Tag Archives: CBSA

Roundup: Clueless American senators pay a visit

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A group of US senators were in Ottawa for a second time in as many months, to meet with prime minister Mark Carney about the trade talks with the US, which is…a pretty useless gesture because they have pretty much no influence in the current American political environment, and they’ve been spectacularly ineffective in doing the slightest bit to rein in his abuse of powers. And speaking of useless gestures, they were all wearing Canada-U.S. friendship bracelets provided by the US Embassy, because apparently treating this like a Taylor Swift concert is how they’re “building bridges.” Honestly…

And it just doesn’t stop. One of the Democratic senators was lecturing Carney about fully repealing the Digital Services Tax, which…is doing what Trump wants, and just letting the authoritarian tech bros dictate our sovereign tax policies. Like really? That’s what you came to tell us? The sole Republican in the group, who is a sometimes Trump critic, said that his annexation rhetoric was “not constructive.” Gee, you think? That’s your contribution to this conversation? One of the other Democrats said that we’re they’re “best friends” but that the relationship was going through some “great strain.” Gosh, really? This is what you’ve come up here to say? One of them wanted to talk about stopping the flow of precursor chemicals for fentanyl. How about guns? Why don’t you do something about stopping them from coming over our border? I just can’t with any of these guys.

Meanwhile, the US ambassador says that Trump thinks we’re “nasty” for boycotting travel and American booze, as he has openly made threats of annexation and trying to destroy our economy to make it happen. Like, seriously, what did you think we were going to do?

— Effin' Birds (@effinbirds.com) 2025-07-21T22:08:21.155Z

Ukraine Dispatch

It was another heavy barrage of 426 drones and a dozen missiles fired at Ukraine overnight Sunday and into Monday, killing two and wounding at least fifteen people. Later in the day were attacks on the Sumy region, injuring another fourteen people. President Zelenskyy has named new ambassadors to several countries, including Canada (which is a shame because Yulia Kovaliv was great). Meanwhile, Russian TV showed teenagers working in their drone factories.

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QP: Parade of the newbies

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Thursday, and the novelty had worn off for journalists in the gallery, which was once again nearly empty. Mark Carney was elsewhere meeting with the mayor of Toronto, while Andrew Scheer was also absent. Stephanie Kusie led off with some nonsense concern trolling about the lack of a budget. François-Philippe Champagne loudly praised their tax cut, the GST removal on certain houses, and the removal of the consumer carbon levy in law. Kusie again repeated this same nonsense, increasingly breathy and melodramatic, and Champagne reminded her that Canadians chose the Liberals in the election. Kusie tried her first question again in French, and Champagne praised their “ambitious plan” that includes the aforementioned tax cuts. Adam Chambers took over, and he too concern trolled over the Estimates, with a focus on consultants like McKinsey. Champagne insisted that they are focusing on results, and praised the tax cuts and wondered if the Conservatives would support them. Tamara Kronis gave the same performance,and this time, Joël Lightbound took a turn to praise the tax cuts that they are delivering on “day one.” We got another go-around of the same from Carol Anstey, and Lightbound chided the Conservatives about supporting the tax cuts.

Christine Normandin led for the Bloc, and decried plans to “control the Quebec economy from Ottawa,” and wanted a commitment to respecting Quebec’s jurisdiction when the first minsters meet on Monday. Chrystia Freeland praised her meetings with her Quebec counterpart. Normandin tried again, insisting that the Quebec nation was not a barrier to trade, and Freeland agreed that they are working together with Quebec. Patrick Bonin took over, and he decried the possibility of a pipeline going through Quebec only getting a federal assessment. Julie Dabrusin praised her party’s Quebec caucus and said that they would always take Quebec’s interest to heart.

Blake Calkins heckles Freeland “Two more years and you’ll be a parl sec.” #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-05-29T18:27:08.710Z

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Roundup: A double-header on TLMEP

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Day twenty-two, and we are moving into the debate preparation part of the campaign, so expect a couple of small announcements in the Montreal area (where the debates are being held), but for the pace to cycle down. Mark Carney was in Montreal for Tout le monde en parle, and by all accounts, acquitted himself reasonably well enough. Carney will be in Dorval, Quebec, today to make an announcement.

My unqualified $0.02 on #TLMEP – The TLMEP team asked Carney questions about policy, but Poilievre got more questions about his campaign and his personal style. Even the CBC/SRC question was whether or not his plan to cut is financially or ideologically motivated.

— Stephanie Carvin (@stephaniecarvin.bsky.social) 2025-04-14T01:50:23.686Z

Pierre Poilievre was in Ottawa, where he proposed an “Accountability Act 2.0,” both to bring back the Harper vibes, but to also proposed to change a whole bunch of ethics rules specifically for Mark Carney, that will have the added effect of chasing away every accomplished individual from politics for all time. (Seriously, though, this is a party whose generational turnover gets increasingly incestuous as so many of its candidates and MPs are former staffers). He then headed to Montreal to also appear on Tout le monde en parle. Poilievre will remain in Montreal today.

Jagmeet Singh was in Timmins, Ontario, where he promised a “Plan for Northern Ontario,” which was pretty much entirely within the domain of the provincial government, because of course it was. This is the federal NDP we’re talking about. Singh will be in Toronto for the morning.

Once again, the NDP's announcement is pretty much entirely things that the province needs to do, and the federal government can do pretty much nothing about.Oh, a 1% top-up on your transfers to comply? Seriously?

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-04-13T18:06:31.507Z

In other campaign news, everyone’s tongues were wagging about the fact that Liberal operatives admitted to planting buttons at the Formerly-Known-As-Manning Conference this weekend, saying things like “Stop the Steal,” among other things, which the party called staffers getting “carried away.” There is a long tradition of “funny” buttons at opposing conventions, but this was not done openly and is at a time of heightened disinformation I will probably write more about his later in the week, but I will also say that I have zero patience for all of the Conservatives on their fainting couches, clutching their pearls about this while they have lied and slandered throughout the campaign, and spent the very day this story broke trying to push a bullshit tale about Liberal organising prisoners to vote for them, and bringing back the canard about “secret plans” for a home equity tax. And no, the Conservatives lying doesn’t make Liberal ratfuckery any more justified. This kind of thing is poisoning our democracy.

Dirty-tricksterism like those Liberal-planted buttons may be the political world’s oldest profession. Last year, some unknown right-wing operatives printed these race-baiting brochures at the Alberta UCP convention, ahead of Danielle Smith’s leadership review.

— Jason Markusoff (@markusoff.bsky.social) 2025-04-13T19:18:08.678Z

https://twitter.com/maxfawcett/status/1911532346068832768

I get that the vast majority of partisans have absolutely no self-awareness, but seriously? On the same day that they have trotted out the lie that the Liberals are secretly planning a "home equity tax," like they have in every election for the past decade, no less. Honest to Zeus, guys.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-04-13T22:29:23.200Z

Ukraine Dispatch

Russians bombed the city centre of Sumy as people were gathering for Palm Sunday celebrations, killing 34 people and wounding at least 117.

https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1911374389746004111

Instant results ARE possible. Russia just needs to stop attacking and go home.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-04-14T04:13:18.964Z

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Roundup: Caretaker doesn’t apply

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Sometimes, the pundit class in this country boggles me. Case in point—the National Post’s John Ivison wrote yesterday that the announcement about moving ahead with high-speed rail was “ignoring the caretaker convention,” (and because this is Ivison, the words “in this country” are used loosely as he is currently filing from Costa Rica). I get that Ivison wants to dump on Trudeau for making a big, flashy announcement as he’s on his way out the door, but the thing is, the caretaker convention doesn’t apply. The only time that the convention does apply is when Parliament is dissolved for an election (and Philippe Lagassé can explain this all to you here).

Part of the problem is that legacy media in this country does not know how to deal with the current political situation, where Trudeau has signalled his intention to resign, but remains in power until his successor is chosen. This is perfectly legitimate in a Westminster system like ours, especially as Trudeau won a series of confidence votes before Parliament rose for the winter break, and before his advice to the Governor General to prorogue. Since then, virtually every single pundit and editorial writer has been wringing their hands, writing things like “lame-duck,” or “leaderless,” or “vacuum,” when none of this is actually true, and it breaks their brains that the government is capable of operating and responding to Trump and his predations without Parliament currently sitting, as though Parliament would have anything in particular to do in this current situation other than take-note debates or unanimous consent motions. Trudeau is personally able to exercise the full suite of his powers as prime minister right up until the moment he does officially resign and turn the keys over to his successor. This is neither illegitimate nor illegal, and the long-time observers of our political scene should know that.

What is particularly galling is that long-time Ottawa columnists don’t understand these very basics. Ivison used to be the Post’s Ottawa bureau chief, for fuck’s sake. He should have a basic understanding of the difference between prorogation and dissolution, and when the caretaker convention should apply. He’s been writing about Canadian politics since the birth of the Post, and was writing about UK politics before that. This is basic civics. And it’s not just him, even though he is today’s object lesson. We have a real problem when the people we are supposed to turn to for help in putting the news into context can’t be arsed to get the basic facts right, so long as they get to grind their ideological axes.

Ukraine Dispatch

Tens of thousands of people in Odesa remain without power after successive Russian attacks, while Russia claims to have taken back a “huge” chunk of Kursk region in Russia. The EU has been coming up with a plan to manufacture and send more arms to Ukraine.

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QP: Policing feminism as a gross concern troll

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Neither the prime minister or his deputy were present today, and neither were most of the other leaders either. Andrew Scheer led off today, and he raised today’s Globe and Mail story that says Trudeau has made more outreaches to Mark Carney to get involved in politics, which Scheer interpreted as a plot to replace Freeland with Carney, and that he is somehow orchestrating the larger deficit spending. Arif Virani took this, for some reason, and he praised the work Freeland has been doing for Canadians, which yesterday’s Bank of Canada rate cut apparently reflected, and then praised their GST “holiday.” Scheer claimed the rate cut was because the economy is performing so poorly—which is not what the governor said in his remarks—and again claimed that Carney was pulling all the strings before replacing Freeland, concern trolling for Freeland’s future. Virani quoted Tiff Macklem’s remarks about inflation being tamed. Scheer disputed this, and quoted other Liberal MPs who wanted more fiscal discipline and demanded they get a “free vote,” to which Virani cited IMF economic growth projections and our status as having the lowest debt and deficit in the G7. Dominique Vien took over in French, and she too concern trolled about Freeland’s future and called Trudeau a “fake feminist,” this time François-Philippe Champagne deployed his “take no lessons” line before praising the Bank of Canada lowering rates, and the upcoming GST “holiday.” Vien repeated the claim that Trudeau was about to replace Freeland with Carney, and called him a hypocrite for his speech at Equal Voice about being a proud feminist. Diane Lebouthillier responded by wondering how a woman from Quebec could attack a woman like Freeland who brought in child care, and the Speaker called for order, she dismissed the men heckling because women are the ones who handle men head on.

Claude DeBellefeuille led for the Bloc, and worried about the Senate voting on their Supply Management bill, and wondered if the government contacted each of their appointments to tell them how to vote. Marie-Claude Bibeau reminded her that senators are independent. DeBellefeuille wanted each party leader to tell senators to support the bill in its original form, and Bibeau repeated her same point.

DeBellefeuille wonders if the government contacted each of their senate appointees to tell them how to vote on the Supply Management bill. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2024-12-12T19:30:46.447Z

Alexandre Boulerice led for the NDP and demanded the government improve access to healthcare in Quebec, which is a provincial responsibility. Mark Holland praised the investments they have made with the provinces. Brian Masse demanded the government consult with workers before a Trump plan, and demanded a “Buy Canada” plan (which is utterly boneheaded in a trade-dependent economy). Mary Ng said that all voices matter in this issue.

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QP: Fantasizing about a “collapsing” economy

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Wednesday, the final proto-PMQ of the year, and the prime minister was indeed present and ready to respond to all questions put to him, while his deputy was elsewhere. All of the other leaders were also present today, and Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and again cited the Globe and Mail story about the supposed tensions between Freeland and Trudeau over the size of the deficit, and demanded to know why he pushed her to break her promise on capping it. Justin Trudeau said that Poilievre was dramatizing things to distract from his voting against programmes that help people, and that he muzzles his MPs to prevent them from speaking out for their communities, or get his security clearance. Poilievre again demanded to know why Trudeau forced his finance minister to break her promise and Trudeau responded with a list of things Poilievre voted against. Poilievre switched to English and repeated his first question on the Globe story, and Trudeau once again called these little “dramas” a distraction from his record of voting against supports for Canadians or refusing to get his security clearance. Poilievre accused a Trudeau of bullying Freeland, said that he is too weak to control his own caucus, and then Poilievre proclaimed that he leads by inspiration and that Trudeau leads by intimidation. Trudeau said that Poilievre likes to claim things are broken because he keeps breaking them. Poilievre  mocked this, and then claimed that Freeland was going to be humiliated by reading a fiscal update authored by Mark Carney, and Trudeau accused Poilievre of using Canadians’ struggles for his own gain but that he won’t lift a finger to help them.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, complained about a committee study, and wondered what the PM would say to the thousands of Muslims who are happy to assimilate into Quebec. Trudeau praised diversity and rights. Blanchet then wondered if Trudeau was defending religious “indoctrination” at certain Quebec schools, to which Trudeau praised the Charter, and then said it was the responsibility of those schools to hire the best teachers they could.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, said that Trump was a bully and that Trudeau was too weak to stand up to him. Trudeau said that they were taking a measured approach, working with leaders across the country, and were not freaking out like the NDP were. Singh exclaimed that Trudeau’s job wasn’t safe either, and then repeated the same question/demand in French. Trudeau reminded him that they defeated Trump tariffs in the past.

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QP: Pouncing on alleged tensions between PMO and Finance

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Both the PM and his deputy were present for QP today, in advance of the Supplementary Estimates, as were all of the other leaders. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and cited the “weak” prime minister who has lost control of everything, and that he has now lost control of his finance minister, who wanted a big deficit but that Trudeau wanted an even bigger one, and wondered which of them would win. Trudeau said that when a government delivers dental care to seniors, or food to children’s schools, Canadians win, but they won’t if the Conservatives come to power. Poilievre insisted that his finance minister doesn’t agree and that he imposed the “inflationary” GST “holiday” plan on her. Trudeau said that the only one voting against Canadians is the leader of the opposition. Poilievre switched to English to repeat his first question and got much the same response, with a few added jabs that Poilievre was against growing the economy. Poilievre again quoted the Globe and Mail article from this morning, and wondered if they would meet their deficit target. Trudeau accused Poilievre of talking down Canada, while the Bank of Canada would likely cut rates again this week because inflation is on target, and then took another swipe at Poilievre controlling his caucus. Poilievre gave a tortured analogy about the finance minister driving a bus while a “lunatic” grabs control of the wheel, jerks it to the left and smashes through a guardrail down a cliff, Trudeau responded with a paean about the supports they have given Canadians, which Poilievre voted against.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and wanted the PM to denounce his immigration minister for calling out François Legault for attacking Muslims in the name of “secularism” while going to Notre Dame in Paris, to which Trudeau gave a rote line about Charter rights and diversity. Blanchet gave a torture definition of what equality means, and Trudeau reminds him that they should cherish individual rights and freedoms, and that the federal government will defend those rights.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and accused the government of siding with the Conservatives in voting against their GST cut proposal, and Trudeau said he was equally puzzled when the Conservatives voted against a tax break for Canadians—but didn’t say anything about the NDP’s plan (which was bad and disproportionately benefits the wealthy). Singh made a half-hearted jab about taxing (or axing?) the prime minister’s excuses, before switching to French to worry about private healthcare in Quebec. Trudeau said that they respect provincial jurisdiction but they have also invested billions in healthcare across the country and would defend the public system.

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QP: More swipes before a confidence vote

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The PM was away in Halifax, and his deputy was elsewhere, and most of the other leaders were also away. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and he accused the prime minister of a litany of economic sins, and demanded he stop raising taxes and “inflationary” spending. Arif Virani said that they were proud of their record and that the Fall Economic Statement would be released on Monday, and praised that inflation as on target and that interest rates have come down. Poilievre mocked that the government wants to bury their record, and wondered if the deficit would remain under target. Jonathan Wilkinson praised the GST cut on purpose-built rentals, and that they are building more houses than ever before. Poilievre switched to English to repeat his first question, and Virani got back up, but this time praised how their childcare programme has seen one of the largest rates of female participation in the labour force. Poilievre lied about debt causing inflation (ignoring the pandemic and the global supply shock), and again asked about the deficit target. Virani cited current and former Bank of Canada governors about the current inflation spike being tamed and how Harper muted the recovery from the 2008 financial crisis by cutting too quickly. Poilievre then said that in the spirit of non-partisanship, they took Jagmeet Singh’s words and put them in a non-confidence motion, and wondered if the prime minister was going to let the NDP to vote for the motion. The Speaker warned that this stretched what was permissible under the administration of government, but Karina Gould got up to point out that it was the Conservatives who muzzled their members.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and raised concerns about religion in schools in Quebec, and demanded the federal government stop “undermining” secularism in Quebec. Jean-Yves Duclos reminded him that education was a provincial matter. Therrien insisted that multiculturalism is what is undermining the ability to live together, and Duclos noted that there is strength in diversity before returning to the reminder that education is a provincial matter.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP to give an anecdote of the plight of a retiree in relation to the demand to extend the $250 “rebate” cheque. Virani got back up to pat himself on the back for their other programmes for seniors, including dental care. Singh retorted that Virani didn’t answer the question, before repeating it he demand in French. Virani said that they always fight against poverty, and the data shows progress.

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Roundup: Getting worked up over an obvious troll

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Because apparently, we have nothing better to occupy our time with, today everyone was obsessed with a remark Trump made about annexing Canada. Dominic LeBlanc assured people it was just a joke, but that didn’t stop endless hyperventilating about it, from media and the pundit class most especially, as though this wasn’t exactly the kind of thing Trump loves to do to get us all riled up, and we not only fall for it, but certain elements of the media lean into it, because how better to drive clicks?

Some useful context bsky.app/profile/gmbu…

— Stephanie Carvin (@stephaniecarvin.bsky.social) 2024-12-03T12:45:21.255Z

Canadians: there is much to worry about. Annexation by Trump's US is not one of them.Things to worry about:-tariffs-asylum requests by those Trump is targeting-Trump's reaction if Canada provides asylum-end of NATObut not annexation.

— Steve Saideman (@smsaideman.bsky.social) 2024-12-03T12:53:29.665Z

Meanwhile, Justin Trudeau held a briefing for opposition leaders yesterday afternoon about what went down at Mar-a-Lago, and one of the asks was that they not try and fight or negotiate in public, or amplify the erroneous notions coming from the US, and weaken Canada’s position in the eyes of the incoming Trump administration. So what did Pierre Poilievre do as soon as the meeting was over? Run to the cameras to repeat his slogans about “broken borders,” and continuing to make Trump’s case for him. Because who cares about a common front in the face of a pretty major (potential) crisis when you could be scoring cheap points even though you’re already twenty points ahead in the polls.

In terms of border action, the RCMP says that they have “contingency plans” that could include deploying cadets along the border if the situation demands it, but boy howdy does that seem like an ill-considered idea considering the existing shortage of personnel (and the fact that the RCMP is a broken and toxic institution that needs to be disbanded).

This is completely insane. The federal policing side of the RCMP is operating with HUNDREDS of vacancies. We just passed the most extensive national security legislation to combat foreign interference. And now we are going to redirect again in a panic?! www.cbc.ca/news/politic…

— Stephanie Carvin (@stephaniecarvin.bsky.social) 2024-12-04T01:37:52.154Z

Like it would be adorable that we are trying to fix things* with a throughly broken federal police force if it wasn’t so tragic. *things = vague threat in a truth social post.

— Stephanie Carvin (@stephaniecarvin.bsky.social) 2024-12-04T01:39:34.910Z

Why yes, I do cover Canadian politics.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2024-12-04T02:09:25.678Z

Ukraine Dispatch

Here are more details about the critical infrastructure damaged in Russian drone strikes on Ternopil and Rivne regions resulting in blackouts. These attacks on electrical stations are driving a transition to things like solar in Ukraine. President Zelenskyy is calling for more reinforcements for the eastern front after steady Russian advances in recent weeks.

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QP: Today’s slogan of “border disorder”

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Following all of the speculation and accusation about the dinner at Mar-a-Lago, the prime minister was finally present today, along with his deputy, as were most of the other leaders. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and he said that regardless if you take the Trump’s threats seriously or believe them to be a negotiation tactic, he claimed Trudeau has “lost control” of everything and demanded an election. Justin Trudeau said that they had a good discussion that talked about the good work they can do together, and added a jab about voting against the tax “holiday.” Poilievre claimed that Trudeau’s “destructive” policies were a gift to Trump, and Trudeau again chided Poilievre from voting against the GST “holiday,” as well as programmes like dental care or school food. Poilievre switched to English to repeat his first question, and this time, Trudeau cautioned about taking too seriously the erroneous talking points the Americans have weaponised, and that it wasn’t responsible leadership. Poilievre said that his job was not to cover for Trudeau “breaking” things, and listed a bunch of non sequiturs, and Trudeau said that they were stepping up for Canadians, and again listed the things the Conservatives voted against. Poilievre dismissed the programmes, and railed about the carbon levy. Trudeau recited that the carbon rebates puts more money back in the pockets of eight out of ten Canadians.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he demanded a budgeted, detailed plan about the border. Trudeau said that they shared their immigration plan several weeks ago, and that they would continue to reduce the number of irregular migrants thanks to significant investments in staffing levels at the border. Blanchet said that they need a plan for the future, not the past, and listed other files he is concerned about, and wanted a Quebec representative in any future negotiations. Trudeau assured him that they did talk about trade, steel and aluminium, as well as softwood lumber on Friday, and that they will stand up for jobs.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, raised that Conservatives fired thousands of CBSA officers when they were in power, and wanted them all rehired, more hires on top of that, and their mandate expanded. Trudeau said that he agrees that the Conservatives only know how to cut, and listed other programmes they want to cut as well. Singh repeated the same in French, and closed with accusing Trudeau of coming back from the meeting empty-handed. Trudeau repeated that they have reinvested in the border, and have reduced the number of irregular arrivals.

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