Tag Archives: Trade

Roundup: Capitulating to the streaming giants

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Just days after the CRTC outlined the obligations under the Online Streaming Act that web giant streaming services would need to abide by when it comes to a portion of their Canadian revenues to be sent to Canadian content funds (which, to be clear, they could then draw from in order to develop shows and put on their platforms), and a day after Dominic LeBlanc was in Washington for more trade talks, the government decided to try and walk back these CRTC obligations. Minister Marc Miller ordered the CRTC to review the decision (as he can’t outright ignore it, as the CRTC is a quasi-judicial body) but with a “focus on affordability” as the claim is that these streaming services will simply raise their prices and Canadian households are already hit hard. Oh, but they’ll devote $600 million to Canadian media in lieu of these funds.

They insist it’s not a capitulation, but that’s exactly what it feels like, particularly since Trump mouthpieces were grousing that this levy was “discriminatory” (it’s not—it levelled the playing field with Canadian broadcasters and streaming services), and that it was yet another “trade irritant” as though they are allowed to throw up whatever tariffs they want (this week: New ten percent tariffs because of forced labour, but don’t look at their own deals with China, or the forced labour that comes from American prisons). Miller also insists that because the funds collected to date were frozen due to court challenges also seems to be beside the point. The point was that these web giants are taking Canadian money and giving nothing back (and no, treating our production studios as a resource colony is not exactly giving back), so having them contribute the same way a Canadian broadcaster contributes was both fair, and, I stress again, gave them the option to use these same funds that they contributed in order to create their own Canadian content that they could put up on their platforms.

I’m not going to engage in any kind of elbow discourse, but when you consider just how much these web giants and the tech bros that own them are integrated into Trump’s fascist regime, capitulating to them yet again is not exactly giving the impression that we’re protecting Canada’s cultural sovereignty, or that all the talk about Heated Rivalry and how much of a success it’s been is hollow if we keep letting the web giants dictate our own cultural policy. Where is the self-respect that should be a bare minimum in this conversation?

— Effin' Birds (@effinbirds.com) 2026-06-03T13:08:04.315Z

My Latest:

My column on legacy columnists opining about the “condescension” of central Canadians when it comes to Alberta separatists and their crybaby tendencies.

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QP: A recession or a technical recession?

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The PM was finally present today for the first time since the GDP numbers were released, as was Pierre Poilievre, itching for a confrontation. Poilievre led off in English for a change, and he worried that nineteen of the G20 nations Arena not in recession, and asked for only leader of a G20 nation in recession to stand up. the Speaker said this was not a question but a request, and moved onto the next question. Poilievre then worried about all of the people in food insecurity and asked if we are in a recession or technical recession. Mark Carney first wished Poilievre a happy birthday before launching into a script about how much we are building as a country. Poilievre thanked him for the wishes, and noted that he is 47 but that’s 50 with inflation, before he listed more things going wrong in the country, and again asked if it was a recession or technical recession. Carney suggested he asked the CD Howe Institute and noted the OECD growth projections. Poilievre switched to French to repeat his G20 framing before asking again if it was a recession or technical recession. Carney corrected what the promise he made in the election was, and repeated his talking points about building. Poilievre returned to English to complain about the PM’s in-flight catering and again demanded to know if it was a recession or a technical recession. Carney decided to instead praise the international investment he has been able to attract to the country. Poilievre dismissed this as being about private corporations getting rich regardless while people suffered, and again asked if it was a recession or a technical recession. Carney said that we are in an economy in the midst of transformation and praised the increase in investment and exports to non-U.S. markets. 

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and lambasted the government for attempting to back track on the streaming levies charged to web giants. Carney said that this was about affordability and patted himself on the back for spending $600 million more on culture. Blanchet tried to again, and this time Carney said that everyday people would pay for that levy through increased costs, so they have decided to focus on affordability while ensuring the cultural sector is supported. Blanchet said this was worse than capitulating, but validating the American notion that the French language and culture are a barrier, and it also capitulated to the Conservatives. Carney insisted that they were investing, and that they have “more than made whole” the cultural sector (which I am less convinced about).

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QP: The (absent) PM need to own the “recession”

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The PM was again absent, which is unusual for a Tuesday, as he was on his way to Longueuil, Quebec, for another infrastructure announcement announcement, while Pierre Poilievre was present, and in French, he declared the question was for the “Liberal prime minister” and he complained that he expected a parade because GDP per capita went up 0.2 percent. Mélanie Joly said that incomes are outpacing inflation, and that Canada has become a destination for investment, so their plan was working. Poilievre took a swipe that the (absent) PM was not answering, and complained about the number of monthly declines in GDP. Steven MacKinnon noted that they are facing headwinds, but they have a plan that is working. Poilievre switched to English to repeat his demand that the PM answer the question and repeated the same question on GDP per capita. Tim Hodgson noted that our Canada is the most integrated with the U.S., and that Canadians understand the headwinds that include two “economy-destroying wars” and wanted him to stop taking down the economy. Poilievre repeated his point from yesterday about Mexico, and David McGuinty accused him of inventing a phoney narrative, and that the last time Poilievre had a plan, he told people to buy crypto. Poilievre read a quote about the scarring effects of recessions, and demanded Carney stand up and own it. Patty Hajdu insisted that Canadians are excited about all of the building happening. Poilievre went on a rant about how tired Canadians are and that Carney doesn’t have the “decency” to answer, and after some prolonged applause and shouting, to which Anita Anand reminded the House that Canadian exports to non-U.S. markets rose by over 17 percent, and they have secured $10 billion in new investments.

Poilievre is leaving the Chamber after his round of questions, and the Liberals are all loudly bidding him farewell after Poilievre spent his questions pretending Carney was present and not answering. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-06-02T18:28:45.885Z

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and demanded wage subsidies for business suffering from tariffs so that they can maintain jobs and expertise. Joly patted herself on the back for the measures they are taking. Blanchet said that wasn’t a wage subsidy, and wanted the government to adopt the solutions from the forestry industry about buying back countervailing duties. MacKinnon noted that Carney would be in Quebec later this afternoon to make an announcement. Gabriel Ste-Marie took over to repeat the same demand for the buy-back, and Joly repeated her same back-patting as before.

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QP: The only G7 country in a recession

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The PM was off at a construction site for a photo op before jetting off to Toronto to make an announcement, while Pierre Poilievre was present, and he led off in French, and demanded to know why Canada is the only G7 country in recession (and to be clear, most economists do not believe we are really in one). Mélanie Joly reminded him that we are in a trade war, and that our economy is very integrated with the Americans’, which he knows full well, before listing expected job creation at several approved projects. Poilievre then noted that Mexico, which is also highly integrated with the American economy, is not in a recession, and then noted the crisis facing food banks. Dominic LeBlanc repeated that we face unjustified tariffs from the U.S., and noted that they are trying to reach an agreement on them, but they are not waiting and are working to build Canada in the meantime. Poilievre switched to English to repeat his first list of G7 countries not in recession, and Tim Hodgson repeated the line that our economy is the most deeply integrated with the U.S., before listing projects that have been approved. Poilievre repeated the line about Mexico, and then listed job losses in the last several months, and again insisted that we are the only country in a recession. David McGuinty listed off all of the jobs being created by their procurements, and exhorted Poilievre to stop running down the economy. Poilievre then railed that the prime minister has not taken any questions since the news broke that we are in a recession (which, again, is debatable), and Patty Hajdu took this one, patting herself on the back for the support they are giving to skilled trades. Poilievre the returned to the latest Food Banks Canada report in English, and Hajdu suggested he read the entire report because it called for things that the government has already done as reason for optimism, which the Conservatives voted against.

Christine Normandin led for the Bloc, and demanded the numbers on emissions reductions after all of the government’s setbacks. Julie Dabrusin decided not to give those, but to pat herself on the back for their methane regulations and the electricity strategy. Normandin demanded those numbers again, and listed the government’s walk backs on programmes, and Dabrusin offered to once again pat herself on the back, this time for international climate funds and electric cars. Alexis Deschênes took over to try again, and this time Joel Lightbound responded by patting himself on the back for their nature strategy. 

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Canada Strong to help MAGA?

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Prime minister Mark Carney was in New York yesterday to address the Economic Club of that city, and as part of his speech, gave the line that “Canada Strong™ will help Make America Great Again”—a line that was sure to get a reaction from the White House as much as it got a reaction from the American ambassador. Carney continues to believe he can outmanoeuvre Trump and company, and that he can be so clever as to keep with the talk about “ruptures” and diversifying trade while still trying to get “fortress North America” and even deeper integration with the Americans on other files. You want to assert sovereignty, but keep finding excuses to try and get even closer when the money is just right? Eventually something is likely to give, and it just might be Canadians’ patience.

This being said, I also noted the list of people that Carney met with, and it’s a lot of big money bosses, like Blackrock and JPMorgan Chase—the kind of money that is unconcerned that America has devolved into outright fascism. I will note that is also while the Canadian military signed an agreement with the Canadian branch-plant of an American techno-fascist’s digital asbestos firm, but justified it as being a “legitimate” procurement process. So much of this is starting to feel like the casino scene from The Last Jedi—a look at the monied class that is unconcerned that there is a war going on (or that the capital was obliterated days ago) because they are profiting by selling to both sides. Carney sucking up to this monied class in New York feels an awful lot like that right now.

The list of who the PM met with in New York today.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-05-29T01:47:21.770Z

IYKYK

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-05-29T01:47:21.771Z

effinbirds.com/post/8132596…

— Effin' Birds (@effinbirds.com) 2026-05-28T13:08:05.261Z

My Latest:

My column points to the crisis in grassroots democracy that is brewing in the Ontario Liberal Party that the Scarborough Southwest nomination contest revealed.

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QP: Reruns of the “credit card” script

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The PM was in the building after attending a reception with the Olympic and Paralympic athletes, but did not stick around for QP before he headed off to New York later in the day. Pierre Poilievre was giving a press conference in the Foyer as QP got underway, leaving it up to Luc Berthold to lead off in French, reading the tired script about the supposed “national credit card.” Steven MacKinnon rose to proclaim the announcement from this morning about surveillance planes and the LNG deal with Germany. Berthold kept on with the same script, and Mélanie Joly took her own turn to boast about the aircraft sale. Carol Anstey read a variation of the same script, but in her typical Karen delivery that sounded like she wanted to speak to the government’s manager. MacKinnon got back up to loudly proclaim the same good news about the surveillance plane sale in English. Anstey read some nonsense about inflation, and Joanne Thompson took the opportunity to recite the good news talking points about the funding for small craft harbours. The very masculine Jacob Mantle tried to crack wise about the spaceport lease in Nova Scotia, and David McGuinty took his own turn to crow about the good news on those surveillance planes. Mantle demanded a copy of the lease agreement, and McGuinty read some good news talking points about the Canadian Forces.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and spoke about how those who have an environmental conscience must must Trudeau, and lamented the resignation of Steven Guilbeault. Julie Dabrusin patted herself on the back for the government’s nature strategy and methane regulations. Blanchet listed the government’s backtracking on the environment, and Dabrusin shrugged this off, saying his own record as environment minister in Quebec was nothing to brag about. Blanchet again wondered if there was anyone with an environmental conscience left in the Liberal Party, and Dabrusin took credit for our largely clean electricity grid (which this government has nothing to do with).

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QP: The Clarity Act is clear

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The PM was present today for the only time this week, while Pierre Poilievre was also present. He led off in English, and went on a rant about the Cowichan decision and his deliberate misreading of the litigation directive. Mark Carney declared that they defend private property which is why they appealed the decision. Poilievre carried on with his complete nonsense reading of the litigation directive, and Carney said the only person tossing and turning is Poilievre trying to come up with new ways to fear-monger. Poilievre switched to French to deliver his nonsense claims that it is Liberal taxes pushing up gasoline prices, and Carney pointed out how they already suspended the excise tax and the consumer carbon levy, while Poilievre opposed all measures to help people. Poilievre repeated the same nonsense claim in English, and Carney pointed to changes in refineries since the Harper days, and repeated his same swipe about Poilievre voting against help. Poilievre carried on his rant about how great things were in the Harper days, and Carney pointed to things they are delivering on like higher wages and greater participation of women in the workplace. Poilievre then read some stats from Equifax about people struggling, and Carney patted himself on the back for strength of the economy face of tariffs and global uncertainty.

Christine Normandin led for the Bloc, and demanded Carney respect the referendum questions put forward by provinces. Carney said that he is the prime minister, that he heard back from his advisory council and Alberta’s question doesn’t trigger the Clarity Act, but any question needs to be clear. Normandin went on a rant about “democracy” and demanded the Clarity Act be repealed, to which Carney said that under the Act, the House of Commons needs to consider the clarity of the question and the majority, which is not just fifty percent plus one. Rhéal Fortin took over rail about fifty percent plus one, and claimed it was an “authoritarian overreach,” and Carney said that “the Clarity Act is clear.”

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Roundup: More gas-fired electricity, just because

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Prime minister Mark Carney announced his national electricity plan yesterday, which he’s calling Powering Canada Strong™ (and I swear to Zeus, I am so tired of branding everything “Canada Strong™” by this point). He wants to double production by 2050, as well as connect provincial power grids with interties, build the skilled workforce necessary, and manufacture the technology to do so in Canada. And it all sounds well and good, but to get there, he plans to weaken the Trudeau-era Clean Electricity Regulations in order to allow a lot more natural gas-fired production. You know, for “flexibility.”

At this point you have to wonder how Carney can keep up the pretence that he is still going to meet our climate targets, and yet, he keeps saying that’s what’s going to happen. Sure, he’ll “adjust them,” but if you say we’re weakening them, he gets testy and huffy. But the notion that by “building up we can drive emissions down” is farcical on its face. It relies on the same logic of reducing emissions intensity while increasing the overall volume of production (and it was a tell that he used emissions intensity when talking about gas-fired electricity)—you’re still increasing overall emissions, albeit at a slightly lower rate. And to be clear, Canada was making progress in driving emission down, and we had an actual path to meeting our targets, but that has been completely blown out of the water now.

I’m also getting increasingly tired of this being billed as “pragmatic,” when it’s not in the longer term. The climate crisis is already here, and it’s reflected in the dramatic increase in wildfire season, extreme weather events, and increasing droughts that have pushed up food prices, at home and abroad. We can’t just keep ignoring this and treating climate goals or environmental protection as a luxury add-on. It’s essential to ensuring we have a stable economy of the future, and the fact that Carney and nearly everyone else is ignoring this fact is a really, really big problem, because the costs for kicking this down the road are already being felt. It’s only going to get worse from here, and they keep insisting that they want to make that future pain as bad as it can possibly get.

— Effin' Birds (@effinbirds.com) 2026-05-14T19:08:01.779Z

Programming Note: I am taking the full long weekend off from the blog. See you Wednesday, and happy Victoria Day.

Ukraine Dispatch

Russia’s massive drone attack continues, with the count at over 1567 drones since Wednesday, and the death toll now over 37 as an apartment building was struck. Zelenskyy’s former chief of staff has now been arrested in relation to money laundering charges. Meanwhile, the government of Latvia has lost its parliamentary majority over the handling of the incident where a Ukrainian drone accidentally flew into their territory.

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Roundup: Mixed messages about deeper integration

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Late last week, prime minister Mark Carney was at the Global Progress Action Summit in Toronto, and gave a speech that seems to be a bit of a Rorschach test about how you feel about him and the job he’s doing. While I believe he’s correct in saying that the loss of control people feel with affordability and the rise of digital asbestos leads to a “politics of grievance,” I am less convinced the same is true for immigration, and that it has proven a reliable scapegoat by everyone, Carney included, which is absolutely dangerous—especially when he uses phrases like “taking back control.” He also says that the current moment has been “seized by politicians who seek to destroy and dismantle and progressives must answer by building,” but he has been eroding and quietly dismantling the actual progressive programmes brought in by his predecessor. The fact that he is calling himself a “progressive” is stretching the definition to its breaking point.

Amidst this, there was another statement that raises even more eyebrows, which is that “Like Mexico, Canada remains open to deeper integration, including options for fortress North America in (certain) sectors. And to be clear, those offers are on the table.” Deeper integration? Fortress North America? So, after all of the talk about how being solely dependent on the US as a single trading partner has been a strategic weakness and that we need to diversify so that we have options and can’t be held hostage, we want to integrate even more closely in strategic sectors with the same country that has been trying to hold us hostage, threatening our sovereignty, and which has taken to bullying us because they think they can get away with it without consequence? I mean, I get that we cannot fully decouple from the US because of geography (and even Taiwan trades mostly with China, because of geography), but this message seems at odds with everything happening, and it’s really hard to see how he can promise this without some pretty heavy caveats up front, and I’m not exactly seeing anything that inspires me with confidence.

— Effin' Birds (@effinbirds.com) 2026-05-10T23:08:01.480Z

Ukraine Dispatch

Russia violated the ceasefire by making drone strikes on the front lines, and Ukraine launched a few drones in response. Putin claims the war will be winding down soon, but said they will be victorious, but are even further away from their aims, so we’ll see. Here is a look into the dispute between Ukraine and Israel over shipments of stolen grain, and why Israel is uncomfortably close to Russia.

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Roundup: Preparing to gut environmental laws

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The federal government is openly musing about changes to the Impact Assessment Act and the Fisheries Act in order to speed up project approvals, which sounds like it could be a dubious proposition. Federal Sources™ still insist that they will need Indigenous consultations and “robust” environmental assessments for projects, but if they keep “streamlining” these processes, they’re not robust. And then you just get more litigation. They don’t seem to learn this lesson.

The Conservatives, meanwhile, continue to demand that all environmental laws be repealed as “anti-development,” and continue to propagate falsehoods about projects that didn’t move ahead for reasons that have nothing to do with the assessment regime. They seem to have no concept of the fact that there are other factors at play, whether it’s the crash in oil prices in 2014, or the fact that there were no customers willing to sign long-term contracts that would make these projects viable enough to pursue.

https://twitter.com/andrew_leach/status/2052386968798118276

https://twitter.com/andrew_leach/status/2052388610519994589

And then there are the oil companies themselves, who continue to try and flex their influence in order to scrap environmental laws. While whinging that any carbon pricing makes them uncompetitive (blatantly untrue given the credits in the system), Canadian Natural announced yesterday that they are moving ahead with two steam-driven oilsands projects, but still holding off on expanding one of their mines. Looks like they can still operate within the regulatory environment, even while grousing about it. These companies are not fragile babies who are one look askance away from insolvency, and government needs to stop treating them as though they were (while the Conservatives really need to stop credulously believing everything that these companies say).

https://twitter.com/andrew_leach/status/2052386215593439714

Ukraine Dispatch

Ahead of its ceasefire, Russia fired dozens of more drones into Ukraine, hitting a kindergarten in Sumy, claiming Ukraine violated their own ceasefire first. President Zelenskyy has warned that if Russia continues to violate the ceasefire, then Ukraine will carry on with its long-range strikes.

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