Tag Archives: Tough on Crime

QP: Angry about the new tariffs

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A hot Wednesday in the Nation’s Capital, and everyone was fired up from their caucus meetings in the morning. Mark Carney was present, as were the other leaders, and Andrew Scheer actually stood up to speak today, when he didn’t earlier in the week. With that in mind, Scheer led off by denouncing the new Trump tariffs, and said that other countries got them removed while Canada had them doubled (not really true), said that Carney couldn’t get a deal, and then went on a tangent about the counter-tariffs being “secretly” removed (not true), and then demanded a budget. Carney called the tariffs, illegal, unjustified and illogical, and said they did have retaliatory tariffs on over $90 billion of U.S. goods, and they are undertaking “intensive” negotiations and are preparing reprisals if they don’t succeed. Scheer then tried to tie this to the fact that the PM won’t approve a new pipeline, and said that consensus can’t happen because BC premier David Eby is a “radical,” and tried to needle the divisions in Cabinet on energy projects, before he demanded an approval for a pipeline “today” (never mind that there is no pipeline being proposed). Carney said that everyone is agreed to build projects of national importance, and consensus includes Indigenous people, which the Conservatives don’t agree with. Scheer retorted that if photo ops and phoney rhetoric got things done, Trudeau would still be prime minister. He then pivoted to food price inflation, to which Carney patted himself on the back for their tax cut. Dominique Vien took over, and she demanded the government respect their motion to table a spring budget. Carney said that the bill before the House would reduce taxes for 22 million Canadians. Vien also raised food price inflation, and railed about the Estimates bill, to which Carney said that these estimates included things like health transfers and pensions for seniors. Richard Martel took over, and he gave the French script about counter-tariffs, and Carney repeated that the U.S. tariffs were illegal and unjustified, and that they are in negotiations with the Americans.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he too was concerned about the doubled steel and aluminium tariffs. Carney said that they need to do several things at the same time—building a single economy, negotiating with the Americans, and that they were going to win, just like the Oilers. Blanchet tried again, and got the same response. Blanchet demanded support for the sector, and wanted support for a wage support bill (which would be unvoteable). Carney again said they were negotiating.

Carney says they will win with US negotiations, “Just like the Oilers.”Sorry to be That Guy, but you know the Oilers famously choke at the end, right? #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-06-04T18:30:47.920Z

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QP: The difference between budgets and estimates

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A Tuesday in June, and the prime minister was present today, as were the other leaders. Even though Andrew Scheer was present, but stayed seated, and left it up to Dan Albas to lead off, who crowed that the House voted last night to make the government table a spring budget (the motion doesn’t actually require, it merely “urges”) and went on to mischaracterise how the Budget and Estimates work, and gave the nonsense quote about how people need a budget before they spend, before demanding that the “minority” government table a budget immediately. Mark Carney praised the London Knights hockey team, and patted himself on the back for his successful meeting with the premiers. Albas listed supposed “facts,” and demanded to know when a spring budget would be tabled. Carney listed a bunch of other non sequiturs, also punctuated by “fact.” Kelly McCauley read another demand for the spring budget, and Carney noted that Canadians deserve the transfers in the Main Estimates. McCauley said those things would be in a budget, and again demanded one. Carney said that he knows the difference between the Main Estimates and the budget, unlike the members opposite, and there was an uproar. When things calmed down, Carney repeated the line and said that they know how to grow the economy without spending money. Joël Godin took over in French to read the same demand for a budget and falsely called the Estimates a “blank cheque.” (It has line items for departmental spending, for fuck sakes). Carney said in French they took note of the vote, but they stand with the premiers of Quebec to have one Canadian economy. Godin trotted out the nonsense line about people needing a budget before spending, and Carney said that they would be a budget, but in the meantime they would boost growth with a bill to build a strong economy.

Yves-François Blanchet rose for the Bloc, and wondered about the potential project to create a pipeline to Hudson Bay. Carney said that they had plenty of projects around infrastructure and green energy. Blanchet wondered whether they were trying to find markets in Europe or refine heavy crude in western Canada. Carney said they hadn’t come to any decisions, but the projects need to have environmental standards and have a big impact. Blanchet demanded that the prime minister respect Quebec’s environmental agency. Carney said that they discussed the possibility with the premier, and that they need to have commitments around environmental standards.

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QP: Counter-tariff concern-trolling

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The PM was away in Saskatoon, meeting with the premiers, while things got underway back in Ottawa. Even though Andrew Scheer was present, he didn’t lead off Question Period, and instead left that up to Kyle Seeback, and he worried that the prime minister ran on a platform of “elbows-up,” and promised to get $20 billion in retaliatory tariffs, but most of the counter-tariffs were “secretly” cancelled (not true), before he raised the prospect of higher steel and aluminium tariffs, and demanded to know how much the counter-tariffs would generate. François-Philippe Champagne promised to fight the unjust tariffs, and that they would build the Canada of tomorrow. Seeback complained that the Liberals don’t answer questions, and accused the prime minister of lying to steel workers. Mélanie Joly responded that she was in contact with industry leaders, and that they were in “solution mode” by promising to use Canadian steel and aluminium in major projects. Raquel Dancho took over and she too concern trolled about the dollar-for-dollar tariffs and demanded to know how much had been collected. Joly congratulated Dancho for being named her critic and said that no executive order has been signed yet. Dancho said that she could assume the figure was zero, and tried again while adding in the “punishing carbon tax” as a drain on business. Champagne insisted that they were defending workers and Canadian industry. Richard Martel took over in French to again demand to know how much in counter-tariffs have been collected, and Joly spoke about meeting with aluminium industry and union leaders over the weekend. Martel took some gratuitous swipes at Carney and said he talks out of both sides of his mouth, and Champagne insisted that they did not capitulate, and that they were standing up for industry and workers.

Christine Normandin led for the Bloc, and she claimed that the first ministers’ meeting was about forcing a “dirty oil pipeline” through Quebec. Joly pointed out the size of the Liberals’ Quebec caucus, and trotted out the lines about the standing up for industry workers. Normandin raised Carney’s meeting with oil and gas executives, and accused him of putting them first. Joly said that the job of the prime minister is to meet with everyone, and that right now they were focused on building, including high-speed rail. Mario Simard took over and repeated the same accusation, and Joly said that job creation was in the national interest. 

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QP: Parade of the newbies

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

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

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

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

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QP: New faces, same dynamics

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A new Parliament, a new and untested Speaker, a new and untested prime minister, and an old familiar smirking face filling in for the leader of the opposition, at least until the party leader can win a new seat. Will anything actually change with all of these new faces, or have the dynamics entrenched themselves? We are about to find out.

Andrew Scheer led off in English, welcoming Mark Carney to his first Question Period, and complained that the government “secretly” dropped counter tariffs (it wasn’t secret), and wondered how he would make up the fiscal shortfall. Carney first thanked his constituents and the Speaker, and gave the line that the tariffs have maximum effect on the U.S. while minimal effect on Canadians. Scheer chirped that he didn’t take long to not answer questions, before demanding a budget before summer vacation. Carney suggested that Poilievre’s plan did not include a budget, and said that new legislation would be on the way to build the economy. Scheer recited a bunch of bullshit about the Liberals damaging the economy, and demanded the government repeal the old Bill C-69. Carney recited some lines about building the economy and a major project office. Pierre Paul-Hus took over in French to demand a budget, and Carney insisted in French that he has a daring and ambitious plan to bring together the Canadian economy into one economy and not thirteen. Paul-Hus repeated the demand, and Carney insisted that they would act immediately to cut taxes on the Middle Class™ and reduce or remove GST on new housing. Paul-Hus then turned to the false claim that that the counter-tariffs were removed in secret, and Carney responded that he must be referring to the Conservative platform with its $20 billion deficit.

Yves-François Blanchet rose for the Bloc, and he called the King a “foreign monarch” before wondering why there was no mention of trade in the Speech from the Throne. Carney said that if he had been there, he would have heard about the global trade system. Blanchet called the Speech “centralising” and railed against the “one economy” talking points, likening provinces to branches of a bank headquartered in Toronto. Carney said this is a crisis and a time for unity, which is why the premiers are meeting this weekend in Saskatoon. Blanchet pivoted to the climate crisis, and noted that there was “nothing” about it in the Speech. Carney said that the climate crisis does exist, which is why we need to become an energy “superpower” in clean and conventional energy, and it would come up at the G7 meeting.

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Roundup: The kids are back

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Parliament is back today, after nearly six months away, and first order of business is to elect a new Speaker, and there are eight MPs on the list. Fergus is not going to get it, because he proved to be an unsuitable choice, and I doubt that either the Liberals or any of the other opposition parties will want d’Entremont in as an opposition Speaker, because frankly it won’t be worth it. (The rare occasion where the opposition still held the Speaker was when it was Liberal Peter Milliken during the early Harper years, because Milliken was so well-liked, and nobody has managed to live up to his legacy). If you ask me, it should go to Alexandra Mendès, who has the most experience in the Chair, and who has proven herself to be completely no-nonsense when she’s in it, but MPs have time and again decided that they weren’t looking for experience or being no-nonsense. It was the Conservatives who wanted Anthony Rota in the chair last Parliament because he was a genial idiot and was more concerned with being everyone’s friend than in really enforcing decorum and they knew he would go easy on them, while Fergus was a novel choice instead of experienced. It was only after Fergus had one too many oopses that the Bloc decided that maybe it was time for a woman in the Chair again, and were ready to back Mendès if they managed to oust Fergus. Can they get enough votes this time? Stay tuned to find out.

Meanwhile, the Liberals held their first caucus meeting, which meant the inevitable question on the (garbage) Reform Act, and wouldn’t you know it, the Liberals voted against it, which made every pundit in this country cry out about how cowardly they were, while you had journalists writing up garbage copy with things like “they won’t be able to vote out” the leader without this, which is not only wrong, but dangerously wrong. (The CBC story with that particular line did edit it out on the next pass, but yes, I was absolutely livid).

"Liberal MPs decided against adopting the Reform Act during their caucus meeting Sunday, which means they won't be able to vote out the newly-elected leader if they sour on him down the line."No. That is absolutely wrong. Could a single fucking journalist in this country learn some basic civics?

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-05-25T21:21:03.151Z

MPs have always had the ability to vote out a leader. A simple non-confidence vote in caucus is all it takes. You don’t need the stupid Act and its rules because it actually makes it harder by erecting a bunch of thresholds that are absolutely unnecessary. The problem, however, is for decade we had a pundit class who kept insisting that MPs were “powerless,” and we enforced a learned helplessness among them, and then Michel Chong came in with his ridiculous Act in order to look like the democratic hero when he actually just made things worse, and now it’s an intractable frame that everyone insists on using even though it’s false, creates wrong expectations, and is now self-reinforcing because when they vote against it, they’re being explicitly told that they are giving away powers that they might otherwise have, which is bullshit. “But if MPs have the power, then why didn’t they vote out Trudeau?” Because those MPs couldn’t organise a tea party for themselves if their lives depended on it. They had woken up to the problem and were trying to do something, but they were being meek and modest, and trying to convince Trudeau to do the right thing rather than vote him out and embarrass him. Obviously, it didn’t work, and Freeland was the one who needed to make the dramatic move, which goes even more to prove that the Act is useless. The state of civics in this country is intolerably bad, and our pundit class and journalists keep making it worse.

Ukraine Dispatch

The assaults on Kyiv continued over the weekend, with dozens of drones and missiles attacking overnight Saturday, injuring 15, while Sunday saw one of the largest attacks since the start of the war, with 367 drones and missiles fired (which included areas other than Kyiv), killing at least 12 people. Russia also claims to have captured two more settlements in Donetsk and one in Sumy. Another 307 prisoners were swapped by each side on Saturday, in spite of the massive Russian attacks, and another 303 each on Sunday, bringing it to a total of 1000 each side.

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Roundup: Signing decision notes as performance art

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It was Mark Carney’s first Cabinet meeting yesterday after the election and the shuffle, and hoo boy, is there a lot to talk about, starting with the fact that Carney once again called the media into the Cabinet room so that they could film him signing a “decision note” about implementing his planned tax cut. This is pure theatre—essentially this note is to instruct the civil service to prepare the legislation that will make this happen, but having the media witnessing him signing a document is both very Trumpy, and also a continuation of Trudeau-era politics by comms exercise. It’s not how things work in our system, and this is a very bad sign about how they’re doing things “differently” from Trudeau.

I have to say, I'm really not a fan of this new performance art of calling the media into the Cabinet room so that Carney can sign a mysterious document in front of them, Trump-style.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-05-14T17:29:26.165Z

Oh, look, it's another "Decision Note." Glad that this is now a vehicle for policy performance.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-05-14T17:40:41.329Z

And then there was the gauntlet of ministers saying things unfiltered to the press, with no message discipline. On the one hand, it’s pretty glorious to finally have ministers unleashed. On the other hand, the kinds of trouble that they are inviting is exactly why iron-fisted message discipline has been implemented for the past two decades. First up was François-Philippe Champagne saying that there won’t be a budget tabled in the short spring sitting, but that there will be a “comprehensive” fall economic update. He could have articulated that there simply isn’t time for the civil service to put one together in those four weeks or to talk about how the private sector forecasts are pretty much unusable in the current trade war uncertainty, but he went on about the Speech from the Throne, because reasons.

New Secretary of State Wayne Long says that it sounds like government is going to be run “like a corporation,” and I cannot even. This kind of thinking never, ever works out in government because it doesn’t have a bottom line to deliver to shareholders—it has to do the things that companies won’t, and government is set up to be held to account, whereas corporations are explicitly set up in a way to limit accountability and liability.

There was Gregor Robertson who stumbled on his very first outing, saying that housing prices don’t need to come down and that more supply will make housing affordable—except the math on that one is that it would take 20 to 40 years to do so. This is a tightrope to walk because of the number of people who have their nest eggs in their home equity, but he’s going to have to do better than what he answered.

The Housing Minister suggested that home prices don't need to go down to restore affordability. We examined this, and it's technically true. They don't. However, in large parts of the country, it would take 20-40 years to reach affordability.Read here: www.missingmiddleini…

— Dr. Mike P. Moffatt (@mikepmoffatt.bsky.social) 2025-05-14T15:50:37.000Z

And Steven Guilbeault. Oh, boy. Guilbeault was asked about Carney’s comments around building more pipelines, and Guilbeault—whose new job is “Canadian identity” (and good luck to him on that Pandora’s box)—said that we should actually use our existing capacity for building more. And he’s right—but he got the current TMX values wrong. He also pointed out that both the Canadian Energy Regulator and the International Energy Agency have said that peak demand is going to happen is around 2028-29 (so it may not make sense to build a bunch of assets to be stranded), but man, did this go over like a lead balloon. And of course, Danielle Smith pounced on it, while every TV pundit declared that Guilbeault should have just shut up since it’s not his portfolio anymore. But he has a point—there are no pipeline projects waiting to go ahead, and there is no demonstrable market demand for more, so everyone is getting hot and bothered over a fantasy or a dead letter (such as Energy East), which absolutely nobody is asking for. We’re twisting ourselves into absolute knots over imaginary projects.

https://twitter.com/maxfawcett/status/1922731670043517191

https://twitter.com/maxfawcett/status/1922722025291858017

Feds bought & built TMX. Complain about the cost but it’s operating. They delivered. This was supposed to be a bargain. Tidewater in exchange for meaningful reductions in GHGs.Has the oil industry delivered there? That’s the starting point for discussions about further pipelines. #ableg #cdnpoli

— Martin Z. Olszynski (@molszyns.bsky.social) 2025-05-15T00:21:34.144Z

Ukraine Dispatch

A Russian missile killed three people in Sumy. President Zelenskyy looks to still be headed for Istanbul to continue to call Putin’s bluff on “peace talks”, and it looks like Trump won’t be there either.

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Roundup: A disinformation fest in the English debate

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Day twenty-six, and the second day of debates. Both Mark Carney and Jagmeet Singh had photo ops in Montreal before the debate, while Pierre Poilievre stayed quiet. And it looks like no one is downing tools today, in spite of it being a statutory holiday—Carney will be in Niagara Falls, followed by Colborne and Brantford. I didn’t get Poilievre’s itinerary, while Singh starts the day in Yamachiche, Quebec, and then ends the day in Burnaby, BC.

In other campaign news, the Conservatives had other incumbents release the second part of their Arctic defence policy, and it appears that they didn’t consult with any Northerners or Inuit for this part either.

And then the English debate, or as it should more properly be called, a disinformation fest. The sheer volume of utter horseshit uttered was absolutely astonishing, and yet nobody was challenged or called out on hardly any of it. Steve Paikin as moderator had a fairly light tough for much of it, and allowed a lot of talking over one another, but did keep things moving at a fairly good clip in order to have a couple of rapid-fire rounds at the end, though near the end, there was a “Leader’s Choice” segment where each leader could ask a question of one another, and everyone chose Carney to attack (quelle surprise), while Carney picked Poilievre, and returned to the security clearance issue (which Poilievre yet again lied about). I also note that at the top of each thematic section, Paikin asked a different question of each of the leaders, so they weren’t answering the same and made it hard to compare them.

https://bsky.app/profile/emmettmacfarlane.com/post/3ln2atae4lk2y

Poilievre is again lying about "printing money" and inflation. Carney: "I know you want to run against Justin Trudeau. Justin Trudeau is not here." #debate

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-04-18T00:41:27.247Z

Poilievre lying about being "gagged" if he gets his security clearance. He would merely need to be responsible in his commentary, which he refuses to do. #debate

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-04-18T00:46:11.096Z

As for the leaders themselves, Carney again kept his cool, even when constantly being talked over, and just kept trying to make his point with “If I may,” before they shut up. I also noted that he would keep saying how many points he had for responses before listing those points, but he also did have the occasional misspeak (for example referring to TMX as “Keystone.”) Poilievre pretty much spent the whole exercise lying about absolutely everything, shamelessly, and was not challenged on about 99 percent of it, which doesn’t help the average viewer. Singh was a little less hyper than last night, and we avoided any tantrums tonight, because the moderator did give him the chance to talk about healthcare, but also challenged him on it about the jurisdictional issue, which Singh, of course, talked around rather than answering. And as for Blanchet, he kept trying to make a pitch for a minority parliament where he can exert influence. He also demanded that whoever becomes prime minister call the other leaders to meet one week after the election in order to discuss the various crises we’re facing. (Here are the recaps from The Canadian Press, CBC, National Post, and the Star, and six takeaways from the debate).

https://bsky.app/profile/emmettmacfarlane.com/post/3ln2afzfgac22

Poilievre's dodge on Indigenous incarceration was astounding. Just absolutely amazing that he could get away with that. #debate

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-04-17T23:42:39.614Z

Paikin actually corners Singh on how he would deal with provinces who don't want to spend his healthcare dollars the way he wants. Singh just talks around it, doesn't actually say how he would force the provinces. #debate

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-04-18T00:19:58.773Z

https://bsky.app/profile/emmettmacfarlane.com/post/3ln2bndu4ds2h

The other notable part of the evening was that the post-debate scrums were cancelled, because of an ostensible safety issue after Rebel media started trying to accost other journalists, including trying to interrupt CBC’s broadcast before the debate. The fact that the Debate Commission’s chair didn’t even realise that Rebel and Ezra Levant had registered as third party advertisers with Elections Canada should have meant an automatic disqualification, but he said he was so afraid of losing another lawsuit meant he just caved to their demands, which is yet again another sign of democracy being under assault in this country.

Debates Commission has cancelled the post-debate scrums after this English leaders debate. This cancellation follows an altercation prior to the debate involving Rebel News and other journalists. #elxn45

— davidakin (@davidakin.bsky.social) 2025-04-18T00:23:05.379Z

Ukraine Dispatch

Russian missiles struck Kharkiv, killing one and injuring at least 57, as president Zelenskyy notes that Russia has shifted from targeting energy facilities to civilian targets. Russians on the front lines appear to be shifting to using mass-assault tactics as they try to advance. Ukraine says they have signed a memorandum as a first step toward a mineral deal with the US, which would involve setting up an investment fund for Ukraine’s reconstruction.

https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1913102312286900366

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Roundup: Promising to invoke the Notwithstanding Clause

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Day twenty-three, and the campaigns are starting to converge around Montreal as debate prep starts to take over, but they are still getting platform planks announced in the meantime. Mark Carney was in Dorval, Quebec, to announce his plan to overhaul defence procurement, including re-promising a centralized agency, to focus on Canadian defence industries and those of non-US allies, along with some other pledges around giving members of the armed forces another raise, and working to reform recruitment processes to speed up intake. Carney also offered an apology for the bad button scandal, and said that the culprits have been “reassigned” on the campaign, which doesn’t exactly make it sound like they have suffered much in the way of consequences. Carney will be in Saint-Eustache for his morning announcement before returning to debate prep.

Pierre Poilievre was in Montreal, and he repeated a two-year-old promise to invoke the Notwithstanding Clause to ensure that multiple murders get consecutive sentences instead of concurrent, in defiance of the Supreme Court of Canada, but totally swears he wouldn’t invoke it for anything else. Really! It’s all so stupid because a) no mass murders have ever been given parole; b) this would only apply to future mass murders, not those currently serving life sentences, and it’s not going to act as a deterrent; and c) the Notwithstanding Clause needs to be renewed every five years, so this is really nothing more than an exercise in optics so that he looks tough. Poilievre will again hold his announcement today in Montreal before returning to debate prep.

https://bsky.app/profile/emmettmacfarlane.com/post/3lmrn7ukzyk2m

Jagmeet Singh was in Toronto, where he made a whole bunch of promises around healthcare that no federal government could possibly deliver on, because it’s provincial jurisdiction, but hey, he plans to “incentivize provinces.” What in the names of Apollo and Asklepios do you think that federal governments have been trying to do for four decades? How is it possible for him to be that naïve? Singh then headed to Montreal for his debate prep, and he will hold his own announcement there this morning.

In other campaign news, Carney’s campaign says that he has formally renounced his UK and Irish citizenships, and that he does indeed pay his taxes in Canada (because the Conservatives were trying to make more hay over this). LGBTQ+ groups around the country are hoping to hear more from the parties about addressing their issues (though some of them are provincial I must point out). The Debates Commission is defending the decision to invite the Greens even though they no longer meet the criteria of running candidates in at least 90 percent of ridings (which they apparently planned to, but not enough of them registered with Elections Canada).

Ukraine Dispatch

Russia made a second attack on Sumy on Monday, btu this one struck the outskirts of the city and no one was injured. There was also an overnight attack on Zaporizhzhia which ignited a petrol station. The Ukrainian air force said that Russia used new types of missiles and cluster bombs on their attack on Sumy on Sunday, which Russia is falsely claiming was targeting a military gathering, which everyone knows is false (except maybe Trump).

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Roundup: A more comprehensive justice package

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Day nineteen, and the weird pace of this campaign was back again as there wasn’t a fresh Trump eruption to steal the spotlight. Mark Carney was in Brampton, and delivered his party’s big justice plan, which was pretty comprehensive, and contained a lot of different parts—doubling down on gun buybacks and classifications, training more RCMP and CBSA officers, and hiring more Crown prosecutors, tougher sentencing guidelines (not mandatory minimums), claims for tougher bail conditions (which is where they start getting into trouble), and more on online luring and even criminal prohibitions around deepfake nudes. Carney will be back in Ottawa with his prime minister hat on today to meet with the Canada-US Cabinet Committee (while Michael Chong howls that this is abusing the Caretaker Convention, which is not how that works).

Nobody wants to believe that the problem with bail is a provincial issue (underfunding, primarily), because everyone is absolutely allergic to holding premiers to account in this country.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-04-10T15:57:20.675Z

https://bsky.app/profile/emmettmacfarlane.com/post/3lmhuivcd522k

Pierre Poilievre was in Milton, Ontario, and proposed a scheme where municipalities lower development charges or other taxes on new homes, and a Conservative government would reimburse 50 percent of those cuts up to a maximum threshold. Poilievre was also asked about the “I Don’t Believe The Polls” crowd that has been at his rallies (and whom he has sought out to take photos with), and sort of distanced himself from them saying he would respect the election outcome, but also didn’t say whether he trusts those polls. Poilievre opens his day in St. Catharines, Ontario, and ends it in Windsor.

Jagmeet Singh was in Saskatoon, and he warned that Mark Carney was planning major cuts over the next three years, and produced a document to show the cost of those cuts—based entirely on speculation. He also made a big deal about releasing a new campaign video that called for as many NDP MPs to be elected as possible to ensure the Liberals don’t cut everything, which is achingly desperate. Singh is also in Ottawa today to address the Broadbent Institute’s Progress Summit, rallying the troops.

In other campaign news, both Carney and Singh have had interviews with Nardwuar in Vancouver, and done the hip flip.

Ukraine Dispatch

A Russian drone hit an apartment building in Zhytomyr region, killing one person. There was a missile strike in Dnipro that killed one, and drone attacks on Kyiv and Mykolaiv, injuring at least twelve. Russia claims to have captured a village in Sumy region. The Chinese foreign ministry accused president Zelenskyy of being “irresponsible” by pointing out that over 150 Chinese nationals are fighting for Russia on Ukrainian soil.

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