Ever since Alberta premier Danielle Smith started her latest scheme of trying to get the ball rolling on a bitumen pipeline to the northwest coast of BC, everyone has been trying to get some kind of answer as to whether this project—which has no actual proponents, no route, and no hint of buyer contracts—is going to get some kind of fast-track approval. Of course, that’s the kind of thing that the government’s Major Projects Office push has engendered by its very existence, because Smith and the Conservatives federally have been ratcheting up their rhetoric to stake the future of the country on this imaginary project.

At a committee appearance, Major Projects Office CEO Dawn Farrell didn’t answer MPs questions as to whether her powers include being able to violate the BC tanker ban, which would be essential for such a project to happen. But of course, this response was because there is no project, no route, nothing to judge any hypotheticals on, so the safest course is not to answer, because hypotheticals have a way of spinning out of control. And such a question may not wind up mattering at all, because natural resources minister Tim Hodgson came out to say that any pipeline through BC needs approval of the provincial government and affected First Nations. So good luck with that.

So now we will start seeing the fallout from this, with more threats from Danielle Smith, and howling denunciations from the Conservatives. Apparently, the country can’t work so long as we have things like environmental laws, and who cares that oil production increased while emissions as a whole declined (though not necessarily within the sector), so it’s not like those laws were exactly detrimental to the sector. “Oh, but we could have been making even more money!” Really? Would pumping more supply into the market not have possibly depressed prices? There is no guarantee that just trashing our environmental laws would increase investment and make us more prosperous, because things are complex, and climate change has costs. We need to start talking about that fact.

— Effin' Birds (@effinbirds.com) 2025-10-09T14:05:25.084Z

Programming Note: I’m going to take the full long weekend off, so have a great Thanksgiving everyone.

Ukraine Dispatch

A Russian attack on Kyiv hit an apartment building and targeted energy sites. Here is a look at the use of saboteurs in the war, both in Russia recruiting them in Ukraine, and Ukraine employing them within Russia. President Zelenskyy is taking credit of the gas shortages in Russia, thanks to new missile and drone strikes against Russian energy facilities. That could be one reason why the Russian war economy has stalled, forcing producers to furlough staff.

Good reads:

• Mark Carney says he is encouraging all parties involved in the Middle East peace plan to follow through on the first phase.
• An analysis of Carney’s speeches shows that his use of French is a mere seventeen percent of the time, far below his predecessor.
• Mélanie Joly says she is leveraging Canada’s reputation for stability and good government to attract investment.
• Anita Anand is urging Canadians detained by Israel for participating in Gaza flotillas to accept consular aid in getting home, as soe have apparently refused.
• Gary Anandasangaree says he still hopes to pursue giving law enforcement lawful access powers. (Remember when Liberals were opposed to this kind of thing?)
• What’s that? Evan Solomon’s digital asbestos task force is skewed toward industry players? You don’t say!
• Senior Bank of Canada Deputy Governor Carolyn Rogers is calling on the financial sector to allow more competition, as we are mired in the Big Six oligopoly.
• Canada Post’s union will end their general walkout on Saturday in favour of rotating strikes (because they apparently figured out they burned all of their goodwill).
• The Canadian lumber industry is very unhappy that their issues went completely unmentioned during Carney’s Washington trip.
• A recent report shows that influencers got more traction online than journalism outlets or politicians themselves during the last election.
• A bill in the US Congress could give more authority for American border guards to operate in Canada, but questions remain as to how involved Canada will be.
• The Liberals have been in talks to increase the parliamentary budget of the NDP (as they don’t have official party status), but say this isn’t about budget votes.
• The Quebec government has tabled a draft provincial constitution that was not consulted on, and contains elements that are unconstitutional.
• BC Conservative leader John Rustad said that his caucus’ phones were searched this week in order to find a leak, but it didn’t reveal anything. (Also, yikes!)
• Matt Gurney contemplates the impossible scenario that Carney finds himself in when dealing with the Trump White House.
• My Xtra column sorts through the meltdowns about what the federal government’s position is on the upcoming Supreme Court hearing on the Notwithstanding Clause.

Odds and ends:

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