Roundup: Implicating the King, and trying to cause a crisis

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Following the sickening ambush at the White House on Friday, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy flew to London for a conference on security in Europe now that it’s clear that the United States is no longer an ally, and prime minister Justin Trudeau also flew to London to attend. In advance of the conference, Zelenskyy met with King Charles at his Sandringham residence (which touched off some grousing online in Canada—more on that in a minute). At the conference,  UK prime minister Keir Starmer seemed to try to play up that the US was still a “reliable ally,” but I’m not sure anyone else in Europe (except maybe Hungary) actually believes that, nor should they. Following the conference, Trudeau was adamant about supporting Zelenskyy, and also had a one-on-one with Starmer, where no doubt the topic of Starmer throwing Canada under the bus came up for discussion, even though the readout of the conversation was very, very diplomatic in the choice of words.

President Zelenskyy has begun his meeting with King Charles III. The meeting is taking place at Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, following the London summit. The topics of their discussion have not been publicly disclosed.

— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) 2025-03-02T18:06:16.102Z

Some pretty diplomatic language in this readout of Trudeau's meeting with Starmer.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-03-02T22:56:46.924Z

Meanwhile, back in Canada, CTV seemed to be doing their absolute utmost to create a constitutional crisis because they contacted Buckingham Palace to see if the King would say something about the “51st State” threats, and surprising nobody who has a clue about constitutional monarchy, they would not comment. BECAUSE OF COURSE THEY CAN’T WITHOUT THE ADVICE OF THE GOVERNMENT. But that didn’t stop absolutely everyone from deciding that they were suddenly an expert on constitutional monarchy and what is and is not permissible for a monarch to say without the advice of the government, and the absolute worst part was that CTV took the opportunity to start both-sidesing those reactions, because who needs fact-based journalism when you’re trying to stir up controversy in order to get clicks for the attention economy?

Could a single Canadian journalist learn how constitutional monarchy fucking works?

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-03-01T21:35:05.483Z

By "those days are over," do you mean having an apolitical head of state, or do you mean a monarchy that accedes to the will of Parliament as they have since 1688?

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-03-02T04:05:14.317Z

https://bsky.app/profile/emmettmacfarlane.com/post/3ljekymxfv22f

Before he became King, everyone was worried that Charles would be spouting opinions all the time. There was no shortage of plays, novels and TV series whose plots revolved around him acceding to the throne and needing to abdicate for being too opinionated.Honest to Zeus, people…

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-03-02T04:25:39.959Z

This should be basic civics—something people learn about in grade five, and then again in grade seven or eight, and again in high school. But nobody has a clue how this is supposed to work, most especially the people who should know, including former ministers of the Crown. This in turns leads to a whole lot of people insisting that an apolitical monarchy isn’t good for anything, and people who were already small-r republicans are using this as an excuse to agitate for an end to the monarchy, and good fucking luck to them, considering it would require a) a coherent plan to replace it, and b) the unanimous consent of the Commons, the Senate, and all ten provinces in order to rewrite the entire constitution, because that’s not something you can just search-and-replace.

Trudeau is having a meeting with the King this morning before he leaves London, and it’s possible that he will advise the King to make some kind of statement, particularly now that sentiment has been stirred up because people who should now better have implicated the King when it was Starmer who threw us under the bus in his own moral cowardice, but it never should have come to this.

Ukraine Dispatch

Late Sunday, a Russian drone hit an apartment building in Kharkiv, injuring at least eight. Meanwhile, Zelenskyy says he can salvage his relationship with Trump, though I’m not sure Trump actually wants that because he’s not a good-faith actor in this, and he is looking for any excuse to abandon Ukraine.

https://twitter.com/zelenskyyua/status/1896321455606173969

Good reads:

  • Trudeau announced that the by-election for Halifax will be held on April 14th—provided that a general election isn’t called before them.
  • Tariffs could start this week, or maybe not, and if they do, it might not be at 25 percent. Maybe. Trump is also signalling for new lumber tariffs, of course.
  • Last week’s events may provide the impetus for the federal government to push further in seizing the frozen assets of Russian oligarchs to give them to Ukraine.
  • The Star has a lengthy profile of Mark Carney and his path to politics, as well as a profile of Chrystia Freeland and her time in office, trying to make a difference.
  • Here is a look at how Freeland is pitching herself as “uniquely qualified” for this moment in history, where we face the greatest threats since WWII.
  • Here’s a look at Karina Gould’s leadership campaign.
  • Longtime Liberal MP and minister Lawrence MacAulay has decided he won’t run again in the next election (which I didn’t think was going to happen…ever).
  • François Legault is calling a public inquiry into a scandal around cost overruns by the province’s auto insurance board’s online platform, which has cost one minister.
  • The Ontario Liberal Party’s executive board has voted to keep Bonnie Crombie as leader, but she will still face a leadership review at their next convention.
  • Kevin Carmichael contemplates the willingness to spend, particularly by premiers, in the lead-up to a potential trade war.
  • Dan Gardner reminds us of the actual history of freedom of speech in the US, which is very different from what JD Vance has been lecturing Europe about.
  • Jennifer Robson compares the fraud of “DOGE” to the actual 1990s program review of the Canadian federal government, and the bullshit coming from Build Canada.
  • Shannon Proudfoot remarks on the Conservatives’ sudden inability to pivot as their whole election strategy has come undone in the past few weeks.

Odds and ends:

For National Magazine, I look at Friday’s Supreme Court of Canada decision, and what is means for court challenges of Indigenous rights and title assertions.

New episodes released early for C$7+ subscribers. This week I discuss the value of an apolitical monarch as our head of state. #cdnpoli

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-03-02T23:10:34.108Z

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