Yesterday was prime minister Mark Carney’s big day in Beijing, where he met with premier Li Qiang, as well as the chairman of the standing committee of the National People’s Congress, Zhao Leji. Carney billed this as building a “strategic partnership” with China, and that he hoped this to be an “example to the world of co-operation amidst a time globally of division and disorder.”  There were high-level meetings away from journalists, and in the end, they had a big show about signing six non-binding agreements as well as two declarations to facilitate more trade, because hey, all of those ministers on the trip needed their photo-op moments. One of those agreements included the BC government and had to do with use of Canadian timber and increasing use of wood-frame construction in China, in order to expand the market beyond just pulp for paper. Another was an MOU on oil and gas—but doesn’t actually commit them to buying any more of our product.

This being said, there has been no progress on the tariff issues, though any announcement might be after the meeting with Xi Jinping today. Carney said that he is “heartened” by Xi’s leadership, which…is a bit problematic considering how much more Xi has cracked down on the country and has consolidated his own power within the Party. (Photo gallery here).

Of course, during the big meeting, Carney said that this “partnership” sets them up for the “new world order,” and hoo boy did every extremely online conservative and conspiracy theorist pick up on that one. Clearly, he meant that the shift away from American dominance was reshaping the global economy, but boy the choice of phrase “New World Order” was catnip to the absolute worst people online, and is once again an own-goal by Carney.

Ukraine Dispatch

Russian attacks have destroyed a major energy facility in Kharkiv, as the country faces blackouts in the middle of winter. President Zelenskyy insists that Ukraine is interested in peace after Trump and Putin have lied that Ukraine is the holdout. Emmanuel Macron says that France is now providing two thirds of Ukraine’s intelligence, taking over from the Americans.

Good reads:

• Antia Anand says that a Canadian has died at the hands of the Iranian regime as part of the protests, and condemns the action.
• The Privacy Commissioner is extending his examination into Xitter as a result of the uproar over “deepfakes” and CSAM.
• A Competition Bureau report suggests that Canadians could save billions in time and money if we had better data portability rules.
• Cory Doctorow is warning the Canadian government against widespread digital asbestos adoption as it will inevitably lose money and be subject to enshittification.
• Here is more about EU plans to set up a “tripwire” of enhanced military presence in Greenland to deter American aggression. (Canada is not currently part of this effort).
• Trump’s proposed ambassador to Iceland “joked” about making it the “52nd state,” and the Icelandic government is fuming.
• The City of Ottawa lost their appeal of their claim that the federal government was short-changing them on payments in lieu of taxes on federal buildings.
• Supriya Dwivedi (correctly) points out that if we can’t stand up to Elon Musk’s deepfake machine, then Canada becomes a vassal state to the tech broligopoly.
• Bob Rae discusses Carney’s travels in the context of the changing global environment and how challenging it is for Canada to navigate at the moment.
• Justin Ling previews a tumultuous year ahead in Quebec politics that kicked off with François Legault’s resignation, and could result in a PQ government by year’s end.
• Ling also suggests that Canada leverage its Arctic infrastructure that America relies upon to force them to drop their Greenland ambitions. (Good luck with that).

Odds and ends:

For National Magazine, I take a deep dive into the femicide provisions in Bill C-16, and why they’re a good start but may not go far enough.

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