Because Pierre Poilievre thinks he’s a tactical genius, he has announced that next week’s Conservative Supply Day motion will be about the MOU with Alberta, and forcing a vote on the language about a pipeline to the Pacific, in defiance of the tanker ban.

It’s a transparent attempt to try and jam the Liberals, at least rhetorically, into supporting the motion in order to show support for the MOU, after which Poilievre can keep saying “You supported it!” and “Give me the date when construction starts,” as though there’s a proponent, a project and a route already lined up (to say nothing about the long-term contracts about who is going to buy the product once it’s built, because yes, that does matter). The thing is, these kinds of motions are non-binding, and really means nothing in the end. So if a number of Liberals vote against it, it doesn’t actually mean anything, other than the rhetorical notion that lo, they are not fully in lock-step on something, which actually sets them apart from pretty much every other party where uniformity and loyalty to the leader and all of his positions are constantly being enforced in one way or another. Maybe he will tolerate differences of opinion—or maybe he’ll crack the whip. We’ll see when Tuesday gets here.

Ukraine Dispatch

The International Atomic Agency says the protective shield around Chornobyl has been damaged by Russian strikes.

Good reads:

• Mark Carney had a private meeting with Trump and Claudia Sheinbaum in Washington, and agreed to “keep working” on the New NAFTA.
• Gary Anandasangaree says the government is moving ahead with the promised review of the firearms classification regime.
• Fisheries licences given to a Mi’kmaq-owned fishery is running afoul of Inuit communities in the North who want the rights off of their coasts.
• The first military procurement projects to be managed by the new Defence Investment Agency have been revealed, and it includes the new submarines.
• The federal government has dropped its sanctions on Syria and its interim government, now that the Assad regime is no more.
• The four remaining members of the Net-Zero Advisory Body are threatening to resign if changes aren’t made to how the body functions.
• The Canadian Council of Refugees says that the persistent disproportionately longer timeframe to resettle refugees from Africa is systemic racism.
• The IMF is calling on the federal government to return to the previous debt-to-GDP fiscal anchor.
• Liberal MP Nathalie Provost says that the slow pace of change on further gun control measures isn’t rattling her, in spite of her desire for it to be faster.
• Steven Guilbeault says that federal backtracking on climate action will only wind up fuelling separatist sentiment in Quebec.
• An Alberta judge says that the proposed separatist referendum question is unconstitutional, just as the government tabled a bill to make them easier.
• Jason Kenney complains that the recall law he put into place is being abused now. (I didn’t think the leopards would eat MY face, says the guy who invited them in).
• The BC Court of Appeal says that BC’s Indigenous rights law needs to be “properly interpreted” to incorporate UNDRIP, and David Eby says they will likely amend it.
• Kristina Berdynskykh describes how the ongoing work of anti-corruption bodies in Ukraine is a victory for the country that was indifferent to it a decade ago.
• Rob Shaw has some of the behind-the-scenes details from the lead-up to John Rustad’s ouster in the BC Conservatives.
• Justin Ling looks at the list of Putin allies around Trump that are trying to sell out Ukraine so that they can take economic advantage of it.
• Ling also calls on the government to just buy the F-35s and focus on the next generation plane after that one.

Odds and ends:

For National Magazine, I delved into yesterday’s Supreme Court of Canada decision, and the particular issue that the judges sidestepped in their ruling.

Hey BSers! Need a copy of my book, for yourself or for a holiday gift? @dundurnpress.bsky.social is having their holiday sale! Use code HOLIDAY25 to save 25% on this, or any Dundurn book. Check out my book #UnbrokenMachine, or the book I contributed a chapter to, #RoyalProgress.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-11-19T02:01:04.435Z

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