This story about the Snowbirds has ground down my patience with this government. A couple of weeks ago, Conservative MPs and Senators were in the middle of a meltdown over the fate of the aerial demonstration squadron, and we kept being assured that this was nothing, they were going to keep flying, that the Conservatives were misinterpreting the schedule because it only went up to fall, and future dates were typically released later, and there would be more to announce on the 19th, but their future was assured. And media outlets wrote whole stories based on these Conservative meltdowns which had no basis in fact.

And then the 19th comes around, and the defence minister announces that the squadron is being grounded at the end of the summer until the early 2030s until replacements can be acquired, which they are still negotiating (though some of the stories say the replacements are already on order, but they’re still negotiating, so I’m not sure how that works). So, the minister was not exactly being honest when he said that everything was fine, because once the squadron is grounded, it will have to be completely rebuilt once the new planes do arrive, and that could be in five years or it could be in ten (given the way procurements go in this country). When asked, Prime Minister Mark Carney shrugged and said it was a problem he inherited so not his fault, but guys—this is not what you were messaging two weeks ago. You need to own that.

As for the specifics, it seems that in spite of the Trudeau government’s attempt to prolong their lifespan until 2030, the airframes were showing too much wear for them to be safely extended, so they didn’t make it that far. But certain Conservative MPs going on political shows yesterday seem to think that because this money was spent, that the existing jets should keep flying regardless. (That’s not how airframes work!) But yes, Conservatives are correct in pointing out that the replacement process should have started much earlier under the Trudeau government, but no, signing a petition on the Conservative website is not going to change anything (other than, of course, to mine your data). Frankly, everyone has behaved absolutely abominably throughout this whole affair, and it’s one more reason why we can’t have nice things in this country.

— Effin' Birds (@effinbirds.com) 2026-05-19T19:08:20.600Z

In case you missed it:

• My story for National Magazine about Friday’s Supreme Court of Canada decision that creates a tort of intimate partner violence moving forward.
• My long weekend column on the fact that this government is inept at internet policy, whether it’s lawful access of the massive surveillance needed to age-gate sites.

Ukraine Dispatch

Russian missiles struck Chernihiv and Sumy regions, killing four, after previously striking Odesa and Dnipro, as well as Ukraine’s Danube port in Izmail. Ukraine, meanwhile, has struck a major oil refinery in Moscow, and their medium-range strikes are taking out logistics hubs supporting the front lines.

Good reads:

• Mark Carney was in Lanaudière, Quebec, to announce the graphite mine is breaking ground, six months after being referred to the Major Projects Office.
• Carney also downplayed the suspension of the Permanent Joint Board on Defence.
• Canada is working with NATO partners to build a ground station for allied satellites—the only station in North America.
• The government is proposing $164 million for further whale protections off the coast of BC (now that they’ve been called out over it).
• It appears that Veterans Affairs biased the results of a satisfaction survey for one of their programmes by excluding a number of respondents who were not satisfied.
• It looks like the government has started playing hardball with First Nations over drinking water concerns, forcing them into litigation to deal with their concerns.
• The Inuit lamp has been approved as a spiritual symbol for headstones on military graves at the national cemetery.
• The RCMP wants to lease more Black Hawk helicopters for border patrol, but they are now running afoul of Transport Canada regulations to do so.
• There were 105 substantiated cases of employee misconduct in the previous fiscal year at Citizenship and Immigration.
• The Governor General has stripped two members of the Order of Canada of their honours after criminal convictions.
• Pierre Poilievre’s chief of staff is retiring, so his campaign manager will fill the role.
• Here is a look at the political ascent of Jamil Jivani, in spite of the fact that he has no actual official role within the Conservative caucus.
• Michael Chong is making a trip to Taiwan to “assert sovereignty” over threats made by Chinese officials.
• A panel has concluded that the provisional deal on the future of Churchill Falls is not in Newfoundland and Labrador’s best interests, and negotiations should continue.
• Kevin Carmichael is optimistic that the political compromises in the Alberta pipeline deal will move the country forward. (I do not share the sentiment).
• Heather Scoffield suggests that Carney is going to have to do more to demonstrate trust in his economic plans if he wants to attract more investment.
• Philippe Lagassé remarks on the suspension of the Permanent Joint Board on Defence and why this is not really about defence spending.
• Here is the text of Anne Applebaum’s Speech for Europe.
• Althia Raj is concerned that provisions in the budget bill will essentially remove all of the guardrails around pesticide regulation in this country.
• Susan Delacourt charts ways in which Alberta separatism has evolved in a much more chaotic way than their Quebec counterparts have.
• Justin Ling points to the lawsuit around alleged financial shenanigans in Jordan Peterson’s media empire as an example of the lack of transparency in alt-media.
• Ling also exhorts the government to fix their lawful access bill, rather than rushing to ram it through in its current, flawed form.

Odds and ends:

Everyone talking about the gasoline price inflation today is ignoring that a big part of the jump is the base-year effect from the cancellation of the consumer carbon levy a year ago. (Looking at you, CBC). www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quo…

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-05-19T22:31:26.531Z

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