Tag Archives: China

Roundup: A committee prepares to express its dismay

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The Commons’ transport committee will be meeting sometime this summer over the BC Ferries decision to buy new electric ferries from China and not Canada, never mind that no Canadian company bid on the project (likely because the major shipyards are already full-up on the naval and Coast Guard orders that will keep them occupied for years to come, which was the whole point of the National Shipbuilding Strategy). Of course, because this decision is actually in provincial jurisdiction, as transport minister Chrystia Freeland said time and again in Question Period before the House rose for the summer, the Conservatives on the committee needed to find a different angle of attack.

Enter the Canada Infrastructure Bank. It provided a loan to BC Ferries before the deal was signed, that covers both a portion of the capital costs, as well as electrification infrastructure for the ships themselves. Never mind that the Bank operates at arm’s length from government—the fact that it still reports to Parliament via a minister, Gregor Robertson in this case, means that Robertson and Freeland are going to be summoned to explain themselves, even though they have no hand in these decisions, no should they. The federal funds that go to BC Ferries is for operations and not capital costs, btu the Conservatives seemed to think that this should somehow be weaponised as well. (Oh, and BC premier David Eby said that he wants the committee to look at how unfairly the federal funding is allocated between BC and the Atlantic provinces, never mind that the Atlantic ferries are mostly interprovincial, which makes them a federal responsibility as opposed to BC’s, which is solely within the province’s jurisdiction).

So, what exactly do we expect to happen? I can pretty much guarantee that every party, the Liberals included, will spend the meetings expressing their dismay at BC Ferries’ decision, even though no Canadian firm bid on this contract. The ministers will express dismay, the MPs on the committee will all preen for the cameras, each expressing their dismay and sometimes outrage that these jobs are going to China and not Canada (never mind that no Canadian firm bid on this contract). It will be one big circle-jerk of dismay, while the CEO of BC Ferries will probably appear to say that the Infrastructure Bank loan is a loan that needs to be repaid, and that no Canadian firms bid on this contract. And everything will be done in service of clips for social media, because that’s all Parliament is any more.

Ukraine Dispatch

There is at least one dead and over 71 wounded in drone attacks on Kharkiv, as well as a death following an attack on Odesa and more injuries following a drone strike on Zaporizhzhia. Many of those attacks continued to be aimed at military recruitment offices in order to disrupt intake of new fighters. Trump says he’ll start sending more weapons to Ukraine, but who knows how long it’ll last this time.

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1942141632620495134

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Roundup: Passing a flawed bill with a demand for trust

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Bill C-5 passed the Senate yesterday afternoon, little more than 24 hours after it was first tabled in that Chamber. Because they did a pre-study in committee of the whole, the bill went directly to Third Reading debate. There were a number of amendments tabled, some of them pointing out legitimate drafting errors in the bill, and all of them defeated, some on voice votes, some on recorded divisions. A few themes emerged through debate and proposed amendments, many of which were around the concerns of Indigenous people. It wasn’t just the lack of consultation, and it wasn’t just the stories of Indigenous senators’ staff being subjected to racist tirades over the phone. Some of it was, quite correctly, the concern that these projects will move ahead and the local First Nations will be screwed out of a financial stake in these projects yet again. None of this swayed enough senators to risk actually making amendments, because they have been sufficiently cowed into going along with the government’s ludicrous insistence that this is of such great urgency that there can be no delays, which amending would mean, either by needing to recall the House of Commons to deal with, or to postpone passage of the bill until September.

Another theme that kept being brought up, which continue to annoy me, is that the Canadian Senate is somehow or should be bound by a kind of “Salisbury Convention” like the House of Lords, which it isn’t, and frankly should not apply here. “Oh, the government campaigned on this and won the election, so we shouldn’t oppose it.” They didn’t campaign on an open-ended Henry VIII clause that is ripe for abuse, but that’s what these senators just rushed through. The Government Leader, Senator Marc Gold, told senators that they “Have to trust the government.” No, you absolutely do not. In fact, it is your job not to “just trust” them. I can’t believe I need to say that. So many senators just abdicated their responsibilities, and then patted themselves on the back for it.

And the government now has a giant Henry VIII clause that they promise to use responsibly—really! Just trust them!

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-06-26T20:11:56.159Z

Here is @senatorpaulasimons.bsky.social's appearance on #PnPCBC.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-06-27T00:06:53.676Z

I also have to take a moment to push back against something that was said in debate, which was when the Conservative leader in the Senate, Senator Housakos, claimed that they needed to pass this bill to “bend some environmental rules” because the country is “facing bankruptcy.” Like hell it is. The rush to denigrate the record of the past decade, where the country faced some very serious challenges including a global pandemic which they have mostly memory-holed, did call for some higher spending, but we are nowhere near the “debt bomb” levels of the 1990s, and people need to stop pretending otherwise. And we especially don’t need this kind of absolute horseshit to justify bad legislation and Henry VIII clauses, because that’s the kind of genie you may not be able to put back in the bottle. Yikes.

Programming Note: I’m taking an extended long weekend, through Canada Day, because I am exhausted. See you on the flipside, everyone!

Ukraine Dispatch

Ukraine’s top commander says that they have halted Russia’s advance into the Sumy region, and have stabilised the front lines. Russia claims to have taken the village of Shevchenko in Donetsk region, which is near a lithium deposit that they covet.

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Roundup: Forgiveness over permission, C-5 edition

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With hours left on the clock before the House of Commons would vote on Bill C-5, per the terms of the Closure motion passed earlier in the week, the Speaker agreed with an NDP motion that yes, the bill was indeed abusive omnibus legislation and agreed to split it into two parts to separate it for the final vote. It was a bit late to do so, because there was no ability to only advance one half and not the other, and it wasn’t going to matter much either considering that the Conservatives were going to vote in favour of it (because they absolutely want this Henry VIII clause on the books if they should form government in the next five years). And so, the first half of the bill, on the federal trade barriers, got near-unanimous support with only Elizabeht May voting against it, and the second half on major projects—and that Henry VIII clause—had the Bloc, the NDP, Elizabeth May and Liberal Nathaniel Erskine-Smith vote against it, not that those numbers made any kind of difference.

After the bill passed, Carney called a press conference in the Foyer, and had every Indigenous MP in the caucus as his backdrop (with a few others dropping in), and he insisted that it simply wasn’t communicated effectively how much Indigenous participation would be required for these projects, and that they would respect UNDRIP, and yes they would hold consultations with rights-holders over the summer to ensure that implementation of this legislation would be done “the right way.” Oh, and he totally swears that he’s not going to put a Henry VIII clause in any other bills—really! But all of those assurances left a sour taste.

It very much seems that Carney has taken the route of asking for forgiveness rather than permission, which is a really strange way to go about building trust with those rights-holders, especially when your MPs refused to let them speak at committee or have any participation in the legislative process. And you will forgive me if I don’t believe that they won’t ever use that Henry VIII clause to bulldoze over UNDRIP obligations on a project, because they gave themselves those powers for a reason. And if they think that they got away with asking for forgiveness rather than permission worked this time, who’s to say they won’t try that again when they do use those powers? Let’s not kid ourselves.

— Effin' Birds (@effinbirds.com) 2025-06-20T22:56:10.284Z

Ukraine Dispatch

Drone attacks from Russia in the early hours of Thursday hit apartment buildings in Kharkiv and Odesa. There was another POW swap, and again, numbers were not disclosed. President Zelenskyy says that Ukraine is developing interceptor drones to deal with the Russian drones, whose numbers have increased in the past weeks.

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QP: Day three of the same GC Strategies response

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As the countdown to the G7 summit was on, the PM was not in the House for Question Period today, nor was Andrew Scheer. That left it up to Leslyn Lewis to lead off, raising their Supply Day motion to force GC Strategies to repay their contracts. Anita Anand said she would get go the question, but wanted to raise their air crash in India that included one Canadian aboard. Lewis also extended condolences, before repeating her question. This time, Joël Lightbound recited the talking points about barring GC Strategies, and that there are RCMP investigations and legal actions ongoing. Bob Zimmer read the same script, and demanded support for their motion. Lightbound released his same response. Zimmer said that the answer wouldn’t cut it, but got much the same response. Dominique Vien recited the French version of the same script, and Lightbound recited his same points en français. Vien tried again, and got the same answer one last time. 

Christine Normandin led for the Bloc, and decried that the government is planning to invoke closure on Bill C-5, which would steamroll fossil fuel projects and gut environmental assessments. Steven MacKinnon insisted that this was necessary in response to the trade war that the Americans started. Normandin corrected stated that this bill needed more study, and MacKinnon responded that Quebec voted for 44 Liberal MPs, as though that justified a Henry VIII clause in that bill. Patrick Bonin took over and said those 44 Quebec Liberals voted to steal from Quebec when they voted against the Bloc motion to extend the rebates for Quebeckers. This time Steven Guilbeault pointed out that there is still an industrial pricing system, and that Quebec’s price under cap-and-trade is below the price in the rest of the country.

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Roundup: What transnational repression?

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Prime minister Mark Carney had a big day planned with the tabling of his big “One Canada Economy” bill, and he managed to stomp all over his own message with news that he had a call with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and invited him to attend the G7 summit in Kananaskis in a couple of weeks. There was a bit of a collective WTF from around the country considering that we still have not resolved the issue with the Modi government being credibly accused of ordering the murder of Canadian citizens on Canadian soil, along with other extortion rackets. Not only was this upsetting to Sikhs in Canada, but it also came on the anniversary of the attack on the Golden Temple in India, showing once again that Carney has inadequate political sense and is being poorly advised by those who allegedly have more political experience than he does.

chat is it normal to invite the head of a govt alleged to have been involved in the extrajudicial killing a canadian citizen on canadian soil to canada asking for a diaspora

— Supriya Dwivedi (@supriya.bsky.social) 2025-06-06T14:11:12.637Z

honestly hard to see this as anything other than the Carney govt thinking some canadian lives matter more than others it will also be incredibly difficult to take anything this govt says on transnational repression and foreign interference seriously given this pivot

— Supriya Dwivedi (@supriya.bsky.social) 2025-06-06T14:12:22.745Z

Carney defended the move by insisting this was about economic ties, and that he had reassurances that the law-enforcement process was ongoing (which India has refused cooperation around, and instead chose to make up a bunch of absolute horseshit about drugs supposedly being found on Trudeau’s plane). Others insisted that this was a diplomatic necessity, because diplomacy is not a reward for good behaviour (true!) and also stated that the other six members of the G7 have no problem with India and that Canada is an outlier. I would caveat that, however—the US has had their problems with India around this very problem, because some of it was also happening on US soil, and many other G7 countries don’t have the same Indian diaspora as Canada, which doesn’t mean that they would be safe from these kinds of activities. I would also say that there is an added implicit message with this invitation that you can essentially get away with murder if you’re economically important enough, and that’s a really, really bad message to send in this era of increasing authoritarianism and the democratic backsliding happening in Western countries.

On that note, Carney also had a call with Chinese premier Li Qiang, at his behest, about regularising communications channels. No doubt Carney has motivations of trying to get China to lift their tariffs on our agricultural and seafood products, which were in retaliation for our EV tariffs (because China is trying to behave in a predatory manner by trying to build a tech monoculture to suffocate our own EV industry). Not to mention, China continues to be a bad actor with its own foreign interference and transnational repression, so again, it is looking a lot like Carney is behaving like it’s 1995 and just one more trade deal with China will make them more democratic and respect human rights. Really! We mean it this time!

The last word goes to The Beaverton, who got it just right.

Carney limits G7 guests to one assassination each

— The Beaverton (@thebeaverton.com) 2025-06-06T21:09:26.706Z

Ukraine Dispatch

Russia launched another missile and drone attack on Ukraine in the early hours of Friday, killing at least six people. They claim this these are “military targets” in retaliation for Ukrainian “terrorist acts” against Russia, when of course we know this is nothing but bullshit. Ukrainian drones hit an industrial enterprise in Russia’s southern city of Engels.

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Roundup: No list of projects, unsurprisingly

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In the wake of the First Ministers’ meeting in Saskatoon, there was no list of priority projects that they planned to fast-track, and a bunch of media and pundits seemed surprised by that even though it would likely have been an impossibility given the timeline. What we got instead was more of a process that they plan to use in order to designate these projects on an ongoing basis, which makes a lot more sense from a reality-based perspective. (Photo gallery here).

That didn’t stop the questions on pipelines, even though there are no actual projects being proposed by any proponent (and I have more on that in my column out later today). I do think it’s a problem that legacy media are focusing on pipelines as though they are the be-all-end-all of projects, particularly given the economics involved. They are not magical money trees. Building them will not “unlock” trillions of dollars in the oil sands, and frankly, at a time when the country is literally burning, you would think that we would have a bit more of a critical conversation around that, but no. Oh, and the fact that they are talking about “de-carbonized” oil and gas projects is…mostly fantasy. Pathways Alliance are grifters. It’s not going to capture and store carbon on an industrial scale, and not enough for you to ramp up production. This just seems completely ridiculous on its face, but Danielle Smith thinks she’s getting a win out of this, so I’m mostly just throwing up my hands.

As well, none of these “nation-building” projects involved things like, oh, funding university research networks so that we can not only take advantage of the intellectual resources in this country, but also take advantage of the ”brain drain” in the US as they dismantle their universities in an ideologically-driven crusade, and considering that the premiers were around the table, and this is their responsibility, it would have been great if they could have paid the slightest bit of attention to that, but nope. This country sometimes…

https://bsky.app/profile/emmettmacfarlane.com/post/3lqnyktksck2m

— Effin' Birds (@effinbirds.com) 2025-06-02T22:08:15.235Z

Ukraine Dispatch

Russia’s overnight attacks have killed one person in Kharkiv and injured several more in Chernihiv. As well, shelling in Kramatorsk killed at least five people. President Zelenskyy answered more questions on the Spiderweb operation, and confirmed that his was more than a year in planning. At the talks in Istanbul, there was only an agreement to swap dead and wounded prisoners, but little more.

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Roundup: Singh says he’s not dead yet

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Day thirty-two, and we are reaching the phase of the campaign where resources and people are being shifted to ridings that they are most concerned about, and the leaders’ stops will reflect this. There is also talk that the Conservatives are pouring resources into Poilievre’s own riding because it increasingly feels in jeopardy, in part because the Liberal challenger has been working the doors for four years.

Mark Carney was in Victoria, where he gave the BC-centric version of his campaign pitch, before making stops in White Rock, New Westminster, and Surrey, which is a direct play for the NDP seats in the area. Carney will start the day in Port Moody, BC, before heading to Winnipeg.

Pierre Poilievre was in Stoney Creek, Ontario, where he thanked police associations for their endorsement before reiterating his plan to give them new powers to dismantle tent encampments (as though that solves any of the underlying problems that has led to their rise). He then headed to Trenton, Nova Scotia, for a rally. Poilievre will start the day in Halifax before heading to Saskatoon, as he has not yet stopped in Saskatchewan this election.

Jagmeet Singh was in Edmonton to re-announce his “plan” for national rent control, which is exclusive provincial jurisdiction, and to declare that he’s not dead yet, and there are still five days left. He then headed to Winnipeg to shore up their two seats there. Singh participated in an AFN virtual meeting, where he made a tonne of promises he can’t keep.  Singh will start his day in Winnipeg before heading to Toronto.

In other campaign news, the after it was pointed out that the Conservatives left out their promise to “fight woke ideology” from their platform document, they said that was a publishing error and put it back in. The Logic has their longread profileof Poilievre. Mélanie Joly has openly called for a majority parliament while Carney has been cagey, so cue the tut-tutting about “arrogance” and so on. The Star fact-checks Carney’s statements last week (and this remains the dumbest possible fact-check methodology).

Poilievre says he doesn't watch TV, but "a little bit of UCF on my YouTube." That…tracks, actually.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-04-23T14:54:48.403Z

Ukraine Dispatch

A massive missile and drone strike hit Kyiv overnight, killing nine and injuring at least 63. Russian drones killed seven in a strike on the city of Marhanets, while an energy facility in Kherson was destroyed by Russian artillery and drone attacks. A Ukrainian drone strike damaged a Russian drone production site in Tatarstan. President Zelenskyy is rejecting any “peace” proposal that would surrender Crimea to Russia permanently.

https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1915005378225373500

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Roundup: A Harper-esque repackaging

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Day twenty, and it was a pretty quiet day in terms of announcements, where both the Conservatives and NDP just repackaged their existing promises. Mark Carney was in Ottawa to meet with his Canada-US Cabinet committee, and didn’t make any announcements, and had very limited media availability. When he did speak, Carney warned that global economies were slowing because of the US tariffs, and said that part of the meeting was about giving instructions to officials for preparing for negotiations with Trump post-election, whoever forms/retains government.

Pierre Poilievre was in St. Catharines, Ontario, where he repackaged his announcements to date and called them the Canada First Economic Action Plan™, because he decided that what he really needed a Harper-esque branding. He later put out a release about making banks recognise skilled trade apprenticeships to be able to put RESPs toward. He also declared that a Conservative government wouldn’t legislate restrictions on abortion (but I suspect there is a truck-sized loophole to that promise around private members’ bills about the rights of the unborn or some other chicanery which would get an ostensible free vote), and rejected Kory Teneycke’s assessment of “campaign malpractice.” Poilievre will be back in Ottawa today, and making an announcement in Nepean.

Jagmeet Singh was in Ottawa at the Broadbent Centre’s Progress Summit, where he packaged his recycled policy ideas to date as protecting “what makes Canada, Canada.” Singh will be in Timmins, Ontario, this evening.

In other campaign news, here is a comparison of the Liberal and Conservative policies on criminal justice. The CBC decided to start fact-checking crowd size claims at Liberal and Conservative events using crowd science experts, and they are both over-reporting (though the Conservatives are doing so much more egregiously).

Ukraine Dispatch

The Ukrainian parliament looks to extend martial law powers, which pushes back the possibility of new elections. The Americans’ special envoy on peace negotiations with Russia wants Ukraine to give up four regions that Russia only partially occupies, which Ukraine is rejecting.

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Roundup: The magical money tree of tax shelters

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Day seventeen, and while the western leg of the tours rolled along, the announcements were decidedly more tepid after Monday’s double-headers. Mark Carney was in Delta, BC, and announced that his housing plan would favour more homes built with Canadian lumber, hence trying to offset some of the issue with higher American tariffs on softwood. Carney starts the day in Calgary, before heading to Saskatoon.

Pierre Poilievre was in Edmonton, and promised to crack down on tax havens and book $1 billion to the treasury for it—a wildly optimistic number considering that you usually need to spend a fair amount to recover that much because doing the work of cracking down takes a lot of resources. And along the way, he essentially said he’d open the door to small businesses to evade taxes because resources would be directed away from them. This was really just an attempt to take a shot at Carney because Brookfield used Bermuda as a tax haven for certain investments, which Carney could not sufficiently and explicitly denounce when asked about it, for which the Conservatives and NDP pounced. The other notable part of the day for the Conservatives was Poilievre badgering and hectoring reporters to lavish praise on the size of his Edmonton rally, which sounds awfully similar to another guy obsessed with the size of his…crowds. Poilievre starts his day in Sault Ste. Marie, and then heads to Brampton.

Another magical money tree.The Conservatives are really starting to sound like the NDP here…

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-04-08T14:55:29.888Z

Jagmeet Singh was in Vancouver and his home riding in Burnaby, and didn’t make any actual announcements—he just sent out a series of press releases sniping at Liberal candidates who were in the real estate business in the area and Carney himself, for what it’s worth. Singh remains in Vancouver, and heads to Saskatoon later in the day.

In other campaign news, Poilievre’s tone toward Carney is getting a harder edge as he insists that Carney was not a businessman but a “political grifter,” (never mind that Poilievre has also never  been a businessman), and we’re into trading jabs about haircuts and resumes.

Ukraine Dispatch

Russian drones attacked Dnipro and Kharkiv overnight, injuring at least 17 people. Russians also claim to have driven Ukrainian soldiers out of the Kursk region. President Zelenskyy says that two Chinese nationals have been captured fighting alongside Russians in the eastern Donetsk region, and that they have information that there are more.

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Roundup: Security clearances back in the spotlight

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Day three of the campaign, and Mark Carney remained in Halifax, where he had an announcement at the Irving Shipyard about his plans to continue recapitalizing the Royal Canadian Navy, and pledged to fill all 14,500 vacancies in the Canadian Forces expeditiously (and good luck with that). He also promised to expand the mandate of the Canadian Coast Guard, and that’s a lot of expensive promises for someone who wants to balance the “operating budget” and still give a tax cut. Over the course of the day, Carney also mispronounced the name of one of his “star” candidates in Montreal, and misidentified the École Polytechnique as Concordia (where another shooting did happen), which she forgave him for, but these are more rookie mistakes creeping in. Up next on the tour will be Windsor, Ontario, then London and Kitchener.

https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt/status/1904280770199347527

Pierre Poilievre was in the GTA and promised to expand his proposed GST cut on new homes to now cover all new homes under $1.3 million—a pledge that has both upsides and downsides. There was also a bit of a gaffe with the sign on the lectern, where it looked like two separate verb-the-noun slogans of “Axe the Sales!” and “Tax on Homes.” That wasn’t the case, but someone should have caught that. He also insisted that people wouldn’t lose their federal dental or pharamacare coverage, but was unclear on just who would be covered under his government (and I have a hard time believing that given the scale of cuts that need to happen to fund his promises). He then headed to Hamilton in the evening for another rally.

https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt/status/1904565775353987257

https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt/status/1904565818949538241

As for Jagmeet Singh, he was in Hamilton and mostly complained about Brookfield being capitalists as a way to talk down Mark Carney, and somehow that was supposed to tie into affordable housing, but I couldn’t see anything actually being announced. He did boast about union endorsements, but did admit that the party is facing challenges (as their poll numbers continue to plummet), but insist he’s still in the fight. Today he’s still in Hamilton for his announcement (trying to save the seats there, no doubt) before heading to London, Ontario.

The big story of the day, however, was the revelation in the Globe and Mail that CSIS did allege that India organised support for Poilievre’s leadership campaign (not that he really needed it), but also that they couldn’t brief him on this because he refuses to get his security clearance. Poilievre insisted this was a partisan smear, spun a conspiracy theory about a trip Carney took to Beijing after he was made the Liberal economic advisor, before returning to the falsehood that getting his clearance would be a “gag order,” and seemed wholly unaware that the bigger issue for him to be briefed on was who in his party may be compromised so that he, as party leader, can deal with the matters internally. This having been said, there are questions about the timing of this leak, but we can’t be sure that this was someone trying to put their thumb on the scales in the election when it’s very possible that the Globe sat on this for a while with the intention of dropping it during the campaign so that they can be seen to be setting the agenda, and not the parties. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time a media outlet has done that.

Indeed. Looks like an attempt to influence the election. (First leaks make it seem like an attempt to get Trudeau booted.) I have very little time for this type of politicking from an intelligence insider. Anti-democratic. This is "thumb on the scale" bullshit.

— Jess Davis (@jessmarindavis.bsky.social) 2025-03-25T11:47:00.103Z

I am on TeamIgnorantCritic: that PP just does not want the responsibility of knowing stuff–he'd rather spew whatever bs he wants. I don't think he had the foresight to anticipate this foreign election interference stuff.

— Steve Saideman (@smsaideman.bsky.social) 2025-03-25T18:18:01.580Z

Comes with the territory when you cover #cdnpoli for a living.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-03-26T01:37:45.877Z

Ukraine Dispatch

Russia launched 139 drones and missiles at Ukrainian targets overnight Monday, with damage and injuries in the Poltava region. A partial truce on energy and sea attacks was reached with American help, though the Americans are looking to ease sanctions on Russian fertilizer (which only helps their war effort, guys). President Zelenskyy warns, however, that Russia is already trying to manipulate and distort those accords, not that this should be a surprise.

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