There’s been a meltdown happening in certain circles, and Pierre Poilievre’s among them, about the federal government supposedly spending $3.2 billion to “bail out condo developers” as they seek to convert 2200 vacant condo units into affordable housing units. The details are pretty much entirely wrong, thanks to a poorly worded PMO communiqué and flawed reporting, and it’s just spiralling out of control.

To wit, the condo acquisition is not $3.2 billion, as that figure is about expanding “housing-enabling” infrastructure. There is no dollar figure attached in the release about how much they are spending on the vacant condos, other than it’s part of the Build Canda Homes funding envelope to acquire affordable housing. And it took days for the minister responsible, Gregor Robertson, to actually explain this—over Twitter, no less—and not do a coordinated media blitz (and I’m given to understand that those media outlets have not offered corrections on the initial reporting). This is absolutely appalling, and it’s yet another own-goal by a government whose arrogance is exerting itself at every opportunity.

It's weeks like this where I fear for Canada's future. We have governments putting out housing plans they can't explain, and a media that struggles to report even basic facts, and won't correct their errors.I'm not sure how Canadians can be expected to trust our institutions.

— Dr. Mike P. Moffatt (@mikepmoffatt.bsky.social) 2026-06-25T03:19:10.000Z

And Moffatt is absolutely correct here. This is an absolute clusterfuck that the government could have avoided if they actually bothered to explain (and I’m undecided if this is a “can’t explain” or a “won’t explain” situation), and not simply insisted that the “just trust me” approach is going to keep working for them. It obviously won’t, and they need to start recognizing that before it becomes a serious problem for their voters (and that’ll come at them really fast if they don’t change course).

My Latest:

My column draws a couple of lessons for Canada from what we saw of Keir Starmer’s resignation in the UK.

Ukraine Dispatch:

As the momentum in the conflict shifts, President Zelenskyy says that Ukraine is going to start pre-emptively attacking facilities Russia is using to expand the war. Meanwhile, Ukraine has knocked out power in Sevastopol in occupied Crimea, and the Moscow oil refinery they struck last week will be offline for at least six months.

Noteworthy:

• Marc Miller now says he’s not axing the streaming levy, but is trying to narrow how it applies and where the funds go. (I’m as confused as you are).
• Paul Wells reflects on Starmer’s exit, Brexit, and how Mark Carney fits into all this.

One more thing on the Montréal shooting: refusing to acknowledge Incel ideology and violence as terrorist in nature is, in and of itself, misogynistic. Misogyny is a political system designed to repress and subordinate women. Denying Incel as terrorism is just one more legal exclusion of women.

— Jess Davis (@jessmarindavis.bsky.social) 2026-06-24T11:09:13.391Z

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