Tag Archives: Telecom

Roundup: Encouraging noises on health transfers

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There seems to be a noticeable shift in tone coming from several premiers when it comes to the federal government’s demands that there be more strings attached to future federal health care transfers, and that they seem to be realizing that their time-old tactics of simply blaming the federal government isn’t working as well as it used to. In part, I think that Justin Trudeau has stepped up his game on communication around this issue more than he usually does, and made effective use of his round of year-end interviews on this file, and showed that he was willing to give them more money, but that there needs to be changes rather than putting money into a broken system that won’t get meaningful results. I also think that shit is getting real for the premiers as we are now seeing an increasing number of deaths in ERs that should have been preventable, and that the patience of the population when it comes to children’s hospitals in particular is now gone, and they are being forced to wear it more than they would normally have had to in the past.

So, this sounds like an increased willingness to rebrand federal strings as “shared priorities,” and that’s a climbdown that premiers seem to be increasingly willing to live with. But then again, I wouldn’t trust all of the premiers, and in particular Doug Ford, whose math about new beds is false advertising, and who is hilariously claiming that new private surgery clinics won’t cannibalise hospital staff or resources, because of course they will. That’s the whole gods damned point. His “safeguards” will be as effective as toddler gates whose latches can be figured out and overcome within seconds. So, while it’s good to hear the shift in tone, I wouldn’t count any unhatched chickens just yet.

Ukraine Dispatch, Day 325:

Russians are once again claiming that they are now in control of the remains of Soledar, but the Ukrainians continue to say their units are still there and still fighting.

https://twitter.com/bachyns/status/1613939963237732365

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Roundup: Lost faith in the Ottawa Police Service

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Once again, a lot of threads to disentangle as the OPP Commissioner, Thomas Carrique, was on the stand at the Emergencies Act public inquiry, and what a lot of the day seemed to focus on (at least, from what I could tell from afar) were the texts he was exchanging with RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki. So, what did we learn? That the federal government had pretty much lost all confidence in the Ottawa Police and were discussing taking over the response to the occupation, even though Lucki was particularly reluctant to do so (and worried that the Emergencies Act would be used to make that happen). There was discussion about the OPP in particular taking over, and the Commissioner was ready to have that call before the Ottawa chief resigned. Once Peter Sloly was out of the way, an integrated command was set up. Also interesting was the comment that the Act was used to compensate tow truck drivers more than it was to compel their services (which could be a signal to the provinces about how they may need to update their own emergency legistlation).

https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/1585629449038577664

Carrique defended his comments that the occupation was a threat to national security, and the way that the blockade of the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor was handled differently than the Ottawa occupation. Documents provided to the inquiry showed that the FBI provided some support to the Ottawa Police during the occupation, likely around US-based support for it, so that lends some credence to the national security threat analysis.

https://twitter.com/acoyne/status/1585720241979629569

Ukraine Dispatch, Day 246:

Ukrainian forces attacked Russian forces occupying the southern city of Kherson, while fighting also intensified in the country’s east as Russians bombarded the city of Bakhmut. While Putin is denying he plans to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine (isn’t that a sign he will?), another mass grave was discovered in the village of Kopanky.

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QP: Framing food bank stats for their own ends

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Neither the prime minister nor his deputy were present today, nor were most other leaders, save Pierre Poilievre, who is nearly always present. Poilievre led off in French, worrying that 1.5 million visits to food banks and that this was Canada, but he blamed taxes for this. Randy Boissonnault noted that people are having a tough time, but this government had supports available while the Conservatives would rather see them on their own. Poilievre repeated the statistic in English, adding in a “triple, triple, triple” talking point to that, and this time Karina Gould delivered the same response. Poilievre called the $6000 hotel room in London as a (tortured) analogy about this government and that the party was over, but Gould got back up to point out that the Conservatives would have abandoned Canadians in their darkest hour in the pandemic. Poilievre tried to bring in WE and ArriveCan as examples of waste, and Boissonnault repeated Gould’s point more excitedly. Poilievre raised a media story of a family who over-leveraged themselves on their mortgage and their payments have gone up $2000 and wonders what the hell they do now. (The Speaker cautioned him against this). Ahmed Hussen rose to accuse Poilievre of “gatekeeping” rental supports for those who need it and dental care.

Alain Therrien rose for the Bloc, railed that the dental support was not adequate for Quebec families and wondered why the government just didn’t approach the Quebec government (because federal-provincial agreements are that easy). Pablo Rodriguez chided the Bloc for not caring enough about children. Therrien got even more exercise about this, to which Adam van Koeverden read a statement about the benefit being available to those who need it.

Alexandre Boulerice rose for the NDP, and he too raised the food bank usage figure, but blamed the government for not tackling corporate greed. Gould reminded him that this government has raised more children out of poverty than ever before. Alastair MacGregor repeated the same question in English (Champagne: I called on grocery CEOs to task them with taking action, and I demanded the Competition Bureau investigate the sector).

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Roundup: A hospitalized interpreter should be a wake-up call, but probably won’t be

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The inevitable has happened, and a parliamentary interpreter collapsed during a Senate committee meeting after an acoustic shock and was sent to hospital as a result, when the committee chair decided to go ahead with a meeting despite the fact that two witnesses appearing by video did not have appropriate headsets. And to add to matters, this interpreter was a freelancer and not in the union, so they won’t be getting sick pay for this injury either, given that they were filling in for the full-time, unionised interpreters who are on leave for the injuries they are all facing because of hybrid sessions and meetings, and the fact that the vast majority of MPs and senators simply do not care about their well-being, or the fact that these kinds of acoustic injuries can lead to permanent hearing loss. They don’t care because it would mean giving up the luxury of staying in their ridings rather than coming to Ottawa when they don’t want to, even if it means treating the interpretation staff like furniture. (And as we’ve established, they cannot simply hire more interpreters because there aren’t any more to hire—they’re not even graduating enough to meet the level of attrition from retirements and those quitting from injuries).

To add to this was Government House Leader Mark Holland appearing at the Procedure and House Affairs Committee, where they are debating extending hybrid sittings, possibly permanently, and he spoke about his suicide attempt after his 2011 election loss and used that tale as justification for extending hybrid. And as brave as Holland is to share that story, I find myself deeply disturbed by the fact that he is using it to push for a morally bankrupt proposition around making hybrid sittings permanent when he knows the human cost to them. I am also appalled that the lesson is trying to be “when an MP is struggling, let them work from home” rather than “when an MP is struggling, let them take the time they need to get better and not create an unrealistic and dangerous expectation of presenteeism.” MPs are allowed sick days and leaves of absence. They do not need to be on call 24/7, or to vote on every single issue. There were rules about pairing for absences for decades, and they worked just fine. It’s the same with the groups who keep appearing at PROC, such as Equal Voice, who insist that we need to make hybrid permanent to let more women with children participate in Parliament—it ignores the human toll on the interpreters (and when you raise it, they simply handwave it away with the magic words “we need to find a solution”), and frankly these MPs have the luxury of options when it comes to arrangements they can make. Hybrid or virtual sittings injures interpreters. If there is a technological solution, Parliament has been ignoring it. It is frankly morally reprehensible that they continue to have this debate at the expense of the health of these interpreters. It would be great if this publicised injury and hospitalisation were a wake-up call, but I am frankly too cynical at this point to believe that is going to happen.

Ukraine Dispatch, Day 244:

Russia continues to claim that Ukraine is planning to use a “dirty bomb,” which sounds increasingly like pretext for Russia to detonate one, and that they have been using their occupation of the Zaphorizhzhia nuclear plant to build it.

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QP: Those “heartless” increases to pensions and safety-nets

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The PM was in Newfoundland and Labrador to survey more damage from Hurricane Fiona, but his deputy was present today. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and once again, misleadingly insisted that deficits and government debt were fuelling inflation—not actually true—and demanded the government cap spending to fight inflation. Chrystia Freeland recited that the latest Fiscal Monitor shows the government is currently $6 billion in surplus, and that we have the lowest deficit and debt in the G7. Poilievre repeated the question in English, and Freeland repeated her answer extemporaneously rather than reading a script. Poilievre turned to the increasing carbon price, to which Freeland recited the rebates for Ontario, the lower taxes than under the Conservatives, and threw in things like childcare as other programmes to help the government. Poilievre cited food bank usage and a dubious statistic about students  living in homeless shelters, and wanted the carbon price cut, to which Freeland accused the Conservatives of either trying to cripple pensions or raise deficits. Poilievre tried yet again on the same talking points and Freeland returned with some quips about Bitcoin.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, made some comment about getting lemon wedges from the Governor General, before he demanded action on the situation at Roxham Road. Freeland responded with some scripted talking points about the strength of the asylum system., and workin with the Americans. Blanchet was not satisfied ,and point-blank asked why they didn’t just use existing ports of entry (as in suspending the Safe Third Country Agreement) than spending billions on new infrastructure at Roxham Road. Freeland said that the country is in need of labour, Quebec especially, and immigration was essential.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and he once again trotted out his “greed-flation” attempt, demanding support for their committee study on grocery CEO profits. Freeland reminded him of their corporate tax increases. Singh repeated the demand in French, and got the same answer.

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QP: Yet another day of misleading about CPP and EI

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While the PM was off to see the damage of Hurricane Fiona for himself, his deputy was in the Chamber in his seat. Pierre Poilievre led off, worrying that the current prime minister has fuelled inflation through deficits and debt, then decried EI and CPP as “tax hikes,” even though we have established that they are no such thing. Chrystia Freeland thanked the Conservatives for belatedly supporting the GST rebate, and said it wasn’t too late to support their other measures. Poilievre gave a grossly misleading accounting of EI and how it works, and Freeland reminded him that EI premiums are lower now than they were when Poilievre was the minister. Poilievre continued to falsely insist that EI wasn’t going to payouts but to government funds, and Freeland again repeated that premiums remain lower than when the Conservatives were in charge. Poilievre then concern trolled about the carbon price increasing, neglecting to mention that the rebates will also increase, and Freeland accused the Conservatives of planning to eviscerate pensions. Poilievre disputed this characterisation and tried again on the carbon price, to which Freeland said that he didn’t have a credible climate plan which means he doesn’t have a credible economic plan.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and accused the government of turning Roxham Road into a permanent facility, saying that the government wants it to last, and Freeland read a script about believing in the strength of the asylum system and working with the Americans on issues relate to the common border. Therrien accused this of being a racket benefitting Liberal donors, and Freeland insisted that they need to work together on immigration. 

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and demanded that the federal government force telecommunications companies to build robust infrastructure that won’t be cut off after a hurricane. (Really?) Freeland gave some assurances that they will help the Atlantic provinces rebuild, and they are working to help these companies restore cell service. Singh repeated the question in French, and got the same response from Freeland in French.

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Roundup: Beating the GDP expectations

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The Bank of Canada increased the overnight rate another 75 basis points, to 3.25 percent, which is now about the neutral range and into territory where it is meant to dampen growth—and they say it will likely continue to go up in future decisions. This being said, we should also recognise how strong the Canadian economy is running right now, which is having an effect on things like deficit and debt, which conversely makes the Conservatives’ insistence that government spending is driving this inflation (it’s not), and what they think austerity would accomplish here (nothing good). Anyway, here’s economist Kevin Milligan to break it down:

https://twitter.com/kevinmilligan/status/1567532339496108034

https://twitter.com/kevinmilligan/status/1567536188680187908

https://twitter.com/kevinmilligan/status/1567538208971583489

Ukraine Dispatch, Day 197:

Shelling near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has damaged the last remaining backup power line to the plant, which means that the coolant systems are now fully on back-up generators, and the ongoing shelling makes doing repairs an unlikely possibility. Elsewhere, heavy fighting has been reported in the north near Kharkiv; in the east, in the Donbas region; and in the south, near Kherson, where Ukrainian soldiers are pushing Russian forces in their counter-offensive.

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Roundup: Harper gives his predictable endorsement

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It’s day one-hundred-and-fifty-three of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, and Russia’s foreign minister openly admits that they want to topple president Volodymyr Zelenskyy because they consider his government “unacceptable” or some such nonsense. Russian forces continue to shell Ukrainan cities in the east and south of the country, as well as in the Kharkiv region. This while a lot of people who initially fled from the Donetsk region have returned home after either feeling alienated further west in Ukraine as Russian speakers, or because they ran out of money, only to be killed by Russian shelling once they’re back. Meanwhile, the push to prosecute Russian war crimes continues in Kyiv even while the fighting rages on, while Slovakia is considering giving Ukraine their fleet of Soviet-era MiG warplanes.

Closer to home, Stephen Harper came out with his endorsement of Pierre Poilievre yesterday, and no, this is not a sign that he’s worried about Charest. Quite the opposite—it’s a sign of his absolute enmity for Charest. Harper has bad blood with Charest, dating back to when Charest was Quebec premier. He had sold Harper on the fantastical notion that Quebec was suffering from some kind of “fiscal imbalance” with Ottawa, which was all bullshit, but it made a good talking point for Charest, and lo, Harper decided to be different from Jean Chrétien and buy peace with Quebec, so he gave Charest the money he was demanding to fix said fictional “fiscal imbalance.” And lo, Charest immediately turned around and turned that payment into a tax cut in the province, and Harper was furious. I mean, it shouldn’t be a surprise, and it’s exhibit eleventy-six for instances of provinces taking federal dollars and not doing what they’re supposed to with it (which is why Justin Trudeau is so insistent upon strings being attached to future healthcare transfers), but Harper has nursed a grudge ever since. His endorsement of Poilievre is just more of him nursing said grudge—he’s not actually worried about Charest winning.

And while we’re here, no, Harper is not still pulling all of the strings in the party. He’s a micro-manager. If he were, they wouldn’t be in as much disarray as they are now. Also, the IDU is not some kind of fascist plot—it’s a gods damned social club that Harper is the convener of. Yes, it’s comprised of small-c conservative parties (including Angela Merkel and her party), and yes, Harper has made some very, very questionable statements from it, but it’s a social club. It has no power, and it’s not pulling any strings. He’s not a Bond villain. He was a mediocre prime minister who now spends his time swanning around the globe pretending he used to be important. That’s it. Stop giving him any more credit than that.

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Roundup: Collapsing hospital care is a crisis for premiers

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It’s on or about day one-hundred-and-forty-six of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Russian forces have shelled the city of Toretsk in the Donestk region, smashing more buildings as they continue to try and take control of the area. Ukraine is also calling out Russia’s conduct when it comes to prisoners of war, citing illegal treatment.

Meanwhile, there are no assurances around weapons that Canada is sending to Ukraine that they’re being tracked so that they can ensure they won’t wind up on the black market. NATO partners are having discussion about this, but Canada is merely monitoring rather than participating. Ukrainian officials assure Canada that they are closely monitoring any movement of weapons, as are our allies, and are insisting that information to the contrary is likely Russian disinformation.

Closer to home, emergency rooms are closing in some parts of the country as hospitals are facing a severe staff shortage, particularly among nurses. And gosh, it’s quite a coincidence that Ontario gave nurses an effective pay cut that they haven’t reversed, or that Alberta tried to cut nurses’ pay because they said they were making too much relative to nurses in other provinces. No, seriously, that’s their case. This is while the premiers have mishandled COVID, refuse to do the simplest things like mask mandates at this point, and then wondering why the hospitals, which never recovered from the previous waves of the pandemic, are once again collapsing. A very cynical person might think premiers have created this situation, either to pressure the federal government to hand them more money without strings, or to set up the conditions to force more private delivery of care (which won’t actually do anything about staffing or resources other than distribute them toward those who can pay), but it looks clear that they aren’t prepared to give the necessary damn that the situation requires, and that’s a problem.

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Roundup: Summer showboat season has begun

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It’s day one-hundred-and-forty-three of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and a missile strike in the more central city of Vinnystia killed a four-year-old disabled girl, which was used by president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and others to demand that Russia be declared a state sponsor of terrorism as a result. There have been other strikes in Dnipro, near the centre of the country, and in Mykolaiv, which is closer to the front lines in the south. CBC has a video of the week in the war here.

Ukraine, meanwhile, is preparing a counteroffensive in the south, particularly to reclaim Kherson, which is a strategic objective that could give them control of the region, including of giving them the ability to strike Russian positions in Crimea. The fact that the Ukrainians have now accepted delivery of the American HIMARS rocket system is giving them a new advantage over the Russians, and could turn the campaign, which is in a “grinding” phase of attrition currently. There have been no Russian advances in the east part of the country for over a week now, so the supposition that Russia needs time to regroup seems to be proving true.

Closer to home, summer showboat—err, committee season has begun, with two emergency meetings yesterday, being the foreign affairs committee, and the industry committee. In the former, they have committee agreed to meet over the summer to discuss the return of those gas turbines to Germany, and will call ministers to testify. The latter used the day to plan meetings on the Rogers outage, where they plan to call ministers, Rogers executives, and the CRTC, and you can bet that MPs from all parties are planning who their best performers on camera will be in order to give some outrage and sanctimony clips that they can then use for shitposts and fundraisers. Because that’s what our Parliament has devolved to.

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