Early Monday morning, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that he had appointed Chrystia Freeland as a new advisor on economic development, which was a little peculiar considering that she is still a sitting MP, and still holds the role of a parliamentary secretary in her capacity as the prime minister’s special representative on Ukrainian reconstruction. This being said, we know she’s on her way out the door because her new job with the Rhodes Trust starts in July, so she had a definite end date in being before that.

Immediately, Conservatives like Michael Chong demanded her immediate resignation because of the conflict of interest this posed, and it wasn’t for several more hours that she announced that she will be formally resigning by the end of the month, with an immediate tweet from Carney to praise her for her work and for Ukraine, but Great Cyllenian Hermes, this was so badly handled by Carney’s PMO.

While I will grant that this pretty much went down while he was in the air on the way to Paris, they should have been prepared for this to go live at the same time as Zelenskyy’s announcement, and been aware of the time zones in play, because all they manged to do was muddy the waters around the potential conflict of interest, what is going on with any kind of approvals from the Ethics Commissioner, and not spent the bulk of daylight hours looking stunned or blindsided—especially as there was talk that the offer from Zelenskyy came in late December, even if most of Official Ottawa has been shut down for the bulk of that time period. This kind of thing continues to make Carney’s PMO look like amateur hour, and that once again, a Liberal government can’t communicate their way out of a wet paper bag. Honestly…

In Case You Missed It:

• My column on whether Carney is capable of adapting to a post-neoliberal world in order to be the right prime minister for the moment (as Poilievre sure can’t).
• My year-end episode taking a cue from the Ellie Goulding meme about how anything could happen—and did in Canadian politics in 2025.
• My weekend column on the credulousness by which the supposed “end of the consensus on immigration” gets covered, and what gets omitted in the retelling.
• My Loonie Politics Quick Take on changes that Carney has made to Canada over the past year, and what we should be watching out for as a part of it.
• My column on the faux debate raging over whether Carney wants to turn the Senate back to a two-party system when they should worry about his appointments.
• My weekend column on how Carney’s plans to Build Canada requires better data from the provinces, which we can’t keep waiting for them to get their acts together.

Very chuffed to see several of my stories on this list, including the most-read story of the year. Thanks to all of my readers!

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-12-29T22:50:06.873Z

Ukraine Dispatch

Russian drones hit a hospital in Kyiv on Sunday night, and struck energy infrastructure in Kharkiv as well as a US-based agricultural producer in Dnipro late Monday. President Zelenskyy is shaking up his top officials, including his spy chief.

Good reads:

• Mark Carney is in Paris for talks about security guarantees for Ukraine.
• Here is a look at some of the toxic compromises that may be forced onto Carney during New NAFTA talks with the US.
• Here is a recap of the Canadian reactions to the Maduro kidnapping, plus reactions about American imperialism, and the desire for Canada to play a role in response.
• The Star has a year-end interview with Mélanie Joly about the task she faces as industry minister to both protect and create jobs in the country.
• Sean Fraser says the focus on tough-on-crime bills is in response to public concern (but they won’t do anything because the problem is provincial underfunding).
• The draft regulations for the foreign interference registry propose a fine of up to $1 million for those who fail to comply with the registry requirements.
• Here is a preview of the Supreme Court of Canada’s planned move this summer.
• Here’s a look at why a one-seat majority will still likely present problems for the Liberals (and they may need another seat or two on top of that).
• Conservative MP Scott Anderson claims he was approached by the Liberals to cross the floor and he rejected them. (Sounds like bullshit to me).
• In the NDP leadership race, Rob Ashton is taking shots at Avi Lewis for criticising provincial NDP governments for resource extraction projects.
• Danielle Smith says the Maduro capture proves the “urgency” of a new pipeline to the West Coast, because of course she does.
• Former national security practitioners Jody Thomas and Patrick Lennox make the call for Canada to finally develop a foreign human intelligence service.
• Mike Moffatt showcases the link between falling birthrates and the lack of suitable family housing in major metropolitan areas like Toronto.
• Philippe Lagassé previews the decisions to come on the defence file in 2026.
• Senator Paula Simons makes her case against Alberta separatism.
• Anne Applebaum considers the Venezuela situation, and the notion that if America simply becomes a regional bully, then other markets will close their doors to it.
• Justin Ling calls on the government to articulate their own foreign policy document in light of Trump’s National Security Strategy, given that we are threatened.
• Ling follows this up post-Venezuela invasion to point out that Canada needs to play a role with allies in the region to demand a proper transitional government.
• Paul Wells laments our inability to build anything in Canada, and worse, the inattention to why we are unable to build, which is coming back to bite us in the ass.
• Wells also talks to Stéphane Dion about his return to Canada, and the return of the separatism debate in this country.

Odds and ends:

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