Tag Archives: Canadian Forces

Immigration hand-wringing, unsigned editorial edition

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The Globe and Mail had an unsigned editorial yesterday morning, wringing their hands about the plan for those additional 200,000 permanent residents, and the usual lament about housing and so on. Nowhere did they mention that about a quarter of these temporary residents meant for permanent status are Hong Kongers and Ukrainians who are in the country. In their insistence on wailing and gnashing their death about the supposed shell game around the numbers, they falsely blame the Trudeau government for creating a “massive mess” in the system, and nowhere do they blame the premiers for a) demanding more immigration for labour shortages, and b) then doing fuck all about housing, healthcare, or education capacity to absorb anyone. And no, Trudeau didn’t make a mess. He responded to the signals (lest anyone forget conditions post-lockdowns), and other levels of government didn’t do their jobs.

The Globe and Mail editorial ignores that these 200,000 are largely Hong Kongers and Ukrainians and can't just go home, and that it's the provinces who have abdicated their responsibilities. Again.And of course, the usual suspects ignore the same things.www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/edit…

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-11-10T15:31:14.338Z

These people ignore reality and keep trying to turn this into an instance of "trust in the system" and "Trudeau bad" while absolutely ignoring the role of the premiers in all of this is—and let me repeat, they are responsible for housing, healthcare, education AND they *demanded* more newcomers.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-11-10T15:31:14.339Z

I'm just so fucking tired of the fact that the premiers remain blameless in the messes that they create. We're a federal system. Why can't our national legacy media outlets actually do their fucking jobs? This shouldn't be that hard.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-11-10T15:31:14.340Z

I absolutely loathe that this government uses Nigel Farage-esque "take back control" language in official immigration department releases. Meanwhile, these are the people that the Globe and Mail wring their hands about housing, and Mikal Skuterud thinks should just "outmigrate."

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-11-10T19:44:45.435Z

To say that I have lost all patience with legacy media’s refusal to look at the facts and hold the premiers to account is an understatement. They may not be responsible for immigration levels (though they do have some input), but they are absolutely responsible for housing, healthcare, and education, and they have steadfastly refused to properly resource their systems, or do the hard work of reforms that are necessary to build more houses (especially when it comes to building new and maintaining existing social housing stock). And nobody holds them to account for these abject and ongoing failures. Nobody. And because legacy media will only both-sides everything, the provinces will cry poor, the federal government won’t push back and simply mouth some pieties about “cooperative federalism,” and the provinces get away with it again. Once again, I feel like I’m taking crazy pills.

This brings me to the plan to eliminate homelessness in ten years in the budget. I can promise you right now what’s going to happen, which is that the provinces are going to half-ass their obligations, there will be a mixed response from municipalities regarding their own obligations (such as a city like Ottawa doing as little as possible because the votes don’t come from downtown residents), and when it doesn’t work because the people responsible for the supports didn’t do their jobs, it will collapse in failure and everyone will throw up their hands and blame the federal government. We watched this play out with drug decriminalisation in BC. And when it does happen, absolutely nobody will hold the provinces to account for not doing their jobs, and I will once again be feeling like I’m taking crazy pills.

— Effin' Birds (@effinbirds.com) 2026-11-10T20:08:02.250Z

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Budget Day 2026

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It was Budget Day, and of course, because it’s 1995 and will always be 1995, the headlines are always about the deficit. (Budget document here). It turns out that the deficit for the current fiscal year is about half of the earlier projection, thanks to increased revenues (in large part because of high oil prices), and it’s being kept steady for the next few years while the government once again took up the increased revenue to fund a bunch of things, most especially their Mega Deduction.

Budget 2026 in one graph

— Trevor Tombe (@trevortombe.bsky.social) 2026-11-05T22:18:11.388246+00:00

Budget 2026 sees federal debt dropping to 19% of GDP by 2060; I get ~48%. #cdnecon #cdnpoliTwo key differences: net debt doesn’t subtract non-financial assets (capital), and I assume we meet the new NATO target. Long-term fiscal challenges may be bigger than budget implies.

— Trevor Tombe (@trevortombe.bsky.social) 2026-11-06T00:55:34.329048+00:00

ok, here's what underlies the whole document. This is a HUGE windfall relative to the Spring Economic Update. Add up the extra and it is $186B. That's how they piled on so much extra spending AND lowered the deficit forecast.Easy to do with +$186B in your pocket!

— Kevin Milligan (@kevinmilligan.bsky.social) 2026-11-06T00:56:50.939Z

Some highlights of the coverage:

  • $52 billion to double electrical capacity by 2050—and considering this a climate plan
  • Plans to extend the open banking framework to other sectors, while still delaying the actual open banking implementation.
  • More tax breaks for tech CEOs, because “innovation.” Also, EDC and BDC are merging.
  • $400 million more for military drones, plus more funding for space launch capacity.
  • A few more details on the “Canada Strong” sovereign wealth fund.
  • New laws to “streamline” expropriations for the Alto high speed rail project.
  • The hope is for the tax breaks and incentives to create an “investment super-cycle”
  • There is $5 billion for culture, including CBC and journalism.
  • There is a promise of $6 billion for CSIS, possibly the largest increase in funding ever.
  • The budget aims to work with provinces to end homelessness in ten years. 
  • There is also $50 billion over ten years for Indigenous programmes and services.
  • The budget doesn’t give any clues as to the future of health transfers.
  • Immigration levels are to be kept largely the same, with plans to convert 200,000 temporary residents to permanent residents. 
  • There remain unanswered questions about the path to meeting NATO targets.

Reaction from the opposition has been pretty much as expected—Pierre Poilievre is howling that the deficits will fuel inflation (which is not what is happening with inflation), while Avi Lewis demands a wealth tax (that won’t generate the revenue he claims) and for it to be spent on “lowering the cost of groceries” (no, subsidizing a “public option” is not actually lowering the cost) and building more housing (for unrealistic amounts of money). 

https://twitter.com/coreyhoganyyc/status/2118466518858277166

Budget commentary includes:

  • Justin Ling delves into the promises for drone production.
  • Kevin Carmichael points to the signals the budget sends to the bond markets.
  • Susan Delacourt sees the government taking the cue about affordability.

— Effin' Birds (@effinbirds.com) 2026-11-05T20:08:02.591Z

My Latest:

My column looks at all of Mark Carney’s talk about “values” in foreign policy and wonders when we might actually see some—other than “making money.”

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QP: Conspiracies and conflicts of interest in the MPO

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The PM was in town but absent, possibly napping after arriving back home at 3 AM. Pierre Poilievre was present, and he led off in French, demanding that the prime minister cut all diesel taxes in the budget tomorrow. Steven MacKinnon reminded him that the price increases were because of the conflicts in the Middle East, while the Conservatives voted against help for Canadians. Poilievre then listed the perceived conflicts of interest around Telesat, and demanded an accounting for them. Mélanie Joly defended Telesat as a great Canadian company that needs support. Poilievre switched to English to repeat his performance about demanding the prime minister cut all diesel taxes in the budget tomorrow. MacKinnon got back up to point out that the Conservatives have systematically opposed measures to help Canadians. Poilievre went on a rant about American companies pushing biodiesel as part of his demand for an end to diesel taxes, as he continues to claim that clean fuel standards are “taxes.” Julie Dabrusin delivered the usual lines about helping Canadians, and noting that there is a biodiesel facility just outside of his riding that benefits the farmers in his riding. Poilievre returned to his line about there being two economies, and then repeated the accusations around Telesat. Joly got back up to praise Canadian companies like Telesat being key to our sovereignty. Poilievre claimed that they raise theatrical distractions if they get “caught with their hands in the cookie jar,” and repeated his accusations. Joly noted the long-standing poilcy around supporting firms like Telesat and wondered if Poilievre was in it for American firms.

Christine Normandin led for the Bloc, listed items that the government has capitulated on the Americans on, and wondered about if they are the “masters of our destiny.” Joël Lightbound listed projects like Churchill falls that the Bloc should support. Normandin listed further environmental capitulations and that “masters of our destiny” was supporting their own priorities. Lightbound listed benefit programmes that the Bloc have not supported. Jean-Denis Garon demanded compensation for Quebec for asylum seekers and to not re-index certain benefits, and Lightbound listed further supports for Quebec firms by the government. 

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QP: Prisoners of Pessimism

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The PM was away at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua and Barbuda, but all other leaders were present. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, noted the midterms in the U.S., and claimed that the PM was just “losing” against the Americans, and demanded a deadline for a new U.S. deal. Dominic LeBlanc insisted that they were negotiating to come to an agreement that was in Canada’s interests, which Poilievre would not recognise. Poilievre repeated the same in English, and LeBlanc was more pointed in saying that Poilievre would be the leading expert in the House of Commons on theatrics, and said that they did agree there was economic harm, which is why they were supporting Canadians rather than accepting a bad deal. Poilievre insisted that the government should be at the table right now, and again insisted the government was only offering theatrics, and LeBlanc repeated his same points. Poilievre raised a food bank report from Toronto and demanded to know when we would get a “good deal,” and LeBlanc again said that unlike the opposition, they were not neglecting Canadians who are affected. Poilievre then insisted that there are two economies—one who for people who follow the rules, and one who make them, and raised the issue of corporate-paid employees seconded to the Major Projects Office. Leblanc cautioned him not to invent conflicts of interest where none exist, and that those people are stepping up to serve the country. Poilievre railed about “corporate power brokers,” apparently confusing himself with the leader of the NDP, and lamented people skipping meals before he demanded help for them in the budget. Tim Hodgson listed the jobs that approved projects are supposed to create.

Marilyn Gladu is sitting in Carney’s seat, and I still can’t get my head around it. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-11-03T19:22:47.161Z

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he said that Carney has sold out to the Americans, whether it was selling out on the digital services tax or on the environment in service of American corporate giants. Joël Lightbound praised their cultural spending in the budget, and told him to wait for Thursday’s “excellent” budget. Blanchet demanded the GST credit be doubled again, or to lift the GST on second-hand goods, and Lightbound recited the tax breaks and benefits already delivered that the Bloc didn’t support. Blanchet demanded action on their list of budget demands (which is funny because the document is already printed), and Lightbound praised their cultural spending “historical” infrastructure agreement with Quebec.

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The Alberta gerrymandering has begun

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The Alberta boundaries report has been tabled in the legislature, and as pretty much everyone expected, it’s a fairly textbook example of gerrymandering in the UCP’s favour. As expected, they are resurrecting a number or rurban/“hybrid” ridings which take a slice of urban electorate and then swamp them with outlying rural voters, in order to dilute more progressive urban votes. And they have monkeyed with the weighting, so that rural ridings have fewer voters and thus more electoral weight than urban ridings, again all in service of privileging the rural, conservative voters over urban, progressive voters in order to guarantee that the UCP will have a structural advantage moving forward.

Oh hey Alberta's latest (and highly controversial) electoral boundary report is out: www.assembly.ab.ca/docs/default…And it's got a bunch of "hybrid" ridings that blend urban and rural areas into one.For example, here's the proposed new "Calgary-North West-Bearspaw" riding:

— Robson Fletcher (@robsonfletcher.com) 2026-11-02T22:25:08.983Z

And here's "Calgary-Bow-Springbank":

— Robson Fletcher (@robsonfletcher.com) 2026-11-02T22:26:44.348Z

And here's "Calgary-West-Springbank":

— Robson Fletcher (@robsonfletcher.com) 2026-11-02T22:27:53.278Z

And here's Lethbridge, which is currently two ridings (Lethbridge East and Lethbridge West).The city is now proposed to be split into four ridings, three of which spread into surrounding areas:"Lethbridge""Lethbridge-Little Bow""Lethbridge-Taber-Warner""Lethbridge-Cardston"

— Robson Fletcher (@robsonfletcher.com) 2026-11-02T22:36:14.844Z

https://bsky.app/profile/blakeshaffer.bsky.social/post/3mzeht5n2u22t

Elections Alberta had already asked the government to push back their “fixed” election date because of this redistribution effort, and the Cabinet gave a pissy “How very dare you,” because of course they did. And we’ll see if this gets challenged in the courts, because this kind of gerrymandering is blatantly unconstitutional, but Danielle Smith is going to try, because her only interest is in holding onto power. 

Mickey Amery has responded to Elections Alberta's Friday letter that said it wouldn't be possible to pull off an election with new boundaries in the time allotted…By basically saying "You'll do what we want and you'll like it".#abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli

— The Breakdown AB (@thebreakdownab.bsky.social) 2026-11-01T23:06:26.858Z

https://bsky.app/profile/emmettmacfarlane.com/post/3mzenovcq6k2w

Meanwhile, there was a whole other sub-drama happening at the end of the week, where Smith announced that she had kicked separatist leader Jeff Rath out of the party. Recall that at the last party convention, he fired up the audience more than Smith did, and demonstrated that he had a hold on the membership base. This also happened after Rath leaked texts from Danielle Smith about her colluding with them about the petitions for the referendum questions. It’s a little suspicious for Smith to dump the allies who got her to where she is now that they’re no longer convenient for her, but again, everything that is happening here is in service of Smith holding onto power for as long as she possibly can.

WOW!Jeff Rath posted text messages that he alleges are from Danielle Smith!These texts seem to show her coordinating with the separatists to launch their original question, though Rath claims he took them as her coordinating with @lukaszukab.bsky.social !What do you think?

— The Breakdown AB (@thebreakdownab.bsky.social) 2026-10-27T20:57:50.057Z

WOW!The Rath texts are real. Smith colluded with the separatists.Confirmed by Dani in the legislature today. And while she tried to spin them as just answering questions, she also makes it clear the texts weren't meant for Lukaszuk.#abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli

— The Breakdown AB (@thebreakdownab.bsky.social) 2026-10-28T20:04:18.326Z

— Effin' Birds (@effinbirds.com) 2026-11-02T14:08:34.159Z

My Latest:

For National Magazine, I delve into Friday’s Supreme Court of Canada decision on inattention and dangerous driving, and what signals the Court might be sending.

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QP: Cherry-picking the Bank of Canada governor

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The PM was in town, but conveniently occupied on a Zoom meeting with the other premiers, while Pierre Poilievre was present, and in French, he led off by mentioning that his MP Bernard Généroux had a cardiac incident in the morning and is in hospital in stable condition, and offered the government a chance to offer their best wishes, to which Steven MacKinnon took the opportunity to do. Poilievre then got back to news, and he launched immediately into the “recession” talking points, cherry-picked statements that the Governor of the Bank of Canada and outright ignored that he said we weren’t in a recession, while also citing a United Way report. François-Philippe Champagne read the OECD growth projections, and that Canada was the second-highest. Poilievre asked his same question in English, and Champagne repeated his same response in English. Poilievre pointed out again that the Governor of the Bank said the economy was “weak” nine times, and demanded the government overturn their policies. Tim Hodgson pointed out Macklem’s statement about our economic resilience, and pointed to projects that got approved. Poilievre read about anxiety Canadians were having per the United Way report, while complaining that the PM was not answering, while Mélanie Joly insisted that the PM is a “serious person” who is working with the premiers, before mentioning the latest job numbers and our growing trade surplus. Poilievre kept insisting that we were in a recession, and demanded the government eliminate the industrial carbon price, the fuel standard, and capital gains taxes that are reinvested in Canada. David McGuinty said that Poilievre has no plan, he cherry-picks data, and then he cherry-picked his own data.

Poilievre says that MP Bernard Généroux had a cardiac event at caucus this morning and is now in stable condition in hospital. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-06-10T18:35:37.500Z

Christine Normandin led for the Bloc, and panned the government backing off on streaming levies, and worried about what else was being demanded. MacKinnon got up to gloat that the Bloc had a bad day when the mayors of Quebec’s biggest cities denounced their opposition to the high-speed rail project. Normandin led capitulations that are benefiting American companies, to which MacKinnon went on a paean about building things. Martin Champoux lamented that the biggest victim of these capitulations is Quebec culture, and accused the PM of being the “gravedigger” of their culture. Marc Miller shrugged this off as the Bloc in their fourth decade of doing nothing in Parliament, and that they are spitting on the support the government is giving to the sector.

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QP: Reruns of the “credit card” script

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The PM was in the building after attending a reception with the Olympic and Paralympic athletes, but did not stick around for QP before he headed off to New York later in the day. Pierre Poilievre was giving a press conference in the Foyer as QP got underway, leaving it up to Luc Berthold to lead off in French, reading the tired script about the supposed “national credit card.” Steven MacKinnon rose to proclaim the announcement from this morning about surveillance planes and the LNG deal with Germany. Berthold kept on with the same script, and Mélanie Joly took her own turn to boast about the aircraft sale. Carol Anstey read a variation of the same script, but in her typical Karen delivery that sounded like she wanted to speak to the government’s manager. MacKinnon got back up to loudly proclaim the same good news about the surveillance plane sale in English. Anstey read some nonsense about inflation, and Joanne Thompson took the opportunity to recite the good news talking points about the funding for small craft harbours. The very masculine Jacob Mantle tried to crack wise about the spaceport lease in Nova Scotia, and David McGuinty took his own turn to crow about the good news on those surveillance planes. Mantle demanded a copy of the lease agreement, and McGuinty read some good news talking points about the Canadian Forces.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and spoke about how those who have an environmental conscience must must Trudeau, and lamented the resignation of Steven Guilbeault. Julie Dabrusin patted herself on the back for the government’s nature strategy and methane regulations. Blanchet listed the government’s backtracking on the environment, and Dabrusin shrugged this off, saying his own record as environment minister in Quebec was nothing to brag about. Blanchet again wondered if there was anyone with an environmental conscience left in the Liberal Party, and Dabrusin took credit for our largely clean electricity grid (which this government has nothing to do with).

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Roundup: A referendum on a referendum

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Alberta premier Danielle Smith held a televised address last night to announce that the province would be holding a non-binding referendum on whether to hold a binding referendum on separation. No, seriously. After the separatists’ petition was tossed by the Court of King’s Bench, and the Forever Canada petition was unsuitable for the purposes of such a referendum on separation, Smith decided to try and be too-clever-by-half, and sit on that fence as hard as possible so that she can try and throw the separatists a bone without looking like she is actively campaigning for them (in spite of the fact that she has given them absolutely everything under the sun to make their lives easier, including a referendum with no democratic mandate).

https://bsky.app/profile/emmettmacfarlane.com/post/3mmfrqdahts2x

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-05-22T01:00:14.133Z

While I will write about this in more depth in my weekend column, let me say for the moment that this was Smith’s choice, and it does nothing but prolong the uncertainty, make it more likely to give the separatists leverage because it can be shrugged off as a non-binding vote that will become the repository of the grievances that Albertans have been marinating in since the eighties, and spiral out of control like Brexit did. But Smith refuses to confront the separatists, and nobody will actually say the words “Normal people can buy UCP memberships and drown out the separatist loons trying to take control of the party.” No one person has even suggested that. Instead, we’re pretending that referendums are democracy when they are in fact just elite-driven fuckery dressed up in democratic clothes, and ignoring the crisis in grassroots democracy that has created this crisis in the first place. It’s absolutely damning about the state of the province.

https://twitter.com/andrew_leach/status/2057607415596831039

Jen Gerson: "The momentum here right now is on the side of people who treat the idea of the Republic of Alberta as a kind of religious movement. It's a millenarian movement … heavily influenced by the kind of nihilism that infects a lot of the broader MAGA movement."

— Scott Robertson (@sarobertson.bsky.social) 2026-05-21T21:03:33.190Z

Meanwhile, Pierre Poilievre was asked about a potential referendum earlier in the day, and he said he would fight for Canada, but did so in the most tepid way possible while he continued to grind on the invented grievances that have helped get us to this point, because he is both a coward and intellectually bankrupt. Yes, it’s important that we have conservatives be the voices for national unity in the province, but if you’re going to do it by carrying on the fictions that somehow the Liberals were responsible for the oil crash in 2014, you’re not actually helping. And if someone suggests Jason Kenney be that voice because he is now an enemy of the separatists after they ate his face after he brought them into the “united” party, then they deserve a smack upside the head. Kenney created this mess, and he refuses to take responsibility for that fact, and until he does, he shouldn’t be any kind of voice of moral authority here.

https://bsky.app/profile/emmettmacfarlane.com/post/3mmeymnle2k2j

"Unblock the resources." Oil production is at record highs. Alberta has the highest per capita incomes in the country. Just mouthing along with the invented grievances of the bad faith actors who put us in this position.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-05-21T19:44:20.395Z

— Effin' Birds (@effinbirds.com) 2026-05-21T13:08:04.230Z

Ukraine Dispatch

Here is a look at all of the Russian energy sites that have been attacked by Ukrainian drones over the past couple of weeks.

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Roundup: Stupid games with the Snowbirds

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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.

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Roundup: More gas-fired electricity, just because

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Prime minister Mark Carney announced his national electricity plan yesterday, which he’s calling Powering Canada Strong™ (and I swear to Zeus, I am so tired of branding everything “Canada Strong™” by this point). He wants to double production by 2050, as well as connect provincial power grids with interties, build the skilled workforce necessary, and manufacture the technology to do so in Canada. And it all sounds well and good, but to get there, he plans to weaken the Trudeau-era Clean Electricity Regulations in order to allow a lot more natural gas-fired production. You know, for “flexibility.”

At this point you have to wonder how Carney can keep up the pretence that he is still going to meet our climate targets, and yet, he keeps saying that’s what’s going to happen. Sure, he’ll “adjust them,” but if you say we’re weakening them, he gets testy and huffy. But the notion that by “building up we can drive emissions down” is farcical on its face. It relies on the same logic of reducing emissions intensity while increasing the overall volume of production (and it was a tell that he used emissions intensity when talking about gas-fired electricity)—you’re still increasing overall emissions, albeit at a slightly lower rate. And to be clear, Canada was making progress in driving emission down, and we had an actual path to meeting our targets, but that has been completely blown out of the water now.

I’m also getting increasingly tired of this being billed as “pragmatic,” when it’s not in the longer term. The climate crisis is already here, and it’s reflected in the dramatic increase in wildfire season, extreme weather events, and increasing droughts that have pushed up food prices, at home and abroad. We can’t just keep ignoring this and treating climate goals or environmental protection as a luxury add-on. It’s essential to ensuring we have a stable economy of the future, and the fact that Carney and nearly everyone else is ignoring this fact is a really, really big problem, because the costs for kicking this down the road are already being felt. It’s only going to get worse from here, and they keep insisting that they want to make that future pain as bad as it can possibly get.

— Effin' Birds (@effinbirds.com) 2026-05-14T19:08:01.779Z

Programming Note: I am taking the full long weekend off from the blog. See you Wednesday, and happy Victoria Day.

Ukraine Dispatch

Russia’s massive drone attack continues, with the count at over 1567 drones since Wednesday, and the death toll now over 37 as an apartment building was struck. Zelenskyy’s former chief of staff has now been arrested in relation to money laundering charges. Meanwhile, the government of Latvia has lost its parliamentary majority over the handling of the incident where a Ukrainian drone accidentally flew into their territory.

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