For months, we’ve been hearing the Conservatives blame the industrial carbon price and the clean fuel standard for rising food prices, often citing the so-called “Food Professor” as the source of these claims. They’re hilariously wrong, but just how wrong? Energy economist Andrew Leach does the math, and demonstrates where the “Food Professor” went so wrong. (Some of these are threads, so be sure to click through because they were too long to replicate in this post).

And the longest explainer thread is here:

Ukraine Dispatch

Russia launched 430 drones and 68 missiles at Ukraine on Saturday, and six people were killed, five of them in Kyiv. President Zelenskyy says that Ukraine wants money and technology in return for the anti-drone assistance they are providing to countries in the Gulf region.

Good reads:

• Mark Carney met with Nordic leaders in Oslo, and talked about issues like Greenland, and maintaining sanctions on Russian oil in spite of the Iran conflict.
• Carney also said that his government will be revamping funding for Canadian athletes “very deliberately” over the next six months.
• Gary Anandasangaree says that the government is being “aggressive” with dealing with Iranian regime members in Canada. (Seriously, due process is a thing, guys).
• The government is negotiating an energy agreement with Saskatchewan to fast-track projects like uranium mines or small nuclear reactors.
• In spite of increased funding for the Canadian Transportation Agency to help clear its airline complaint backlog, that backlog has only grown.
• Here is a look at how Canada goes about evacuating citizens from conflict zones, like in the Middle East, and why some choose to stay.
• Former NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg doesn’t think allies will be drawn into the Iran conflict, but does worry it will give Russia an economic boost.
• Mark Carney is back to using PMO staff in caucus meetings to “take notes” for him, which is a problem that Trudeau started and Carney has belatedly adopted.
• Pierre Poilievre has announced his idea for a “tariff-free auto pact” that is more akin to the original 1965 trade deal that was pre-free trade.
• Kevin Carmichael suggests that Canada’s big banks are not lending to entrepreneurs nearly enough in this country, which winds up stifling innovation.
• Andrew Pinsent points to the problems with a lack of a legal framework for digital asbestos in Canada, which are manifesting in lawsuits against OpenAI.
• Bruce Arthur reminds us why Don Cherry doesn’t deserve the Order of Canada.
• Shannon Proudfoot chronicles Carney learning how to become a politician in real-time after a lifetime of being a technocrat.
• My weekend column points to the way that Poilievre has tried to build a domestic Iranian menace to hammer the government about rather than worry about the war.

Odds and ends:

What Bill C-22, the Lawful Access Act, 2026 can do. Do Canadians want this? More here: youtu.be/tZFbTYttuN8 #lawfulaccess #cdnpoli

— David TS Fraser (@privacylawyer.ca) 2026-03-16T00:58:27.176Z

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