Tag Archives: China

Roundup: No single point of failure

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It was another big day at the Procedure and House Affairs committee as both the National Security and Intelligence Advisor, Jody Thomas, appeared, as did Bill Blair, both on the subject of what they knew about the “threats” against Michael Chong and his family. What we got was a bit more of the corroboration from the Johnston report that the process of pushing intelligence up to senior levels hasn’t been working, which is why these things weren’t noticed or acted upon earlier. Blair in particular offered more clarity about the issue with the top-secret emails and how it’s being misconstrued that he didn’t have passwords to it. No, it’s that he doesn’t have access to that system period, and CSIS prepares a package from him and brings it to him physically. He did also take a bit of a swipe at CSIS, saying that the Chong information was determined to be something that they didn’t think the minister needed to know, which is a bit petty.

What stood out for me the most was Thomas saying that there wasn’t one single point of failure here, or one link in the chain, but a flaw in the process, which is consistent with what Johnston put in his report. This is why I can’t believe that anyone who says that the report is some kind of cover-up has actually read the report because it’s quite clearly pointing to these appalling failures on the part of senior levels of government, and that is on the government to have done something about. They are responsible, and they need to fully own it in order to make the necessary changes.

I would also add that while this testimony was good to have, I still don’t see how this relates to Chong’s privileges supposedly being breached, and what remedies should be applied. There seems to be an effort to make this into a bigger issue around foreign interference, and not on the specific issue of Chong, and what the House of Commons should do if his privileges as an MP were specifically breached,  and I’m not seeing much of that.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russians fired over 30 missiles and drones against Ukraine overnight, and all appear to have been shot down. The Russians also claim that they destroyed Ukraine’s “last warship” in a strike on Odessa, but Ukraine won’t talk about whether it’s true or not. Meanwhile, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in Moldova for the NATO meeting, calling for security guarantees if Ukraine can’t get NATO membership until the war is over. The European Court of Human Rights also ruled against Ukraine in denying same-sex marriage licences, which is going to need to be part of Ukraine’s hoped-for European integration.

https://twitter.com/internewsua/status/1664252937156059140

https://twitter.com/defenceu/status/1664311594858299402

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QP: Poilievre won’t be gagged, but he will spread vile smears

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On a scorching day in the Nation’s Capital, the prime minister and all other leaders were present, for what was about to come. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and he asked how many Chinese-operated police stations were in Canada. Justin Trudeau expounded on how unacceptable it was that this interference was taking place, but the RCMP were investigating. Poilievre reiterated in asking how many. Trudeau repeated that the RCMP were on the case. Poilievre went on about how he admitted they existed and asked again how many. Trudeau reiterated that the RCMP are dealing with them, and said that if he wanted to know more about foreign interference he should take the CSIS briefing. Poilievre switched to English to decry that taxpayer dollars went to work of these organisations hosting the stations, and demanded to know how many more there were. Trudeau repeated that the RCMP were looking into it, and that Poilievre could take the briefing if he wanted to know details. Poilievre demanded the prime minister brief all Canadians right now on how many there were on our soil. Trudeau reiterated that if Poilievre took foreign interference seriously, he would get the facts from the briefing, and that he knows full well the RCMP is conducting their investigations.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and declared the death of democracy in Canada because the prime minster won’t call a public inquiry. Trudeau noted that Blanche has also chosen not to get a briefing in order to get the facts, preferring partisan facts instead. Blanchet insisted that this secrecy was hiding close connections between the government and China, and Trudeau noted that Blanchet complains about secret information when he has the opportunity to see it.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and he cited a former CSIS investigator who testified at committee calling for a public inquiry. Trudeau noted that the current leadership have said that a public inquiry is not the best way because all of the secret information needs to remain behind closed doors, before praising David Johnston. Singh switched to French to raise that Johnston’s counsel is a Liberal donor and again demanded a public inquiry. Trudeau listed the actions they have taken to combat foreign interference.

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QP: Not reading the Johnston Report

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While the prime minister was elsewhere in the building entertaining the president of Iceland, most of the other leaders were present today, as was the prime minister’s deputy. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and accused the government of using China to help them win two elections, and demanded they fire David Johnston and call a public inquiry. Dominic LeBlanc responded by pointing out that Poilievre refused a briefing in order to make outrageous comments rather than be serious. Poilievre insisted that he refused to be “silenced,” and repeated his demand. Marco Mendicino repeated the point that Poilievre refused briefings for partisan reasons. Poilievre moved onto the Chinese “police stations” in Montreal that got government funds, and were still active. Mendicino carried on with the retorts that Poilievre was closing his own eyes. Poilievre repeated the question in French, and Mendicino gave his same response. Poilievre then said that he can ask question of any member of the government, and tried to ask Jagmeet Singh demand a public inquiry or end his “coalition.” Mark Holland gave a sanctimonious speech about the Conservatives attacking Johnston, who Harper appointed as GG, for the sake of partisan games.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and he called Johnston’s inquiry a farce, and demanded a public inquiry. LeBlanc got back up to tell them that they should let NSICOP do their work rather than casting aspersions prematurely. Therrien repeated his demand for an inquiry, and LeBlanc urged him to speak to his leader and take the briefing on the evidence, along with NSICOP.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and he worried about the failing negotiations with Stellantis over their blackmail. Chrystia Freeland assured him they will ensure the deal goes forward and that the jobs stay in Canada, but also that Ontario pay its fair share. Singh switched to French to worry about rising rents in Montreal. Soraya Martinez Ferrada reminded him that they sent $5 billion to Quebec for housing.

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Roundup: A bad report and a bad debate

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The Parliamentary Budget Officer released another one of his highly dubious reports yesterday, this time on the incoming clean fuel regulations. Why is it dubious? Because it’s entirely one-sided and assumes no costs to climate change, and no adaptation on the part of industry in order to bring costs down to meet their obligations under the regulations, which is the whole gods damned point of these kinds of mechanisms. Oh, and this isn’t fiscal policy, so it’s not clear why he’s even doing this kind of report in the first place.

As you may have noticed during Question Period, the Conservatives jumped all over this report and its findings, and when they were questioned, their media staff were over social media accusing people of calling the PBO a liar. Well, it’s not that he’s a liar—it’s bad data, a bad report, and the numbers taken from it were used dishonestly and entirely in bad faith. And the PBO gets the attention he’s looking for, and around and around we go.

Rachel Notley vs Danielle Smith

For the purposes of researching my column last night, I subjected myself to the leaders’ debate in the Alberta election and it was…not great. Yes, lots of people gushed at how nice it was just to have two leaders going head-to-head and not four or five, but we don’t have a two-party system federally (and it’s a bad sign that Alberta has a de facto one provincially).

My not-too-original observations were that Notley was weirdly on the defensive most of the night, while Smith was pretending to be the upstart challenger rather than the incumbent, attacking Notley on her record at every turn when Notley wasn’t effectively throwing many punches herself. Yes, she did well on the healthcare and education portions, but was not effectively countering Smith’s confident bullshit throughout, and that’s a real problem in a lower voter-information environment, where that confidence plays well regardless of the fact that Smith lied constantly with a straight face. On the very day that Smith was found to have broken the province’s Conflict of Interest Act, Notley had a hard time effectively making this point, while Smith claimed vindication because it showed she didn’t directly call Crown prosecutors, while it full-out warned that Smith’s behaviour was a threat to democracy, and Notley could barely say the words.

Programming Note: I am taking the full long weekend off, so expect the next post to be on Wednesday.

Ukraine Dispatch:

There are reports of more air raids in Ukraine early Friday morning. Russians fired 30 cruise missiles against Ukrainian targets in the early morning hours on Thursday, and Ukraine shot down 29 of them, with the one that got through striking an industrial building in Odessa, killing one and wounding two. There were also further gains made around Bakhmut, and even the Wagner Group’s leader says that they have bene in retreat. Meanwhile, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy set up a reintegration council in order to provide advice for the restoration of Ukrainian rule when they liberate Crimean.

https://twitter.com/defenceu/status/1659213321927794693

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QP: The “sneaky” fuel standard the Conservatives also promised

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The prime minister was still in South Korea, but his deputy was once again present for the debate. (It’s been a while since we’ve had three in a row), and all of the other leaders were present as well. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and spouts some nonsense about deficits before insisting that Chrystia Freeland was incompetent for not answering at committee the size of debt payments. Freeland insisted that the person who won’t answer questions is Poilievre and what he plans to cut (which is not her job to ask questions). Following an incident of a shouter in the Gallery bellowing out a manifesto as he was removed, Poilievre tried again in English, and Freeland this time straight up asserted that Poilievre plans to cut. Poilievre said he would cut the carbon price, and worried about a “sneaky” second carbon price known as the fuel standard. Freeland said that she was glad to hear the Conservatives talking about climate, because building a clean economy was where jobs are. Poilievre repeated the question, and Freeland said that he doesn’t understand that the need to plan for the green future, and regaled a meeting with an electrician who was excited about electrification. Poilievre tried to riff that this electrician would have to pay more because of the “taxes” of the government, and demanded again how much this second tax (which is not a tax) would cost. Freeland noted this electrician’s wife is an emergency room nurse who is benefitting from this government’s investments, because of course she is.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and raised an issue around contamination on Indigenous land in Quebec, and Freeland noted that Patty Hajdu responded yesterday that she is working with the local Indigenous leaders. Blanchet said that these people were living in fear, and Freeland agreed it was a serious situation that the government was engaged on.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and worried about skyrocketing rental prices, and Freeland praised the child care investments benefitting the single mother raised in the question. Singh switched to French to worry about rising grocery prices, and demanded the government fight it by taxing excessive profits. Freeland agreed that the wealthiest pay their fair share, which is why they raised their taxes and set up the grocery rebate.

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QP: Freeland finally takes the budget questions

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The prime minister was making a stop in Alberta to survey the wildfire situation before heading off to South Korea, but his deputy was present for a change, as were most of the other leaders. Before things got underway, the Speaker asked MPs to listen during Members’ Statements rather than talking amongst one another so that they don’t inadvertently laugh during sad statements, or anything like that.

Pierre Poilievre led off in English, and tried point to contradictions in things Chrystia Freeland said, and demanded they stop “inflationary” taxes and deficits. (Taxes actually fight inflation). Freeland got up to accuse the Conservatives of talking down the economy, and praised the country’s Aaa credit rating. Poilievre repeated the question in French, and Freeland said it’s important to understand the data, and listed items to show how well Canada is doing among the G7. Poilievre said that the prime minister had fled the country rather than defend the budgets and tried to call out Freeland as well. Freeland noted that she was with G7 finance ministers in Japan, and said that if Conservatives think that they shouldn’t go to these meetings, they should say so. Poilievre returned to English to mock the “important meetings with important people” rather than common people, and accused her again of fuelling inflation. Freeland took exception to the notion that government travel was somehow elitist. Poilievre hammered away at this, to which Freeland reminded him that he lives in Stornaway with a chef and driver and has only lived on taxpayer dollars his entire life.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and railed that the prime minister called by-elections rather than a public inquiry into foreign interference. Marco Mendicino recited the well-worn pabulum about measures they have taken and waiting for David Johnston. Therrien tried again, and this time Dominic LeBlanc says that he shares the concerns about protecting by-elections, and said that they have implemented measures.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and he blamed the government for Stellantis blackmailing them over a battery plant, and Freeland insisted that the government always fights for workers and jobs by things like the New NAFTA, the EV tax credit incentives in the US, and the Volkswagen plant. Singh switched to French to complain about rising rents in Quebec. Ahmed Hussen recited his housing benefit talking points in English.

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Roundup: New Senate Speaker appointed

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With the retirement of Senate Speaker George Furey this week, the prime minister has named Manitoba Senator Raymonde Gagné to serve as the new Speaker, making her the third woman to do so. (Recall that the House of Commons has only had one female Speaker to date, in the 1980s). Gagné was appointed as an independent but has been operating in the half-pregnant role as a supposedly “non-affiliated” member of the Government Representative Office as the “legislative deputy,” which is newspeak for the role of deputy leader for the government, if it properly had a caucus in that Chamber.

A couple of notes: First of all, this remains a prime ministerial appointment because this position is higher on the Order of Precedence than the Commons Speaker, and plays a much bigger role with parliamentary diplomacy than the Commons Speaker does. There are some senators who are agitating to make this a position elected by the Senate membership as the Commons Speaker is currently, but I’m not sure if this is feasible given the diplomatic weight attached to the position. Regardless, Trudeau was likely looking for a woman in the position, and needed her to be bilingual (Gagné is Franco-Manitoban), and as she was in the GRO, those factors all lined up.

As well, there was some talk about why Senator Pierrette Ringuette, the Speaker pro tempore, was not elevated to full Speaker, but I suspect that politics are at play in this. Ringuette was a former Liberal MP in the Chrétien era, but later left the Senate Liberal caucus to sit as an independent after Justin Trudeau cut them loose. She got the job as Speaker pro tempore through politicking largely within the Independent Senators Group, when there had been consensus that Senator Pat Bovey would get the post (Bovey is also reaching mandatory retirement on Monday, for the record), whereas Ringuette was apparently the choice of then-ISG leader Yuen Pau Woo, and in the power struggles at the time (which was the last straw for Bovey, at which point she left the ISG for the Progressive caucus), Ringuette got the votes for the position. This whole drama may have had an influence on the choice (depending on how closely Trudeau or his Senate-minders paid attention to it).

Ukraine Dispatch:

Ukrainian forces have made a breakthrough south of Bakhmut, recapturing the high ground overlooking the town, as well as one of the key supply lines, in what the head of the Wagner Group mercenaries considered a rout. Ukraine denies that this is the start of their counteroffensive, which they say they are delaying for need of more western weaponry. Russia is claiming that they repelled another attempted Ukrainian advance near Soledar.

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Roundup: The Chief Justice is not happy about mounting judicial vacancies

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The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, Richard Wagner, wrote to the prime minister about the state of judicial vacancies, of which there are currently 88, and that this is causing problems with the criminal justice system. Of course, the problems in the system are multi-faceted—provinces aren’t resourcing courts, and they have provincial judicial vacancies of their own, but this was the Chief Justice, on behalf of the Canadian Judicial Council, pointing out that this is a problem that the federal government has created for itself, and needs to address.

This has been a problem this government has had since the very start—they insist on self-nominations rather than in doing the work of going out and identifying people who are suited for particular vacancies, and tapping them to fill them. It’s not just judicial vacancies either—it’s senators, heads of tribunals, Officers of Parliament, you name it. And because they insist on diversifying their appointments (which is a good thing!) this makes self-nominations even more difficult because the people they want to apply don’t, because they have been conditioned by society not to see themselves in those roles (i.e. they think judges are all old white men, so they don’t apply if they’re not). And the government knows this is a problem. It has been pointed out to them time and again, for years now.

But what do they do? Pat themselves on the back for all of the great appointments they’ve made so far. I wish I were kidding, but that’s their response, and it’s continually their response because a) they don’t like to admit that they’re going about these appointments in the wrong way; and b) they’re justifying their failure to do something about the mess they made for themselves. And it’s not like the previous guys were much better, with decidedly male-heavy appointments, and doing things like appointing Peter MacKay’s wedding party to the bench, because that also was not great. But this inability to learn from their failures is one of this government’s big problems as they get increasingly fatigued, and if they don’t do something about it, it’s going to cost them.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russian forces fired 25 cruise missiles at Kyiv overnight on Tuesday, in advance of their Victory Day, of which 23 were shot down, claiming they hit ammunition stores. Their Victory Day parade was pretty spare, given how badly they have depleted their forces in the war. Meanwhile European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen visited Kyiv for Europe Day, which is in part a further signal that Ukraine continues in its intentions to turn westward away from Russia.

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Roundup: A declaration of persona non grata

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A week after the Chong revelations were made in the Globe and Mail, and two years after the briefing had been prepared by CSIS, Mélanie Joly has declared the Chinese diplomat at the centre of those revelations to be persona non grata. This declaration was made right as the Commons was voting on the Conservatives’ Supply Day motion to expel any diplomats implicated in this affair, in which all opposition parties voted for it and the government voted against, meaning that they lost (but it’s non-binding, so it’s more of an expression of opinion than anything else).

The reaction, of course, is that this is two years too late, and that the government’s insistence that this is complicated isn’t actually backed up by the Vienna Convention—though it has been said that they were likely preparing people on the ground in China for the inevitable retaliation, because China doesn’t like to do tit-for-tat, as happens with most PNG declarations, but rather they prefer to escalate. (See: the two Michaels). The Canadian Press has a brief primer on previous diplomatic expulsions from Canada.

Meanwhile, Marco Mendicino still won’t say who is either responsible or accountable for the failure to alert political actors about those Chong revelations two years ago, and is relying on vague “hostile actors” talk rather than, you know, being held to account for what is clearly a process failure within the government’s bureaucracy. That would seem to me what he should be doing as minister, because it’s been made clear that this wasn’t a CSIS problem—it was a problem further up the chain, and whether that’s because we have a poor culture of consuming intelligence at the senior levels, or because this government can’t walk and chew gum at the same time, that kind of thing needs to be addressed.

Ukraine Dispatch:

For Russia’s Victory Day, they launched one of the biggest swarms of drones against Ukraine in months, targeting mostly Kyiv and Odessa, though air defences are largely repelling the attacks on Kyiv. Russian shelling also hit two villages in the Kherson region, wounding eight people, as well as damaged the electrical grids in five Ukrainian regions. In Bakhmut, the head of the Wagner Group mercenaries says they still haven’t received promised ammunition from Russia. Elsewhere, farmers in Ukraine are having a harder time because many workers are off fighting, which is hurting their operations.

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1655510660367757313

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Roundup: It’s Coronation Day

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It’s Coronation Day, and Justin Trudeau will have arrived in the wee hours, having taken a red-eye across the Atlantic to get there. Trudeau was absent from the meeting with other Commonwealth leaders, where he could have been doing something productive like organising to help advance LGBTQ+ rights within those countries (as I suggested in my Xtra column). Nevertheless, it was bad form for him not to be there, especially as he could have moved his party convention to another weekend once the coronation date was announced.

Most of the official delegation gathered for a photo, sans-Trudeau. Not in the delegation but part of the day’s festivities is Canadian Marion Portelance, who will be playing cello at the post-Coronation concert, and it’s believed the cello she’s using was once owned and played by the King.

And because it’s her big day as a royal correspondent, our friend Patricia Treble has stories out on pretty much every platform:

  • For the Globe and Mail, a visual guide of the event and the regalia used in it.
  • For The Line, she delves into the Kremlinology of who is and is not showing up for the big event.
  • For the Star, some coronation history and some of the fascinating events that have happened during them.
  • In The Walrus, traces the indifference Canadians feel for the King to the apathy to the Crown exhibited by governments.
  • On her Substack, showcases some of the coronation scenes in London.

Ukraine Dispatch:

The leader of Russia’s mercenary Wagner Group says they’re pulling out of Bakhmut in days because they lack ammunition, and are dying in vain. (Ukraine believes they are simply reinforcing their positions). There is still shelling happening in the Kherson region, while the Russian-installed “governor” of the Zaporizhzhia region is ordering an evacuation of villages close to the front line. Meanwhile, new analysis is showing that the drone that struck the Kremlin likely launched from within Russia.

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