Narrative violation!

The Senate doing interesting things.

Gaze Upon a Nation Marsha Koersvelt c. 2025

New from me. On the return of the debate about refugee health care.

Also that.

It's fun to say that we should have tariff-free access to the American market. But: a) In light of the administration's comments and actions, how likely does that seem? and b) What would you be willing to sacrifice to get tariff-free access?

Gorton and Denton sounds like a British comedy duo from the 80s.

From my colleagues.

New from me. On the return of the debate about refugee health care.

"Bernie Farber, a longtime social justice and anti-hate advocate, noted that going back decades, most CAF members would be considered anti-fascist."

"Ours it not a country created by accident." Jarring to hear Pierre Poilievre sounding like Justin Trudeau.

I suppose I would ask why this is an "if" situation.

🤔

GPS is a wholly U.S.-run system, its design works poorly at far northern latitudes, and it's really easy to disrupt maliciously. Smart people are saying Canada ought to think about how we replace it. thelogic.co/news/the-big...

🫡

When Danielle Smith claimed 80% of federally picked judges had donated to Liberals, that was way higher than any figure I'd researched. I dug into it. Could confidently write here: "It is not true. The single media source Smith got that fact from has since corrected it." www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Speech from the Throne > State of the Union

Interesting how quickly the discourse has come to focus entirely on what Van Rootselaar said to ChatGPT and not at all on what ChatGPT might have said to Van Rootselaar. Would like to hear the Minister ask for the chat transcripts.

ICYMI from the most recent Focus Canada survey: “The most significant change in public opinion over the past year is the widening partisan divide.” www.environicsinstitute.org/projects/pro...

This seems like the sort of thing that could be usefully investigated by a House of Commons committee.

In the context of a federal budget, $144 million for amateur sport could maybe be framed as a relatively modest expenditure. A full Olympic bid might be... less modest. The Calgary bid in 2018 was going to cost the federal government $1.4 billion. www.thestar.com/sports/olymp...

People keep talking about if Bluesky is “relevant” or if it has reach or whatever, I don’t care I’m here to have fun, do what u want

In Canada we once had a political scandal because a Minister bought the $14 hotel orange juice

People on Bluesky: “sPoRtS aReN’t PoLiTiCaL” The United States men’s national hockey team: *parties in their dressing room with Kash Patel*

I respect how much Connor McDavid clearly hates losing.

Jon Cooper is a surefire first-ballot selection for the Not Visibly Reacting To Exciting Things In Sports hall of fame.

This means the overall tariff rate on Canada is now lower after the Supreme Court ruling, as the baseline “fentanyl” tariff has dropped from 35% to 10%. (That’s assuming Trump does not eventually impose more tariffs, which, um, we should not assume.)

Major news for Canada: the USMCA exemptions will continue under the new tariff regime *GREER SAYS IEEPA EXEMPTIONS WILL BE EXTENDED UNDER SECTION 122

For some reason I feel like this should be reposted... Alabama isn't "richer" than Canada. Don't print lies in the newspaper and don't embed false narratives into journalism. Simple rules.

oh no Canada is poorer than Alabama so Canada better do things to become more like Alabama instead of questioning whether or not the way they are measuring this is meaningful or useful

Premier Danielle Smith said she doesn't know how much newcomers cost Alberta’s health care and education systems, despite scheduling a referendum to ask whether social services to those residents shd be limited b/c of cost www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alber... By @mattscace.bsky.social and friend

Hey now why is it that Albertans are suddenly clicking on this story from October 2023? www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Is there a specific legal reason why the Supreme Court's ruling on IEEPA couldn't be applied to the 232 tariffs?

Trade war is over if you want it

Interviewer: "When you look at today's numbers, what do they tell us about the effectiveness of Donald Trump's tariffs." Me, very serious economist: "Hahahahahahahahahahaha.... hahahahahahahaha.... hahahahahahahahahaha... oh, wow." Sometimes all you can do is laugh at the absurdity of it all.

For what it's worth, the House had a chance to effectively ban floor-crossing in 2012: C-306 would have required an MP to run in a by-election before sitting with another party. It was defeated by a vote of 181 to 91 at second reading. Just 3 Conservatives voted in favour, 142 voted against.

"In fact, we've gotten some reports that some people are receiving services FROM THE CRADLE. Like, as soon as they arrive, people expect we give them a tax-funded little bed."

Would be fun to know whether anyone at Buckingham Palace asked a Canadian about this. www.dailymail.co.uk/news/royals/...

I understand all the arguments against floor-crossing and am familiar with all the research on how voters think about their votes and I do think there's some risk that a government could appear cynical in gaining a majority via floor-crossing. But I also tend to come back to a few things.

How many more Conservative MPs have to cross the floor before we can say Carney is running Canada's second Unionist government?

Some quick math. Adding Matt Jeneroux brings the Liberals to 169 MPs and the opposition down to 171 MPs. There are three vacancies: University-Rosedale, Scarborough Southwest and Terrebonne. Winning all three would give the Liberals a majority.

🫡 🧐

I'm seeing this get shared around in lots of places. (So apologies for picking on Judy) But it is sloppy research. This wire transfer is to "Harper & Associates Inc," which is the name of multiple firms across the U.S. The former prime minister's company is "Harper & Associates Consulting Inc."

Some years ago I wrote a piece that lamented Parliament's lack of curiosity about Afghanistan and two supposedly serious and wise commentators took to Twitter to suggest I was being silly. www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

Interesting stuff from @parkinac.bsky.social

I think the PM and the party leaders flying together to Tumbler Ridge is an important, vital gesture of unity and solidarity, but I think it can also speak to seriousness — to not accepting what happened on Tuesday and to realising it's something that demands a response.

Just saw the footage of the five party leaders standing shoulder to shoulder, alongside locals, at the memorial in Tumbler Ridge, a small town I've been to many times. I think it's good we have a country where a moment like this can occur. I think we should strive so moments like this don't need to.

Olympic hockey hype video. www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2XT...

End of an era bsky.app/profile/ekor...

wonder if Germans have some subject matter expertise in this or something