Tag Archives: Bank of Canada

Roundup: The demand to name names

Posted on by

The day was largely marked with the discourse around that NSICOP report, and the demand that the government name names, even though that’s never going to happen because intelligence is not evidence, there may be ongoing investigations that it might jeopardise, and the possibility of reputational damage for someone who may be unwittingly involved is great—all things the RCMP pointed to in their own release on the subject. The chair of NSICOP said that any next steps are up to the RCMP, but that hasn’t stopped reporters from asking salacious questions about whether they can trust their fellow caucus-members (because remember, reputational damage).

With all of this in mind, I went back to the report, and looked for more than just that one paragraph that every media outlet highlighted. It noted that much of that witting assistance was in relation to India, which is not a “hostile power” last time I checked, even if we have particular issues with them (such as their decision to assassinate someone on our soil). I have no doubt that some MPs would see no problem in trying to “forge closer ties” with India. The other thing that I noted was that, at least in relationship with the Chinese government is that there was an expectation of a quid pro quo relationship, that engaging with them would benefit the political player in question in the hopes that the PRC would mobilise their influence networks in favour of that candidate in the riding. I suspect that in several of these cases, the MPs in question wouldn’t think of it as foreign interference, but that they’re being so clever in leveraging diaspora politics to their advantage, and believing that they can somehow outwit Chinese agents to do it. Likewise with instances of blind eyes being turned to money flowing into ridings, particularly from the Indian government—that they think they can leverage that government to their advantage and not that they’re being played, and why I don’t think that certain media outlets and political figures screaming “name the traitors!” is doing much for the level of discourse. The report did make mention of Chinese and Indian influence in at least two Conservative leadership races, but no details provided as to how or the vectors that took shape as (money, membership sign-ups under the promise of repayment, or so on). There was also mention of one former MP who had wittingly provided information while maintaining a relationship with a foreign intelligence officer, but this was being conflated with the other allegations, which is not helpful in the slightest.

As for what’s next, it would seem to me that the real question here is why certain party leaders continue to be wilfully blind as to the full details of the report, and how they continue to refuse to accept classified briefings. The notion that it would “muzzle” them is bullshit—it would mean they can’t talk about certain specific details, but it would give them a more complete picture of what is happening and if their own MPs are implicated, which would allow them to take internal party action, even if they can’t publicize the details.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Ukrainian forces downed 22 out of 27 Russian drones overnight Wednesday, and an industrial facility in Poltava suffered damage. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with the emir of Qatar in advance of the peace summit in Switzerland.

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1798300991407940083

Continue reading →

QP: Concern trolling about mortgage rates

Posted on by

The prime minister was in town but not present for QP today, while his deputy was, as were most of the other leaders. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and raised the OFSI report on rising mortgage rates, and falsely said the prime minister said the rates would stay low, before blaming the Bloc for supporting the government, and then demanding the government “cut waste and lower interest rates,” never mind that the two have absolutely nothing to do with one another. Chrystia Freeland said that they know that Conservatives don’t really support people having trouble with their mortgages because they oppose their mortgage charter. Poilievre then raised a newspaper stories about Quebec taxpayers being “bled dry,” and demanded the government accept their plan to suspend gas taxes for the summer. Freeland responded saying that the Conservatives don’t have a plan outside of austerity. Poilievre switched to English to repeat the OFSI talking point, and the same false attribution about the prime minister saying rates would stay low, before citing another Scotiabank report on government spending, but conveniently ignored that it was largely talking about provincial and not federal spending. Freeland repeated that the Conservatives don’t care about people struggling with their mortgages. Poilievre listed increasing food bank use and homeless encampments, and again blamed government spending. Freeland listed how much they reduced poverty thanks to their measures and repeated that the Conservatives only want to cut. Poilievre repeated his same point again, to which Freeland pointed out that Poilievre only built six affordable housing units when he was “minister” on the file, and repeated that they only want to cut programmes.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and railed that the working group on migration has done no work, to which Marc Miller said that work is ongoing ahead of their upcoming meeting. Therrien demanded that Miller stop “demonising” Quebec round resettlement capacity, and Miller shot back that the Bloc doesn’t understand the difference between capacity and desire.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and decried the bombing on Rafah and demanded the government do something about Netanyahu. Mélanie Joly denounced the attack, and demanded an imminent ceasefire. Singh repeated the question in French, and Got the same response. 

Continue reading →

Roundup: Singh’s sad display of performative toughness

Posted on by

In a Parliament that is mired in some of the worst theatrics imaginable, it’s hard to think about something that could possibly take the cake, and yet, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh certainly tried with his sad, pathetic performance over the weekend. To wit: The government started debate on the pharmacare legislation at the end of last week, and Conservative MP Stephen Ellis put forward a “reasoned amendment” at the bill be killed at second reading for *handwaves* reasons. Singh would not stand for this, so he…wrote a strongly worded letter, and threatened the Conservatives that he would not stand for delays. And then put out some press releases to show how tough he was in sending that strongly-worded letter. And lo, the deadline he gave the Conservatives to withdraw their amendment came to pass, and wouldn’t you just know it—nothing happened.

The thing with these “reasoned amendments” is that the Conservatives are now moving them on every piece of legislation because it essentially adds time to the clock, which they can use to then run out the clock, again and again, blocking the ability for the government to get more legislation through the process. It’s a tactic that is supposed to be used as a last resort for very serious matters, but it’s being used routinely now, because this is who the Conservatives are, and they will do absolutely anything to keep the government from moving on its agenda. There is a lot that could be written about the absolute degrees of procedural warfare that has taken place over the last few years that have bogged the government and its agenda down entirely, but I’ll get around to it at a later date.

Suffice to say, this is just one more example of Singh making himself (and his party) irrelevant. He keeps pretending he’s going to be tough on the government for their budgets, and then goes along with them (per the Supply and Confidence Agreement). After each song and dance, he swallows himself whole, and then pats himself on the back for how much he accomplished in that budget (never mind that the NDP did absolutely none of the work, but still take full credit for everything). This attempt to “threaten” the Conservatives is just yet more sad spectacle, and it showcases just ineffective he really is.

Ukraine Dispatch:

The Russian drone attack on the power facilities in Sumy region wound up cutting power to 400,000 consumers. Russian forces claim to have taken control of two more villages—Soloviove, and Kotliarivka, and Ukrainian bloggers appear to corroborate this claim.

Continue reading →

Roundup: Tiff Macklem goes to committee

Posted on by

Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem appeared before the Commons’ finance committee yesterday, and reiterated that a decision on a rate cut is getting close, which should be good news to (most) everyone—most especially the government. There were a couple of other interesting things he said, which is that we’re not beholden to matching the US’ rate, but at the same time, we can’t diverge too much, or we would face currency devaluation.

The Conservatives have been clipping his appearance at the Senate’s banking committee the day before, claiming that he said that the federal budget and its deficit are fuelling inflation, which isn’t what he said. He said that the budget won’t have any impact on inflation, because any increased spending is balanced out by higher revenues—but they clipped the part about revenues off, because deceit is their current modus operandi.

https://twitter.com/jasrajshallan/status/1786033120690544860

And because of where the discourse is at, Macklem had to once again point out that the carbon levy is not having an impact on inflation, and that if you “axed” it, there would be a small one-time drop in inflation that would disappear the next year (because inflation is a year-over-year measure), and it wouldn’t really change much—a message that Conservatives don’t like to hear, or who like to fudge, because it messes with their narrative that said levy had driven people into poverty (which is not true). But seriously, how many times does he need to say this?

Ukraine Dispatch:

Guided bombs hit close to a sports complex in Kharkiv, injuring eight children. The tally is that Russia fired more than 300 missiles, around 300 drones, and over 3200 guided bombs against Ukraine in April. Russia has massed its forces, and they are making a concerted push along all of the front lines in Donetsk, though Ukraine is holding them off for the time being, though they are forced to be judicious with their ammunition until more can arrive. Here is a look at the state of minefields in Ukraine, where they are now one of the most mined countries in the world.

Continue reading →

Roundup: Back to challenging the Speaker once again

Posted on by

Not unexpectedly, a number of MPs have renewed the call to oust Greg Fergus from the Speaker’s chair after Tuesday’s dramatics during Question Period. For the Bloc, who soured on Fergus shortly after his election and his recording a video in his robes, they’re complaining that he can’t control the room, which is a bit unfair because MPs themselves have hobbled the Speaker’s ability to enforce decorum by giving him narrow powers in the Standing Orders. This logic also ignores the culpability of those who are making the noise—the Speaker isn’t making them behave like that. And for the record, Fergus says he’s not stepping down.

For the Conservatives, however, they are playing the victim, as is a common far-right tactic these days, and claiming that he had a double standard on Tuesday. Their proof—that prime minister Justin Trudeau wasn’t forced to retract or get named when he referred to Poilievre’s “spineless leadership” in not denouncing far-right extremists and Alex Jones. Note that the language Trudeau used was that the leadership was spineless, he did not call Poilievre that. And he was warned about inflammatory language, and he rephrased. Poilievre called Trudeau “whacko,” which was is a direct attack, and then refused to withdraw the word when instructed to—and again, the prevarication and wheedling of trying to replace the word is not respecting the Speaker’s authority, especially when invited to simply withdraw four times. There is a difference between what each leader said and how each responded, and if Conservatives can’t tell that difference, then they have a real problem with their critical thinking skills, which isn’t a good thing for an MP.

There was added drama when Conservative MP Rachael Thomas, who now claims that she withdrew her remarks yesterday but was ejected anyway, and more to the point, says that Hansard was edited to justify Fergus’ decision. Recall that Fergus was cautioning her for yelling at him during an outburst, to which she shot back “I have big problems with the Chair.” Fergus told her to withdraw that, to which Thomas’s response was “Mr. Speaker, I stated that the Chair is acting in a disgraceful manner,” and then says that she added “I withdraw,” which is also in the Blues (meaning the unedited transcripts before they go for final polish). But I was sitting right above her, and didn’t hear her say “I withdraw,” but even if she did, you can’t challenge the Speaker again and then just say “I withdraw” and expect no consequences. That’s not even like a qualified apology, it’s openly challenging a second time, and then trying to give yourself a fig-leaf of cover. That’s bullshit, and she knows it.

To put a cherry on top of this, CBC dug up video of then-Speaker Andrew Scheer saying you can’t challenge the integrity of the Speaker, which includes allegations of partisanship, and lo, what are they doing now? Rules for thee but not for me is very much their modus operandi, and it’s not great for democracy.

Ukraine Dispatch:

A Russian ballistic missile struck a postal depot in Odesa, injuring fourteen and starting a huge fire, and Russians claim to have struck Ukraine’s southern command post in the same attack. There was also a guided bomb attack in the Kharkiv region, killing two in an attack on the village of Zolochiv, while there was also an attack on the town of Hirnyk near the front lines, which killed at least two more people. Drone footage shows the way that Chasiv Yar has been devastated by Russian bombardment as the move toward it, while Ukrainian forces in that area say they badly need more ammunition. The US is accusing Russia of breaking international chemical weapons ban by deploying choking agent chloropicrin against Ukrainian troops.

Continue reading →

Roundup: Soft-pedalling the extremist camp

Posted on by

It has been very interesting to watch how legacy media outlets have been covering Pierre Poilievre’s appearance at a “tax revolt” encampment on the Nova Scotia border, but also very, very predictable. For example, they take at face value that this is some kind of “anti-carbon tax” protest, much as they did during the Occupation of downtown Ottawa, but don’t actually who all of the participants are. While they may note that there are Diagolon signs, none of the outlets mentioned that much of this encampment is made up of adherents to the “sovereign citizens” movement, which is a dangerous movement that believes that with some special incantations, they can opt themselves out of laws or obligations like paying taxes. That’s kind of a big deal to be overlooked.

Somewhat hilariously, they all got the vapours over the fact that Poilievre said of Justin Trudeau “People believed his lies. Everything he said was bullshit, from top to bottom.” *gasp!* No mention of course that this was projection, that everything that Poilievre says is lies and bullshit, because they couldn’t possibly. And then it veered off to Trudeau’s response that this is a sign that Poilievre will do “anything to win,” and the whole stupid thing about not disavowing Alex Jones, which seems to be the wrong thing to try and hang this whole thing on. The matter is not that Poilievre is getting the endorsement of the biggest conspiracy theory charlatan in the United States, but rather that he is courting far-right extremists and making false promises to them that he can never keep, and that will have consequences down the road.

This being said, I also find it somewhat predictable that all of the conservatives who had a field day with the head of Hamas thanking Canada for a UN vote—which was a clear information operation—are now whinging and crying about the Alex Jones attention, and saying that Poilievre doesn’t follow him so he shouldn’t need to denounce him. I mean, good for the goose and the gander here, but if you think one is legitimate to make hay with, the other should be fair game as well by your own rules of engagement. Neither of you should make hay over these things, but consistency would be nice.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russian missiles struck residential buildings in Kharkiv, injuring six people. Ukraine launched its own drone attack against a major Russian steel factory in Lipetsk region, and partially destroyed an “oxygen station” that should do long-term damage wo their work. Ukraine’s government has also clamped down on military-aged men applying for passports as they try to deal with their mobilisation woes.

Continue reading →

Roundup: Danielle Smith aspires to boss-level gatekeeping

Posted on by

Alberta premier Danielle Smith has decided to crank up grievance politics up to eleven, and has tabled a bill that would bar the federal government from entering into funding agreements with municipalities, but would require them to only do so with the province. This is similar to Quebec, but because this is Danielle Smith, her proposal goes much further and would include things like organizations or even post-secondary institutions getting research funding, because she’s concerned that they’re funding “ideological” projects, apparently not understanding how arm’s-length granting bodies operate. (There’s a good primer here).

https://twitter.com/LindsayTedds/status/1778184559718506741

Aside from this being based on some false premises, Smith is being utterly dishonest about the effect this will have. It’s not going to make things easier, or a “one-stop-shop,” as she claims—as it stands, intergovernmental negotiations is incredibly complex, and she is just giving her bureaucrats even more work. (See Jared Wesley’s thread below about just what these negotiations entail—it’s a lot).

It’s also just virtue-signalling to her reactionary base, which likes to console itself with fairy tales of mean old Ottawa punishing Alberta because the province is just too great that everyone else is jealous, so they need to fight back and this is Smith “fighting back.” How much of this will survive implementation remains to be seen, but in the meantime, this is just more attempts to govern by vibes rather than reality, and it’s absolutely going to make things worse in the province, but they’re going to pretend once again that they’re being saviours, because of course they are.

Ukraine Dispatch:

A Russian attack on the village of Lyptsi near the border hit a grocery store, killing a 14-year-old girl. Russian air strikes also damaged a power plant near Odesa. Ukraine’s parliament is debating a bill to let prisoners join the army to become eligible for parole.

Continue reading →

Roundup: Economists endorse carbon pricing, not the Liberal plan

Posted on by

Yesterday, a group of leading Canadian economists published an open letter about the facts about carbon pricing and the rebates, and debunked several claims that conservatives around the country have been making. It was a good and necessary corrective, but of course, legacy media headlined it as them defending the Liberal plan, which they weren’t doing, particularly because while the Liberal plan includes the carbon levy and rebates, it also is full of regulation and subsidies, which these economics are explicitly not in favour of. But legacy media loves to make this a partisan fight where they have to be on one side or the other. Liberal Party comms didn’t do themselves any favours either on this one.

To that end, here is energy economist Andrew Leach on carbon pricing, and throwing some shade at the PBO’s rather shite report once more.

Meanwhile, a number of premiers demanded to be heard at the House of Commons’ finance committee about the carbon levy, because they think that’ll do them any good, but instead, the Conservative chair of the Government Operations Committee invited them to testify today. The Government Operations Committee has fuck all to do with this file, but apparently, we no longer care about things like committee mandates anymore, so long as you can put on a dog and pony show, and gather clips for social media shitpost videos, that’s all that matters. This shouldn’t be allowed, but this is the state to which our Parliament has now debased itself. Ours is no longer a serious institution for doing serious work. It’s only about content creation, and I cannot stress enough about how absolutely terrifying this is for the future of democracy.

Ukraine Dispatch:

A Ukrainian missile attack struck a Russian naval reconnaissance vessel as well as a large landing warship. Ukraine’s navy says that they have destroyed or disabled a third of the Russian Black Sea fleet over the past two years. Here’s a look at how Ukraine’s burgeoning domestic defence industry is ramping up to provide necessary ammunition for the war. Here’s a great explanation of Ukraine’s use of drone warfare with some excellent infographics.

https://twitter.com/defenceu/status/1772541600591147503

Continue reading →

Roundup: No, east cost LNG won’t happen (redux)

Posted on by

Because we never seem to learn, and because certain interviewers in legacy media refuse to take a hint or to learn about how this works, we got yet another incident of a European leader being asked about Canadian LNG, this time the prime minister of Greece, who is in Canada for a couple of days. “Of course,” they’d be interested, if it was available “at competitive prices.” Which is the real trick, isn’t it? Because that’s not going to happen, particularly on the east coast where there is no ready access to a supply of natural gas to liquify, and where on the west coast, plenty of fully permitted projects are not moving ahead because nobody wants to sign commitments to buy the product if they build the project. That’s kind of a big deal.

So, here’s University of Alberta energy economist Andrew Leach with some necessary sarcasm for this latest round.

And because Alberta decided to enter the group chat…

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russia launched new missile barrages that have gone as far into western Ukraine as Lviv, and one missile appears to have entered Polish airspace. Ukraine has launched its own attack on occupied Crimea, and hit two Russian warships and a communications centre in the process. Meanwhile, the weekend was spent disavowing any connection to the ISIS attack on the theatre in Moscow, which Russian officials keep trying to draw.

https://twitter.com/defenceu/status/1771864087267291183

Continue reading →

Roundup: Another NDP budget demand

Posted on by

The NDP’s latest budget demand is a national school food programme, which is a) provincial jurisdiction, and b) something already under negotiation with provinces. This was a Liberal campaign promise, and as with many a file like this, they’ve been doing the heavy lifting in the background. For Jagmeet Singh, however, this isn’t happening fast enough, because in his conception of how governing works, the prime minister simply needs to put on his Green Lantern Ring and use enough willpower to make whatever he wants happen, and in the NDP’s conception, that generally means something that obliterates the federal and provincial jurisdictional boundaries.

I suspect a couple of things are at work—one of them is that if the federal government does come to an agreement with the provinces, Singh can try and claim victory for it, as he does with most things that he has done absolutely no work towards other than throwing a public tantrum. If this is a matter of the provinces looking for more federal money, then it will take time to ensure that the agreements are drawn up in a manner that has strings attached because we know that we absolutely cannot trust provinces to take the money and put it entirely where it is supposed to go (bitter experience with health transfers and pandemic supports), because as we’ve seen in child care, where there are agreements with strings, that some provinces have not been spending the federal funds where they are supposed to go, which remains a very big problem.

Ukraine Dispatch:

A man was killed in a Russian missile strike in the Kharkiv region, while five people were killed when a bus struck a mine in Luhansk region. One of Ukraine’s top commanders says they will stabilize their defensive position shortly, with the aim of returning to counter-offensive actions later in the year. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in Odesa with the prime minister of Greece when a Russian strike exploded nearby the pair. Here is a look at Europe’s attempt to get more ammunition to Ukraine, including a Czech initiative to deliver stockpiles until production can ramp up.

Continue reading →