A dodgy resignation, Poilievre stans Jordan Peterson, and Canada's failures on climate change
PART ONE of a two-part summary of the fever dream that was April 18-May 21
As a descendant of Scottish settlers, I am grateful to be producing this newsletter in Moh’kinsstis, and the traditional Treaty 7 territory of the Blackfoot confederacy: Siksika, Kainai, Piikani, as well as the Îyâxe Nakoda and Tsuut’ina nations. I understand that this territory is home to the Métis Nation of Alberta, Region 3 within the historical Northwest Métis homeland. In the spirit of truth and reconciliation, I recognize that the land I work and live on was stolen from these nations and I have been afforded privileges as a result.
NOTE: With so much news to report this past month, I’m breaking this month’s newsletter into two parts. This is the first and the second one will be posted tomorrow.
Given recent events, you might be a bit confused about who exactly is Premier of Alberta right now. Well, rest assured it is still Jason Kenney. And will be for the foreseeable future.
The reports of Kenney's (political) death were indeed - greatly exaggerated. He’s not only still the leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP) but also Premier of Alberta. Cabinet members gave him a standing ovation on Friday. With media cameras rolling (no mics allowed though), Kenney clarified that he was staying on as premier to do the “people’s business.”
On May 19, he tersely tweeted out a bare bones letter to the United Conservative Party (on party letterhead) informing Janis Nett of his “intention to resign…upon the election of a new Leader,” which kind of goes without saying, I think.
Compare this to his letter of resignation as federal Member of Parliament in 2016 to run for the UCP leadership. It was on official letterhead as he gushed about how honoured he was to have served.
At the time of this first resignation he tweeted “No going back now.”
But this time, he is going back. Right back to the Premier’s office to keep working.
Nevertheless, his mere “intention to resign” has triggered quite a few opinion columns, panel podcast discussions, and many accolades from fellow and former politicans, including Rachel Notley, Stephen Harper and Rona Ambrose.
If you were to read the news coverage, you would think he was already gone.
Nathan Neudorf issued a statement on behalf of the party saying only "the timing … will be determined by the United Conservative Party."
After technically winning the majority of the vote on May 18, surpassing the 50 + 1 per cent bar (just barely) that he himself had set, Kenney made the surprise announcement of his “intention to resign.”
Having shocked everyone, he then turned tail…and went directly back to being Premier and leader of the UCP. The caucus could’ve voted non-confidence in his leadership the next day, but they did not.
On May 14, Carrie Tait reported in The Globe and Mail that Brian Jean predicted the May 19 caucus meeting would be, “one of the most important caucus meetings in history for the UCP’s existence” even if Kenney won.
But after a discussion that went on for hours as journalists huddled outside, caucus reaffirmed their confidence in Kenney. Now everyone is just waiting to find out what it all means. Very little is being said, the exception being Danielle Smith who appears positively giddy to be running for the leadership.
No date has been set for the leadership race. No one is saying too much about that. The party has gone quiet and even the page about the Special General Meeting vote has disappeared from the party website.
With an election coming in May 2023, there is a limited window for the UCP to have a full leadership contest and also be ready for the election. There are so many loopholes in this scenario that I don't think we can say anything is confirmed at this point.
So, could Kenney and his supporters in the UCP just drag this leadership contest out until just before the election? Then, he could say - oh well - there's no new leader yet, so you're stuck with me. Are there even any rules around an "intention to resign" vs an actual resignation or loss of confidence?
Gotta hand it to Kenney, he's mastered the art of giving the middle finger to his critics no matter how precarious his position seems.
Kenney appeared on his weekly radio talk show on May 21 and said he won’t be running for the leadership, laying to rest the rumours of his intent to make a comeback. Nevertheless, many are still suspicious of Kenney’s intentions and rightly so.
Notes and quotes on truth and reconciliation, racism at home and abroad
APTN reported this week that the Saddle Lake First Nation is looking for help from the federal government to find the remains of more than 200 children who died at what they call “one of the most horrific residential schools in Canada,” the Blue Quills Indian Residential School.
A report going to Saskatoon's Board of Police Commissioners says controversial patches worn by some police officers are not authorized to be on uniforms.
The Ottawa Police drew criticism from five community groups last week. The groups are calling for an independent evaluation of the police for arresting a student during a protest of the school dress code.
The Phoenix Mercury opened their basketball season at home against the Las Vegas Aces but player Brittney Griner is still imprisoned in Russia. She appeared in court briefly last week but her detention was extended for another month without trial.
In a tour of the site of a former residential school in B.C. that is now being used as a daycare and office space for his nation, a survivor found a jail cell with a small bed and toilet.
“All this talk about the Great Replacement and not a single mention of white European settlers murdering an estimated 56 million Native Americans. That's the only Great Replacement this country has witnessed, and it's the only one worth addressing.” Journalist Joshua Frank
Stanning Jordan Peterson
Pierre Poilievre, the frontrunner in the Conservative Party of Canada’s leadership contest admitted in a televised debate on May 11 that he's reading Jordan Peterson’s "12 Rules for Life."
"Great book and a lot of good lessons. We all need to improve ourselves and I think he has a lot of good wisdom in that book that could help anybody," said Poilievre.
The book, which many believe is aimed at young people - especially young men - has received mixed reviews. Peterson is well known for his transphobic and misogynistic statements, as well as his climate denialism.
"Ideologies are substitutes for true knowledge, and ideologues are always dangerous when they come to power, because a simple-minded I-know-it-all approach is no match for the complexity of existence," said Peterson, in what may have been a moment of self-reflection.
Or was he commenting on Poilievre?
Poilievre drew criticism recently for his promise to remove the Bank of Canada Governor if he forms government. He has criticized the bank arguing that rapidly rising consumer prices are largely the result of the central bank buying hundreds of billions of federal government bonds during the pandemic.
The central bank, and most professional economists, disagree with this assessment.
As Jeff McIntosh explained in the Globe and Mail, “The independence of central banks is a widely held convention because controlling inflation and maintaining the purchasing power of the dollar sometimes requires unpopular decisions that politicians might wish to avoid. This includes raising interest rates to slow down the economy when inflation is too high.”
When CPC finance critic Ed Fast criticized Poilievre's comments, supporters pressured Fast to resign, which he did. Fast correctly stated that the idea seriously damages the credibility of the party and also raises fears about plans for future political interference.
My prediction is that Poilievre will win the leadership. His brand of conservatism - which veers strongly towards authoritarian populism - will destroy Canada like it is destroying the US - unless we learn from the disaster south of the border.
We can learn. But will we? I'm seeing a lot of people too exhausted by the pandemic to even give a damn. I'm tired too but we've got to muster up the strength to resist. The appeal of simple solutions to complex problems is strong. And so dangerous when combined with a willingness to stop at nothing, including dismantling democracy, to achieve compliance.
How Canada is failing on climate change, let us count the ways
Green Party Member of Parliament Mike Morrice gave a passionate speech in the House of Commons.
“This week the government approved a $10 billion loan guarantee for Trans Mountain. That's on top of billions they spent on buying the pipeline. Imagine what could be possible if they focused on a prosperous transition for workers, rather than doubling down on a bad investment?”
Will this pipeline go down in history as the biggest boondoggle ever?
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On May 12, The Guardian released a report based on months of research that documents the scores of new projects fossil fuel companies are proposing, enough to wipe out the world’s remaining carbon budget and shatter any effort to hold global warming to 1.5°C.
A story in The Energy Mix cites the United States, Canada, and Australia “among the countries with the biggest expansion plans and the highest number of carbon bombs,” as well as some of the highest per capita fossil fuel subsidies.
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Alberta’s highest court, the Alberta Court of Appeal (ABCA) has determined that the federal government overstepped its mark with the Impact Assessment Act (IAA), a huge blow to environmental protection in the province.
Nigel Bankes, emeritus professor of law at the University of Calgary tweeted: “A sad day when the ABCA surpasses even @jkenney's rhetoric. The IAA involves another existential threat ... and that is the clear and present danger this legislative scheme presents to the division of powers guaranteed by our Constitution and thus, to Canada itself."
The federal government has the option of appealing the decision to the Supreme Court of Canada. Let’s hope they are drawing up the documents now.
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Thirteen years ago, as part of a commitment made by all G20 nations, Canada began promising to scrub out all inefficient fossil fuel subsidies from the government’s books.
But as Mia Rabson reported for The Canadian Press on May 6, the government can’t define what an “inefficient fossil fuel subsidy” actually is.
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Cenovus CEO Alex Pourbaix told analysts during a company conference call that a federal tax credit of more than $6B for carbon capture and storage (CCS) schemes is not enough, while the company raked in $1.6B in profits in Q1.
I’ve long opposed government funding for CCS having worked with some industry folks in the past who were unable to vouch for its effectiveness 10 years ago. Some of the same doubts persist today. Not much has changed in the last decade and the opportunity has now passed because we simply do not have enough time.
Pourbaix’s comments suggest you can't trust fossil fuel companies to do the right thing, even with government incentives.
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Mitchell Beer wrote in The Energy Mix on May 6 that the “deep entanglement” between Canada’s 10 biggest pension funds and a roster of 76 fossil fuel companies raises serious questions about whether fund managers and trustees are looking out for the best interest of the beneficiaries who depend on them. This is based on a scathing, 40-page report released by Toronto-based group “Shift Action for Pension Wealth and Climate Health.”
"As long as pension directors have close associations to the fossil industry, they must withdraw from decisions on the institutions’ fossil investments. They’re conflicted, so they have to step back,” said Shift Action Director Adam Scott.
What are the chances?
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On Earth day, April 22, it was reported by Natasha Bulowski in the National Observer that Canada is cheating on its reports to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
"...as it stands, the government’s current approach is biased. And the proposed changes don’t address the flawed calculations or reflect what the atmosphere actually sees,” according to Jennifer Skene, author of the report and natural climate solutions policy manager with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
Rolling Thunder turned into barely a sprinkle
What can I say about this month’s ridiculous spectacle of a sequel to the Ottawa Occupation? A few things…
I tuned in to a Twitch livestream of the shenanigans on April 30 just in time to hear a woman at the microphone shouting at men about "having the balls" to stand up and needing to “protect their women.” This is evidence I was procrastinating about some chores that I had to tackle. I kept watching most of the day, unfortunately and will never get those hours back.
It's hard to take this group's claims they're against government tyranny seriously when one of the speakers referenced Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a politician who personifies authoritarianism, as one of the "good guys".
DeSantis has taken the state's power to punish critics to a terrifying level, with attacks on private companies he doesn't like (Disney), limits on free speech (Don't Say Gay), and rewriting electoral maps to remove voting rights in Black districts.
If DeSantis is their hero, they're definitely NOT in support of freedom, nor are they libertarian. As many people have observed, the so-called "freedom" group is all-in for tyranny, as long as it supports their worldview.
The convoy’s increasingly obvious associations with White nationalism, racism and generally, disreputable people is turning the whole thing into a creepy carnival act. Just one example is “The Line Canada,” an original sponsor of the convoy, and back for the Rolling Thunder event, of course. This group was founded by Lamont Daigle, associated with anti-semitism.
Their related charitable wing, the Line International Civil Liberties Association lists three directors: Lamont, George Roche, and Helen Voong. Roche is the executive director of something called Canadian Rights Watch, an organization that charges a membership fee for services. Their full menu of services is hilarious and includes a “referral for a legal letter composition,” (I wasn’t aware you need a referral?) and "formal outreach to human rights violators." Is that what we’re calling kickbacks and threats now?
It’s obvious the convoy was not so much about motorcycles or veterans as they claimed. It was just a bunch of people intent on forcing their unpopular ideas on others. That's not freedom. These are far-right movements with anti-democratic, conspiracy theory views. They are also recruiting grounds for hate groups who infiltrate and manipulate the participants to support their objectives.
If you disagree with them, to be called a “sex predator,” including if you simply step out onto your balcony and yell at them, as caught on the video that follows:
Not only that, but these diehard convoyers, supposedly in Ottawa to honour Canadian veterans, were chanting “U-S-A.” WTF??
That feeling of freedom that comes from riding your bike for work…
For your bicycle content this week, check out this short film Huntress by Kelsey Leigh that was featured as part of the Bicycle Film Festival.
Part Two of this post covers a suspicious new parents’ group, a White supremacist round-up, and the overturning of Roe v. Wade while the UCP pray. The three could be thematically related. Watch for it tomorrow!