asking the wealthiest to pay a little more to help the next generations. 

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Roundup: Budget Day, 2024

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It was Budget Day, and as per usual with this government, any fiscal room that opened up, they spent and kept their deficit figures about the same. (Full document here). There were some minor tax increases on the top 0.1 percent and corporations, but apparently not as bad as some of the business lobby feared, though the way some of them went to bat for trickle-down economics this week was…something.

The overall theme has been about “generational fairness,” which they want to push as the Liberals desperately need to reclaim Millennial and Gen Z voters who are currently flocking to Poilievre, not because he has any policy solutions, but because they like his angry vibe (because that’s helpful, guys). And while that may be the theme, nothing I’ve heard suggests meaningful changes to address that generational fairness other than tinkering around the margins, but that seems to be par for the course, especially for this government.

Measures in the budget include:

  • The proposals to “unlock” public lands for housing development
  • The Canada Disability Benefit is in there, but it’s a very low level and there aren’t agreements with the provinces about not clawing it back
  • The commitment to investing in AI and data capacity.
  • More money for Indigenous housing and infrastructure, but never enough for the size and scope of what is needed.
  • Long-awaited details on carbon rebates for small business, but not Indigenous groups who were also promised them.
  • A $5 billion Indigenous loan guarantee programme.
  • Former Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz is being named to a task force on determining how pension funds can be used to invest more in Canada.
  • Directions for the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada to oversee open banking.
  • There is money for athletes, but not enough for what is needed by Olympians.
  • Higher taxes on tobacco and vaping products to help offset pharmacare costs.
  • Here are ten quick highlights, some of the “winners and losers,” some key numbers and even more highlights.

Meanwhile, some helpful threads about different aspects of the budget:

https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt/status/1780326465420038220

And here are a few examples of Lindsay Tedds throwing some serious shade at people who don’t understand the capital gains changes. Ouch!

https://twitter.com/LindsayTedds/status/1780435405021835447

https://twitter.com/LindsayTedds/status/1780435859806069167

https://twitter.com/LindsayTedds/status/1780436934340575689

Ukraine Dispatch:

We learned that the destruction of the Trypilska thermal power plant last week was because of a lack of air defence missiles—they intercepted seven missiles, but there weren’t enough for the remaining four inbound missiles, and the plant was destroyed. (Thanks, America!) President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed the mobilisation bill into law, and it should take effect within a month. Here’s a look at the coming battle around Chasiv Yar.

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QP: Bizarre accusations, crying about being shushed

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As the countdown to the budget release was underway, neither the prime minister nor his deputy were present, and while she had the excuse of being in the budget lock-up meeting with journalists, I’m not sure the PM’s excuse. Most of the other leaders were also present, and Pierre Poilievre led off in French, read off his slogans, and then claimed that the “millionaire prime minister’s” friends who never pay for the cost of his spending, but welders and single mothers. François-Philippe Champagne insisted that the Conservatives have no vision and no plan, and nothing but new slogans, while a country that has ambition is one that invests. Poilievre insisted that their vision was to replace his boss, and complained about the size of the debt and deficit. Champagne noted that slogans don’t build homes, pave roads, or create jobs. Poilievre switched to English to repeat his slogans, and railed that seniors and single mothers who foot the bill for the government spending and not their “wealthy friends.” Anita Anand listed supports for people while remaining fiscally prudent. Poilievre listed other “working class” people that he is in support of, and Anand repeated her same assurances. Poilievre insisted that the Liberals are the problem and not the solution, but Sean Fraser took this one, mocked Poilievre’s statements about electricians capturing lighting or welders using their bare hands, and suggested he talked to people with real jobs—as Poilievre walked out during said answer.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, claiming that Quebec was being “cheated” out of housing funds, and demanded they pay their fair share of housing funds immediately. Fraser said that the Bloc are not defining housing policy in Quebec while they have an agreement with the provincial government to build 8,000 homes. Therrien demanded a second time, and this time Pablo Rodriguez got up to rant about the Bloc not doing anything but pick fights.

Alexandre Boulerice rose for the NDP, and praised Biden’s policies in the US, to which Champagne took issue with the premise, and praised their work in fixing competition in the country. Laurel Collins complained that the government wasn’t going to implement a windfall tax on oil and gas companies. Jonathan Wilkinson got up to list the measures they are taking to reduce emissions. 

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Roundup: At least one Speaker is laying down the law

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I will admit that it’s rare that I follow anything happening in the Saskatchewan legislature, but yesterday there were some video clips circulating of the Speaker slapping down two government ministers who had been text messaging him, accusing him of not doing enough to keep the opposition in their place, essentially. The Speaker was not having it. He read out one of those text messages into the record and demanded an apology, which he got from the finance minister.

The House leader, however? Refused to apologise for his texts and his comments about them, and stormed out of the Chamber, at which point the Speaker named him and ensured he was kicked out for the rest of the day.

I’m not sure if I’m watching in envy, because our own Speaker in Ottawa is timid and doing the bare minimum of decorum, or if it’s just great to see a Speaker acting decisively and taking absolutely no bullshit from members regardless. Nevertheless, it’s good to see a Speaker take the job seriously, and not let the government of the day try and get away with atrocious behaviour.

Ukraine Dispatch:

A Russian aerial bomb struck an educational facility in Kharkiv on Monday, killing two and injuring four. Ukraine’s foreign minister has pointed to the success of Israel’s “Iron Dome” when it comes to defending against the Iranian attack, saying his country needs the same, but there are particular differences, one of which is that Russia is much closer which makes the defences less effective. Because of the attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid, they had to double electricity imports on Monday, without any capacity to export.

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QP: Another slogan to “fix” the budget

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While both the prime minister and his deputy were in town, they were not present for QP, though most of the other leaders were present. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and listed off his slogans before noting that the government was spending more on interest on the debt than healthcare, and demanded the government take is “dollar-for-dollar” plan to “fix the budget.” Sean Fraser wondered if it was common sense or nonsense to cut programmes to help people. Poilievre took a swipe at Fraser for his alleged incompetence around immigration numbers, which “doubled” housing prices, and demanded the government reduce the deficit and interest rates. François-Philippe Champagne recited that Poilievre only built six affordable housing units when he was “housing minister” (which he wasn’t really), and that they wouldn’t take any lessons. Poilievre switched to English to misquote a Scotiabank report claiming government deficits were adding two points to the interest rates, to which Fraser accused him of knowing the cost of everything and the value of nothing in his opposition to programmes to help people. Poilievre insisted there was no value in food programmes that don’t exist or the doubling of the cost of housing, and repeated his same misleading declaration about interest rates. Fraser needled Poilievre about the number of affordable units lost when he was “minister” and the number of houses that weren’t built. Poilievre accused Fraser of being incompetent as immigration minister before being named housing minister, and then gave some misleading nonsense about rental prices when he was “housing minister.” Fraser took a shot at the Conservatives for opposing the resettlement of Afghan refugees who had helped the Canadian Forces, and after the Speaker finally restored order, repeated the points about Poilievre’s housing record.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and complained that Quebec didn’t get their fair share of housing funds, to which Pablo Rodriguez talked about the Bloc’s lack of priorities as they keep demanding referendums while the government is investing. Therrien tried his complaint again, and Fraser insisted that they were working with the province to ensure they would get their fair share.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and he railed about corporate handouts to companies like Loblaws, and wanted the government to roll back Conservative policies. Champagne thanked him for his help in reforming competition law, but said they still needed support to get the Grocery Code of Conduct passed. Singh switched to French to demand an excess profits tax on grocery giants, and Champagne repeated his response.

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Roundup: Compromising the GG for clicks

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Last week, the Governor General held a national symposium on online harassment, and invited people who have experienced significant amount of it over the past few years to speak about it.

https://twitter.com/GGCanada/status/1778413516266840314

Of course, the Attorney General, Arif Virani, decided to make some hay around this in order to promote the online harms bill, which may be great for him, but is very bad for the GG, and he should have known that. His staff should have known that and ensured that he didn’t tweet something out that could compromise the GG and her position. The staff at Rideau Hall should have also known this and not invited Virani for this very reason, because come on.

And so, we now have a punch of loudmouths from the pundit class railing about the GG and how she has “endorsed” a controversial bill (which she actually did not), but of course truth doesn’t actually matter to these kinds of loudmouths, whose only goal is to try and embarrass the government. But this government, of course, so desperate to get their content for their socials, ignored all of this and went ahead and tried to co-opt the GG’s event for their own purposes. And of course, they’ll justify this by saying “oops, but we meant well.” Like they always do. The ends justify the means, the rules only apply to bad people, and so on. Every gods damned time with these guys.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Fragments of a downed missile fell over a settlement outside of Dnipro on Sunday, injuring twelve. Ukraine’s military chief has signalled that the battlefield situation on the front lines in the east has significantly deteriorated over the past several days, and that they are attempting to take the town of Chasiv Yar by May 9th, which is when Russia marks Victory Day.

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