There was an interesting piece from The Logic yesterday where they asked the proponents of three projects to describe what their barriers are, and they’re…not all that coherent? One of them was complaining that they don’t really know where to apply for things and that it’s a black box once they do. And I find that curious, because there is a city full of consultants, lobbyists and government relations professionals out there whose job it is to help you navigate these kinds of processes. These people exist. It’s their jobs. Other proponents are complaining about federalism—some things trigger federal rules, some provincial, and they just want a one-stop shop. Which, sure, I get, but there are joint review processes available for certain projects that have both federal and provincial assessment components, but also that’s the nature of a federal state. Neither jurisdiction is going to abdicate their sovereignty, and I think that there are legitimate concerns if you expect one level of government to give up their process to “avoid duplication,” because it’s not actually duplication—they each look at different things, and I would not trust certain provincial governments to adequately address the concerns of federal legislation in their own processes.

The other complaint that these proponents have has to do with negotiating with provincial electricity suppliers for their projects, and the process of trying to negotiate adequate electricity for the project so that they can advance their proposals, which again, is not a barrier the federal government can do anything about. And sometimes hard things are hard, but I didn’t see any particular barriers in these descriptions that seemed insurmountable—it was a lot of “we don’t know what we’re doing,” and “I don’t want to have to do it,” particularly where there are environmental concerns. Which is one of the reasons why I’m particularly concerned about Bill C-5 federally, which can essentially ignore rules with the wave of a pen, and Ontario’s Bill 5, which literally can declare certain zones in the province to be lawless. These are not good approaches, but they seem to be what our leader have settle on, particularly because Mark Carney seems to operate on an ethos of seeking forgiveness rather than permission, which is not a good look for a government.

Meanwhile, here is Andrew Leach with a couple of added observations about these projects:

Ukraine Dispatch

Russia has launched an all-night attack on Kyiv that has injured at least fourteen. There were also strikes against port infrastructure in Odesa that have killed two people, and shelling of Pokrovsk has killed five people. There was also an airstrike against Poltava that his a military recruitment office that killed two people. Meanwhile, the EU was discussing how to adapt to Trump’s decision to withhold needed arms to Ukraine, as some cannot be sourced elsewhere.

Good reads:

• Mark Carney is headed off to the Calgary Stampede, which is a “political petting zoo” every year as politicians from all levels participate.
• StatsCan data shows that Canada is starting to increasingly shift our exports away from the US market, but it will take a lot of time and effort to overcome its gravity.
• The Canadian Army is investigating members being part of an “abhorrent” white supremacist Facebook group.
• Because of “limited resources,” there won’t be a Changing of the Guard ceremony at Rideau Hall this summer, or ceremonial sentries posted. (Not great!)
• Advocates are calling on the federal government to speak out in defence of the Ottawa Treaty on landmines, as Ukraine and Balkan countries say they will pull out.
• Auto manufacturers are hopeful the government will cancel the coming EV mandates after their meeting with Carney.
• The C.D. Howe Institute believes that the increased defence spending is going to mean “staggering” deficits in the coming years.
• In case you were wondering, no, the recent legislation to protect Supply Management is not immutable and doesn’t actually bind the government.
• Here’s an interesting longread about being summoned for jury duty in Ontario.
• The City of Ottawa converted unused office space into housing for asylum seekers.

Odds and ends:

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