Tag Archives: Immigration

Roundup: Poor widdle baby oil companies

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The oil and gas sector in Alberta has decided that with the situation in Iran going on, and the federal government’s stated desire to export more in order to be the so-called “energy superpower,” that they are going to flex their muscles more, and demand that carbon pricing or other regulatory measures need to go. It’s a load of bullshit, however there are a whole lot of people who will uncritically believe that the sector are just widdle babies who are so hard done by and that any carbon pricing is just too much for them to handle.

Energy economist Andrew Leach is calling bullshit, because if they are so fragile that they can’t withstand pennies on a barrel (because remember, they are also generating a tonne of credits under Alberta’s carbon pricing system) then it’s incredibly suspect. And these are the companies who also insisted that Pathways was their future, and that with that technology, they could increase production without emissions. Now they’re claiming it’s impossible to do without the federal government paying for the whole thing, which is pretty much just tearing off the fig leaf—either they were lying the whole time (which is why they panicked when greenwashing legislation came into effect), or they simply think they can get away with crying poor and that the federal government needs to pay for everything. Neither case looks good on them, but they figure they have the leverage, and they fully intend to use it.

https://twitter.com/andrew_leach/status/2051299335846178946

https://twitter.com/andrew_leach/status/2051304919945371814

May the 4th

In past years, a lot of government departments got in on the action. This year? Hardly any. StatsCan used the opportunity to launch the census, and CSIS of all departments put out a tweet, but that seemed to be it. Which is too bad. Departments used to really get into it, and you had some really good tweets, and some abysmal ones, and it was fun to rank them. (Also, valiant effort by CSIS, but they got the wrong photo. That’s not Cracken—this is. They got Blount. And yes, I am a Star Wars nerd).

https://twitter.com/Canada/status/2051312054875603265

https://twitter.com/StatCan_eng/status/2050983876684554321

Ukraine Dispatch

A mid-morning Russian missile attack hit the Kharkiv region, killing two and wounding over thirty. Russia also hit five energy facilities in the past day. Data shows Russia has targeted port facilities ten times more than the past year. Russia claims they will observe a ceasefire for their Victory Day festivities, and Ukraine says they will abide by it.

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QP: The magic of balanced budgets

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The PM was absent once again, off to Oakville to tout his plan to invest in the skilled trades, while back in the House of Commons, the Conservatives had a Supply Day where their motion was on denouncing the “sovereign wealth fund” plan. With that in mind, Pierre Poilievre was also absent, leaving it up to Melissa Lantsman to lead off, reciting the scripts about the so-called “credit card” budget and debt servicing charges, and wondered when the government would stop. Patty Hajdu wondered if their support for skilled trades was “inflationary spending” and quoted the building trades unions. Lantsman said the government debts were “killing” Canadians, and Hajdu again listed all of those skilled trades who were being supported by the government. Andrew Scheer took over, and he also read the same lines, added that the deficit was double Justin Trudeau’s, and said some nonsense about inflation. John Zerucelli got up to note that the Conservatives haven’t talked about workers, and then read some quotes from building trades unions. Scheer obliged and said that workers were tired of having no spending power, and quote a Globe and Mail editorial to make his point. Gregor Robertson got up to say the Conservatives never want to talk about affordable housing, and how those new tradespeople would help build it. Pierre Paul-Hus took over in French, and he quoted another columnist who decried the lack of fiscal discipline in the spring update. Mélanie Joly said that she was flabbergasted that the Conservatives don’t take the tariff war seriously. Paul-Hus tried again, and Joly defended the social safety net for when Canadian need it.

Yves Perron led for the Bloc, and he decried that there was no support for more businesses affected by the tariff changes while oil companies were getting handouts. Julie Dabrusin praised their strategies for electric vehicles and clean energy—which wasn’t the question. Perron then worried that the was no added support for the media or pensioners unlike oil company. Joly was incredulous as those talking points, and said that she was just in contact with the Quebec finance minister. Patrick Bonin denounced the tax credit for enhanced oil recovery in the spring update, and Dabrusin got back up to praise the nature strategy in the update, which again was not the question.

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Roundup: It’s not an end to partisan games

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The narratives around the motion to rebalance committees have become pretty much unhinged. Most legacy media outlets described the move as “seizing control,” when that’s not what is happening, or how this works, but it sounds dramatic so that’s what they’re running with. Meanwhile, the Government House Leader has claimed that this will help end “silly partisan games,” which also isn’t true at all. If anything, the fact that there is a majority means that the opposition will double down on these partisan games because they are less likely to accidentally do something that could trigger an election (which is the real reason that the Conservatives have been so much more cooperative and willing to let bills pass on division rather than with standing votes). This does give the government more tools to shut down antics, but it won’t end the antics. Far from it. And it’s just precious that Andrew Scheer of all people is taking offence to the National Post using this as a headline. Both-sidesing for me but not for thee!

Amateur media critic Andrew Scheer is badmouthing the National Post! *gasp!* The Conservatives are just so hard done by!

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-04-23T04:07:31.566Z

As part of this, the government has rejected the proposal by Scheer and the Conservatives to maintain an opposition majority on the three opposition-chaired “oversight” committees, and claims that this is about the Liberals trying to shut down investigations into their corruption, which is both hyperbolic and ignorant of history. Some of us have been on the Hill for a while now, and we remember that when the Harper government went from a minority to a majority parliament that they also took over committees and stripped them of any vestige of independence that they still had, and turned them all into branch plants of ministers’ offices. I wonder who the Speaker was at that time? Oh, wait—it was Scheer. Meanwhile, under the past couple of parliaments, the Conservatives have led a charge to not only turn these “oversight” committees into partisan clown shows so that they can harvest clips from them, but they have absolutely perverted some of the most serious and grown-up committees such as Public Accounts in order to have them do things like conduct witch hunts into the Trudeau Foundation (which has absolutely nothing to do with Public Accounts’ mandate), destroying the best committee that there was. (And before you ask, you can thank former NDP MP Blake Desjarlais for going along with it).

Meanwhile, on the subject of accountability, reporters asked prime minister Mark Carney why he’s not going to Question Period more, and he gave some nonsense about the government operating as a “team” so they can answer, before taking a swipe at the quality of the questions being asked. And I mean, fair play that the questions have been uniquely terrible, however a) as prime minister, it’s his job to go to QP whether he likes it or not; and b) just because the questions are terrible, it doesn’t mean the answers have to be. Instead of just repeating a couple of self-congratulatory talking points, Carney could instead be using facts to dismantle the very premise of Poilievre’s questions, particularly around his claims about economic growth, “money-printing,” food price inflation, and so on, but he doesn’t, and that’s a choice, and it’s a choice that makes everyone worse-off in the end.

— Effin' Birds (@effinbirds.com) 2026-04-22T13:08:07.565Z

Ukraine Dispatch

Russian drones attacked infrastructure in Odesa early Wednesday, and have hit an apartment block in Dnipro this early this morning. The Druzhba pipeline has restarted, and thanks to Hungary’s new government, the €90 billion EU loan to Ukraine has been unblocked.

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QP: Taking swipes about affordability comments

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The PM was in town but elsewhere, and had previously responded to reporters’ questions that morning about his lack of QP attendance as letting his team handle it because they work as a team, which doesn’t excuse his obligations as prime minister when it comes to the exercise of accountability. Pierre Poilievre was also absent, leaving it up to Andrew Scheer to lead off, and he returned to yesterday’s peevish demand that the prime minister recant his previous statement that affordability is the best it’s been in a decade. Patty Hajdu took the opportunity to praise the Canada Summer Jobs Programme, which has opened for the season. Scheer took a swipe about the prime minister not buying his own groceries, and this time, Adam van Koeverden took the opportunity to take a swipe of his own at the Conservatives’ anti-intellectual approach, and Scheer’s falsified credentials in that he never did get his insurance licence. Tim Uppal took over, and read his own script about the prime minister’s assurance about affordability, and Steve MacKinnon took this one, pointing to the conflicts that have created supply disruptions globally, which was why the government lowered the fuel excise tax. Uppal demanded that the government deliver results, to which Wayne Long pointed to how much people will save thanks to the government’s tax cuts so far. Pierre Paul-Hus was up next to read the same script en français, and Joël Lightbound took this one, praising the government’s enhanced GST credit as well as the cut on the fuel excise tax. Paul-Hus tried one more time, and this time Lightbound pointed to how many people in Paul-Hus’ riding benefitted from programmes like dental care. 

Christine Normandin led off for the Bloc, and after noting that it is Earth Day, she pointed out that the government is testing the waters on new pipelines while southern Quebec is facing floods brought on by climate change. Nathalie Provost touted the government’s plan for nature and protecting thirty percent of land and waters. Normandin was not mollified and wanted pro-environment Liberals to speak. Provost insisted that the world is in a precarious place which is why they are working on different levels with their nature strategy. Patrick Bonin took over to encourage people to fight back against pipelines and subsidies for oil companies. Provost repeated her line about working on several levels, and working with Indigenous People while they build and build well. 

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QP: Demanding Carney debate him

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The PM was present today, as were all of the other leaders. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and he took issue with a statement that Carney made in March about affordability being the best it’s been in ages. Carney said that what he said was about costs and wages, and that wages are now rising at double the rate of inflation. Poilievre disputed this and listed things that he claims Carney was wrong about, to which Carney noted that they measure affordability using rates and wages, and wages are increasing Faster, while things like rents are decreasing. Poilievre switched to English to lament the high food price inflation, and returned to the comment about affordability being the best its been in years. Carney stated that the record is that since he’s been prime minister, wages have risen faster than inflation, before he plugged the enhanced GST credit. Poilievre again disputed that this was wrong, and Carney again noted that asking rents have been declining, and that wages are increasing. Poilievre again took issue with affordability and demanded Carney acknowledge that, and Carney defended the measures and wage levels. Poilievre continued to insist that Carney was wrong, and Carney again touted the entranced GST credit and their cuts to fuel and income taxes.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he took a swipe at the new Canada–U.S. trade advisory committee before lamenting the issue of tariffs. Carney praised the members of the committee, naming Quebec members. Blanchet demanded temporary measures for companies affected by the latest round of tariffs, and Carney pointed out that these tariffs were global and yes, they are considering temporary measures. Blanchet again worried about the affected sectors, and Carney gave more reassurances. 

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Roundup: Undeserved back-patting for recruitment figures

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Defence minister David McGuinty held a press conference yesterday to tout that the recruiting numbers in the military are way up, and this was a sign that the government is on track with their goals to recapitalise the military. But sure, there are still several trades that they are short in, and sure, they’re still quite a bit below the targets set in 2017, but it’s a start, right?

There are a few things at play here that deserve to be teased out. One of them is that people are saying this has to do with the pay raise, but I’m sceptical because the biggest problem with recruitment has long been the military’s poor intake process, which has been overly cumbersome, has dragged out the security screening process, and as they are admitting now, they don’t have enough beds in basic training to accommodate the increase in numbers. That’s pretty much entirely on the military’s internal processes and has precious little to do with the federal government’s handling of the file in any capacity, which makes it very hard for them to pat themselves on the back for it. (One might almost call that “stolen valour”). Over the past several years, the military’s internal delays were so bad that people who wanted to serve wound up walking away because it took too long, and they found jobs elsewhere. Again, it wasn’t an issue about pay, or military housing, it was that the Forces couldn’t get their own internal bureaucracy in line, and that again is on them.

There is another conversation that nobody is having here around this, which is the correlation between the job market and military recruitment. One of the other reasons recruitment has been poor for three decades now is because the job markets changed in the country, particularly in traditionally economically-depressed regions like the east coast, which used to see high recruitment numbers. What changed? Direct flights to Fort McMurray. The promise of oil sands cash for little education, and things like two-weeks-on/two-weeks-off shifts and living in camps meant good money for people from the region, so there wasn’t any need to sign up to the military to find stable employment. And now that is starting to shift back—there are no longer jobs aplenty in Fort Mac as the oil and gas sector has radically increased automation and productivity, and there are no longer unlimited jobs for high school dropouts that get six figure salaries. That is shifting the calculation around the country, and I suspect it is going to be one of the bigger drivers of recruitment more than anything the government has done around pay or base housing.

— Effin' Birds (@effinbirds.com) 2026-04-20T19:15:34.667Z

Ukraine Dispatch

The death toll from a shooting spree in Kyiv has reached seven; the police chief has already tendered his resignation for it.

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Roundup: The thing about windfall taxes

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In the discussion over “pausing” the excise tax on gasoline and diesel, and the Conservatives’ demands that all other fuel charges be scrapped (including the clean fuel standard which is not a charge or a tax), versus the NDP’s call for a price cap and windfall tax, there hasn’t been a lot of discussion about what those will mean.

Enter economist Kevin Milligan, who has a good thread explaining the problem with windfall taxes, and why those advocating for them have a lot more explaining to do when it comes to just how they see them being implemented.

Adam asks a fair question here that has been bandied about. Let me offer two arguments against a windfall tax that I would wager FIN officials would make when advising cabinet on what to do. I'll also offer my own assessment of the two arguments.1/

— Kevin Milligan (@kevinmilligan.bsky.social) 2026-04-15T15:15:37.601Z

Why would FIN argue against an oil/gas windfall tax?FIN Arg #1: Ideally we set taxes in advance and then let firms and people make their choices based on those taxes. Changing taxes <i>ex post</i> risks upsetting investors who would view this as a mark of an unstable unserious country.

— Kevin Milligan (@kevinmilligan.bsky.social) 2026-04-15T15:17:39.157Z

My response: Yes, ideally we set taxes ex ante and let firms/people decide what to do. Changing that ex post is like reneging. All true. But I do think FIN overindexes on this argument. Every time we change taxes we literally 'renege' on the status quo./3

— Kevin Milligan (@kevinmilligan.bsky.social) 2026-04-15T15:19:52.099Z

If you took the 'no tax changes ex post' argument completely as sacrosanct, it essentially argues for no tax changes ever. That's silly.I also note the "no ex post changes because we're not a banana republic" argument only gets hauled out when it's a tax *increase*. Why not symmetric? Hmmm…/4

— Kevin Milligan (@kevinmilligan.bsky.social) 2026-04-15T15:21:48.449Z

Why would FIN argue against an oil/gas windfall tax?FIN Arg #2: How do you define a "windfall"? What is this year's profit? What is last year's profit? You realize these are accounting numbers, subject to lots of choice variables for shifting between tax years, right? /5

— Kevin Milligan (@kevinmilligan.bsky.social) 2026-04-15T15:24:09.737Z

Fin Arg #2 cont'd: The concern is that you'd end up with a lot of accounting gaming and not as much revenue as you'd think. A lot of time/effort/dollars spent on creating the tax law to minimize gaming. A lot of time/effort/dollars spent by firms avoiding a windfall tax law./6

— Kevin Milligan (@kevinmilligan.bsky.social) 2026-04-15T15:25:51.216Z

My take on accounting and windfall taxes:I recall reading historical precedents around WW2 (?) that outlined how much effort it was relative to the revenue. I recall that being persuasive. (Don't have the source at my fingertips….)But I take the windfall tax accounting issue seriously./7

— Kevin Milligan (@kevinmilligan.bsky.social) 2026-04-15T15:28:08.463Z

So, my advice to those who advocate for a windfall tax? The thing you could do to overcome government resistance is to look seriously at the accounting issues involved.Chanting slogans is one thing. Overcoming implementation barriers is maybe less fun, but necessary to gettin stuff done./end

— Kevin Milligan (@kevinmilligan.bsky.social) 2026-04-15T15:31:43.152Z

It only boils down to 'let the rich have their way' if you assume that windfall tax advocates aren't capable of getting their accounting shit together. Why be so defeatist?I outlined a path for advocates. If the response is 'gee that sounds hard' that's not my prob.bsky.app/profile/open…

— Kevin Milligan (@kevinmilligan.bsky.social) 2026-04-15T15:40:14.904Z

I'm not here to blow sunshine and tell you that hard things are easy. Hard things are hard. If you're determined you can do them. But if you don't want to do the work then I'm not going to take the proposal seriously.

— Kevin Milligan (@kevinmilligan.bsky.social) 2026-04-15T15:42:31.333Z

It’s clear that Avi Lewis hasn’t actually thought any of this through. He was on Power & Politics last night and kept trying to handwave away the questions about this plan, and it just kept boiling down to “oil companies bad.” I do think it’s a problem that we’re not seizing on this opportunity to make long-term investments to get off of our dependence on fossil fuels like the French did with their transition to nuclear in the seventies and eighties (because so much European power relied on Middle Eastern fossil fuels up until the oil embargo in the seventies), but nobody seems to want to have that conversation, and Carney has been pretty adamant that he thinks there is a future in the fossil fuel sector. It’s too bad we have no grown-ups who can have a serious conversation about this.

Ukraine Dispatch

Russia fired missiles into Kyiv early this morning, killing thirteen so far including twelve-year-old child and wounding several others. This was after more missile and drone attacks were made through the day, which included hitting an apartment building in Odesa. Ukraine’s army has been introducing new drone infantry capabilities, which has resulted in retaking more territory from Russian occupation.

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Roundup: Embracing dumb populist measures

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Apparently, everyone is getting in on the dumb populist moves when it comes to gasoline prices—prime minister Mark Carney included. In the morning, Carney announced that he was going to suspend the excise tax on fuel (10¢/litre for gasoline, 4¢/litre for diesel) until Labour Day in order to help with the rising cost of gasoline thanks to the Iran conflict, and gearing it to the summer travel season. This is not quite what the Conservatives have been demanding, which is to remove the excise tax, the GST and the clean fuel standard (which they deliberately misconstrue as a tax when it’s not even a charge). In both cases, it’s crass populism that is bad economics. If prices are rising due to external factors, credible economists will tell you the best thing to do is increase transfers to lower-income households because they need it most. Just cutting fuel prices at the time when they’re rising because of a global shortage encourages people to buy more, which exacerbates the shortage. And yes, we produce most of the gas we consume in this country, but not all parts of the country do, and the east coast in particular will be more vulnerable to the global shortage, and this could be very bad. This is certainly not the technocratic government that we were promised under Carney.

Hmm. Around the world I see oil/gas price caps, subsidizing demand for things in short supply.We have seen this before. Doesn't end well!

— Kevin Milligan (@kevinmilligan.bsky.social) 2026-04-14T16:52:07.899Z

Blake provides some solid technocratic economist advice.But in the age of slopulism there just doesn't seem to be any appetite for policy that delays gratification even minimally. bsky.app/profile/blak…

— Kevin Milligan (@kevinmilligan.bsky.social) 2026-04-14T16:57:34.839Z

Yeah, that's bad. Dumb populism.Think about it this way: If you had a pot of cash to hand out, who would you send it to? I'm guessing you wouldn't say: “Folks who drive a lot are obviously the neediest; that's who deserves my cash.. Also, I would love to subsidize reliance on foreign oil.”

— Justin Wolfers (@justinwolfers.bsky.social) 2026-04-14T23:23:40.959Z

Pierre Poilievre, meanwhile, has decided that his latest line of attack is to claim that Carney has been “badly educated” in economics, which is…hilarious. Poilievre has no economics training, but because he watches crypto bros on YouTube, he thinks he’s got a better economics understanding that someone with degrees from Harvard and Oxford, and was the governor of the central bank for two G7 countries. And when called out on it, he and Andrew Scheer are doubling down on it. The Dunning-Kruger Effect here is just blinding.

Tonda MacCharles: Pierre Poilievre called you badly educated in economicsMark Carney: Did he? Wow.

— Scott Robertson (@sarobertson.bsky.social) 2026-04-14T14:44:59.393Z

https://twitter.com/andrew_leach/status/2044206811390325191

Not to be outdone, Avi Lewis has his own plan for gas prices, which is to cap them and then charge windfall taxes on oil companies. Capping prices during a shortage will have the same effect as discounting prices, because the supply problem is not changed, and windfall taxes are tricky beasts because those companies will demand all kinds of government support the moment there is any kind of downturn.

It's mindless populism all the way down.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-04-14T21:54:32.368Z

https://twitter.com/andrew_leach/status/2044145727388139992

— Effin' Birds (@effinbirds.com) 2026-04-14T13:08:04.657Z

Ukraine Dispatch

A Russian missile strike on Dnipro killed at least five civilians. Ukraine has signed a deal with Norway for Norway to produce Ukrainian drones.

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Roundup: The benefit of the doubt for Gladu

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The Liberal convention is happening this weekend in Montreal, and it’s in part a way that prime minister Mark Carney is putting his stamp on the party now that he’s been leader for a year. It’s a different kind of convention—claimed to be the largest policy convention in the party’s history, and there are no American Democrats giving keynote speeches for the party faithful to fangirl over for a change—the keynote was Canadian Rick Hansen, which again, is a marked shift from years past.

Of course, so much of the oxygen is being taken up by the recent floor-crossers, Marilyn Gladu most especially, and while you have news stories talking about a “mixed reaction,” there is nevertheless a sense that pervades the quotes across news stories that delegates are Carney fans, and that they’re giving him the benefit of the doubt for welcoming them into the party, particularly if it gets them to a majority parliament that will being some stability. Chris d’Entremont and Matt Jeneroux have made comments of their own about feeling secure in their decisions, while progressive Liberals like Karina Gould and Stephen Guilbeault are couching their reservations about Gladu into an optimism that she knew what she was signing up for when she crossed over. For her part, Gladu is also talking about how she hopes this move will benefit her riding, though governments aren’t really supposed to favour only ridings they hold (even though it happens, especially provincially).

As for policy, it has been noticed that there isn’t much talk about Trump, even though he continues to dominate the political airwaves and is giving Carney much of his raison d’être for what he’s doing. There are policy resolutions on banning social media for minors, or limiting use of chatbots (but nobody seems to understand the massive problems associated with age verification).

Ukraine Dispatch

President Zelenskyy says that they are facing pressure both military as spring arrives, but also diplomatically as allies want them to stop hitting Russian oil and gas facilities as prices are so high. Farmers in Ukraine are now being hit by high fertilizer prices thanks to the Iran conflict.

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Roundup: Pushing ahead for a constitutional amendment

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Alberta premier Danielle Smith has decided that she’s not taking no for an answer when it comes to her demand for more say in the appointment of superior court judges in the provinces, and is putting forward a motion for a constitutional amendment to demand such a power, and is patterning it off of a similar motion from Quebec.

Feb 19 Ms Smith announces a referendum to initiate a process to amend s 96 of the Constitution (appointment of judges).And then today she announces, w/out waiting for that vote, that the Leg will be asked to adopt a motion on the same issue.Doesn't she trust voters?www.alberta.ca/release.cfm?…

— NigelBankes (@nigelb.bsky.social) 2026-03-31T00:31:00.468Z

Here's the text:

— NigelBankes (@nigelb.bsky.social) 2026-03-31T02:02:39.364Z

Smith will try and spin this (since it only refers to AB) as an amendment that only applies to AB and thus does not engage the 7/50 formula. Good luck with that.Also makes me wonder whether she spoke to Ontario and SK before hanging them out to dry (given the joint letter the other week).

— NigelBankes (@nigelb.bsky.social) 2026-03-31T02:06:19.965Z

Of course, along the way, she is making arguments for this that have no basis in reality. Alberta already appoints provincial court judges and justices of the peace, and she has invented whole cloth this notion that somehow federally-appointed judges are being parachuted into the province from outside. No—the people named to the bench are already lawyers within the province. The provincial judicial advisory committee selects from local candidates who apply, and has members of the local legal community vet them for suitability. There is no federal imposition happening here, other than the fact that it’s not Smith who gets to choose for her own ideological reasons.

This is ridiculous.1) Good luck opening that Pandora's Box.2) Alberta already appoints provincial court judges, which handle the bulk of criminal cases.3) The premise here is utterly false. Federally-appointed judges aren't parachuted in. They come from the province and communities they serve.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-03-31T02:08:27.386Z

OF course, this all in service of inventing a new grievance that has never existed before, because she needs to find new things to get the population riled up about. And you can bet that this is going to include more dramatics and histrionics about the fact that she is not being allowed to influence the next Supreme Court of Canada appointment, which is for a western seat on the Court (but is unlikely to be from Alberta given that Justice Moreau is already from Alberta, and there hasn’t been a Saskatchewan judge on the Court in quite a while now). But needing to invent new things to be mad about is her hobby, because if she didn’t, then people might turn their attention to her government’s incompetence and corruption.

It's just lies all the way down with Danielle Smith.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-03-31T02:08:27.387Z

— Effin' Birds (@effinbirds.com) 2026-03-30T22:08:01.849Z

Ukraine Dispatch

Russian attacks near Poltava killed one and injured three, while artillery strikes killed another person in Nikopol. Air defence units being formed by private companies are now in operation, which is meant to help take the burden off of the front-line units. President Zelenskyy says that security accords with Gulf countries are either signed or nearly so.

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