The federal government, in their infinite communications wisdom, has decided to change the rules around government advertising so that they can do things like more easily use slogans, and to advertise programmes before they have been passed by Parliament. Worse, their excuses for doing so are utterly ridiculous, saying that the more “dangerous and divided world” needs faster communications and the old process was “too slow and duplicative.” Sorry, you think you need to be able to advertise slogans or programmes that do not officially exist yet because it’s faster? Are you kidding me?

The point of these rules is to create a separation between party and government, and the Harper government had incidents where this got them into trouble, such as when Pierre Poilievre, as minister of Employment and Skills Development, showed up at a government announcement in party-branded attire and got in trouble with Elections Canada for it. These rules exist for a reason, but Carney has decided that they’re inconvenient for him, so he needs to alter them. If the Liberals’ usual kryptonite is arrogance, Carney’s personal brand of it is acting like a magnifying glass. He should be reminded of this fact, before he drives the party off the very cliff he rescued them from.

Ukraine Dispatch

Russia used hypersonic medium-range missiles to strike Lviv early Friday morning, which is being considered a “warning” to Europe. That same day, drones hit two foreign-flagged civilian vessels in ports in the Odesa region. Here are Kyiv residents dealing with damage to their homes as a result of these attacks.

Good reads:

• Mark Carney has accepted an invitation to visit Brazil in May.
• Neither Evan Solomon nor Marc Miller, whose responsibility includes online harms, will talk about the issue with Xitter/Grok and its deepfake porn and CSAM.
• The federal government has agreed to send in the military to help the Pimicikamak Cree Nation in Manitoba after their frozen water pipe crisis.
• Former Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre has also said that if the US attacks Greenland, it will fracture NATO.
• The remaining members of the Net-Zero Advisory Body say they can’t work until the government fills the six vacanciesin their membership (so they can ignore them).
• Anglo-French Eutelsat is pitching Canada on a $250-million plan to provide the military with a secure Starlink alternative.
• New Liberal MP Michael Ma will be accompanying Carney on his trip to China (which has immediately triggered conspiracy theorists).
• At their upcoming conventions, Conservatives will be debating policy resolutions around abortion, DEI, trans youth, conversion therapy, and other fascist imports.
• Danielle Smith says she wants major project approvals in six months and not two years (which is no better than a rubber stamp).
• Alberta’s former energy minister says there is almost zero chance a west coast pipeline would get built without a government backstop.
• Justin Ling calls on the government to step up efforts to regulate web giants like Meta the more they continue abusive behaviour.
• Paul Wells worries about where Trump draws the line after Venezuela and his remarks that his only limit is his own morality.
• My Xtra column puts out a call for people to get involved in grassroots democracy, because that’s how we stop the democratic backslide in this country.

Odds and ends:

Anne Applebaum has started a new season of Autocracy in America, and starts off with Trump’s use of ICE.

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