Because everything is so stupid all the time, there was a whole ridiculous bit of drama yesterday as US treasury secretary Scott Bessent went on TV to claim that prime minister Mark Carney aggressively walked back his Davos speech on the phone to Trump, when the rest of us didn’t know there even was a call because there was no readout. When Carney came in for his caucus meeting yesterday and was asked about it, he disputed the characterisation, said he meant what he said at Davos, and then turned it into one of those quasi-flattering but also quasi-shady remarks akin to calling Trump “transformational,” in saying that Canada was the first to recognize the changes to global trade that Trump instituted. I’m sure he thinks he was very clever about it too.

Nevertheless, the point stands that the lack of a readout from PMO about the call means that it let the Americans get out ahead in terms of spinning the call and what was said, and as this administration does with everything, is to just lie. Part of this is also transparency, so that we know when there are calls with world leaders, particularly given the situation we’re in with Trump, and the fact that they had a thirty-minute call on a range of topics that included Ukraine is actually kind of important to know, but Carney has refused to be transparent and has said he’s not going to provide readouts for these “informal” calls going forward. So you just keep letting Trump and his people lie about what’s being said? I do not understand why they refuse to understand how to deal with this kind of behaviour.

Amidst this are a bunch of conservatives, some MPs, some designated talking heads on media shows, who were so very eager to take Trump’s side and blaming Carney for harming the relationship, or in trying to insist that it’s Carney who is holding up a tariff deal instead of Trump being mercurial and untrustworthy. I get that for a lot of these people, it’s “anything to own the Libs,” and they will contort themselves to almost the point of treason in order to get that thrill they’re looking for, but for the love of Zeus, have some self-respect.

Ukraine Dispatch

A Russian drone struck a passenger train near Kharkiv, killing five, while drones attacking Odesa killed at least three. There was also a strike against a natural gas facility in western Ukraine. The US says that Ukraine needs to sign a peace deal with Russia to get security guarantees (but Russia has no interest in a peace deal).

Good reads:

• Mark Carney delivered an address for Holocaust Remembrance Day, and spoke about Canada’s complicity by remaining silent.
• Carney also said that trade talks will continue with the US, even though there is “nearly nothing normal” in the US right now. (Whee!)
• Marc Miller discusses the challenge of drafting new Online Harms legislation, being aware that this could provoke American ire while also not wanting to defer to them.
• Gary Anandasangaree says the government plans to work within the existing budget for the gun buyback programme.
• It looks like the former BC Chief Electoral Officer has been tapped to be the new commissioner in charge of the foreign agent registry.
• Treasury Board’s early report on updating the Access to Information Act is sounding the alarm bells for transparency advocates, as it will make the system even worse.
• Here are more of the details around the incoming requirement for sponsored refugees and asylum seekers to co-pay for their healthcare.
• Nearly half of the members of the Women Veterans Council quit after a meeting with the minister, saying they felt like they were being gaslit.
• Questions are forming about the Canada-US-Finland ICE Pact (different ICE) to jointly build new icebreakers, as the US is no longer a trusted ally.
• The Canadian Museum of History and the Canadian War Museum are facing cuts of about eighteen percent of their workforce, which will impact their programming.
• An IMF report says that we could gain nearly seven percent of real GDP growth from fully eliminating interprovincial trade barriers. (I am getting dubious).
• Here is a look at how certain Indigenous title cases are shaking out differently in the courts, and will likely require the Supreme Court of Canada to weigh in.
• Judges from all three levels of court in Alberta wrote an open letter about the importance of judicial independence after Smith said she wants to “direct” them.

Odds and ends:

Looks like someone has been using a little too much bronzer (if you contrast with the skin tone on his hands).

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-01-27T23:06:20.240Z

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