Zelenskyy Perturbed at Friend Trudeau

[dapaterson]

They're a checker on a chess board.

 

[OldSolduer]

They're a checker on a chess board.

And have not the wit to realize it.

 

[Halifax Tar]

They're a checker on a chess board.

 

[Brad Sallows]

that every dollar the federal government earns from this project will be invested in Canada’s clean energy transition.

In which he stumbled across an approximation of the solution (private enterprises, not government, should be deciding where investments are made). "The way out is through." You exploit the productivity of the current economy to pay for the transition to the future economy. Cripple your capacity to generate resources, and you risk failure.

 

[Furniture]

You need to be a special kind of stupid to live in Saguenay, and be opposed to fossil fuels.

I'm in Chicoutimi for a work trip, the high tomorrow is forecast to be 15... in August. This place would be miserable, bordering on deadly without fossil fuels allowing energy production, and transport of goods.

 

[Kirkhill]

Meanwhile - The Ukrainians were offering to recompense Canada by backing the LNG play by Scholz.

Ukraine’s Naftogaz backs Scholz’s bid for Canadian LNG ahead of trip

Kyiv has been at loggerheads with Berlin over its gas imports policy, first over the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and more recently over its deal with Canada to get a repaired turbine for the Nord Stream 1 delivered back to Germany

www.theglobeandmail.com

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Someone needs to take this file away from our feckless PMO and give it to some grounded in reality adults to sort out.

Can this guy not meet a world leader without poking them in the eye and making Canada look stupid?

 

[Good2Golf]

Someone needs to take this file away from our feckless PMO and give it to some grounded in reality adults to sort out.

Can this guy not meet a world leader without poking them in the eye and making Canada look stupid?

You’re just experiencing his awesomeness differently than he is…

 

[Spencer100]

You’re just experiencing his awesomeness differently than he is…

I read that line as Skippy in my head. I hope you are listening to R.C Bray doing Skippy. Sorry for the very off topic cut there. "expect the awesome"

But for those interested the Audible book Expeditionary Force by Craig Alanson performed by R.C. Bray is highly recommended. Military SciFi and first contact reading.

 

[CBH99]

As I understand it, we could even use US LNG facilities to ship Canadian product as long as we forge the right agreements.

But that would probably take some real negotiation skill on the part of an invisible Minister of International Trade, with zero industry expereince

The Honourable Mary Ng

The Honourable Mary Ng - Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development

pm.gc.ca

Our Minister of Trade actually does keep a pretty low profile for such a high profile position, doesn’t she?

And how, HOW does someone become a Minister in a G7 country with no experience?

Freeland hits back at Kushner book, calls Trump a ‘bully’ during new NAFTA talks | Globalnews.ca

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says former U.S. President Donald Trump used "bully" tactics during negotiations for a new North American free-trade agreement.

globalnews.ca

Something tells me the book is telling us the truth moreso than Minister of Everything, Freeland.

Especially the part about being “difficult to deal with and not committing to anything substantial…”

Something about that just feels familiar…

 

[daftandbarmy]

Our Minister of Trade actually does keep a pretty low profile for such a high profile position, doesn’t she?

And how, HOW does someone become a Minister in a G7 country with no experience?

Tokenism is an important pre-qualifier for the Trudeau Cabinet:

"Minister Ng is a devoted community leader who has always believed in the power of public service. She has 20 years of experience in the areas of education, women’s leadership, job creation, and entrepreneurship.

Minister Ng immigrated to Canada from Hong Kong with her family, and grew up learning about the struggle and eventual success that many new immigrants experience in Canada."

 

[OldSolduer]

It’s all about the visibility of women and minorities- not that it will protect them from a vengeful PM

 

[Spencer100]

It’s all about the visibility of women and minorities- not that it will protect them from a vengeful PM

Yes it is. But its also the rise of the Presidential or Imperial Prime Minister. And the demise of Cabinet and Ministerial government in the context of the parliamentary system. With almost everything being run out of the PMO and less and less in the ministries themselves. I have seen this over the decades from both sides when in power. I do believe its is even worse now.

 

[rmc_wannabe]

Yes it is. But its also the rise of the Presidential or Imperial Prime Minister. And the demise of Cabinet and Ministerial government in the context of the parliamentary system. With almost everything being run out of the PMO and less and less in the ministries themselves. I have seen this over the decades from both sides when in power. I do believe its is even worse now.

And ofcourse, the PMO is being led by the unelected Liberal/Conservative Party of Canada policy makers. It's a fine way to neuter any form of internal discourse or disagreement within a party by making funding for your campaign contingent on towing the party line. I wonder how many Liberal MPs have been cowed into supporting legislation or policies that they themselves would never support, but Liberal Party TM MP Bloggins is forced to

 

[CBH99]

And ofcourse, the PMO is being led by the unelected Liberal/Conservative Party of Canada policy makers. It's a fine way to neuter any form of internal discourse or disagreement within a party by making funding for your campaign contingent on towing the party line. I wonder how many Liberal MPs have been cowed into supporting legislation or policies that they themselves would never support, but Liberal Party TM MP Bloggins is forced to

Genuinely curious - who decides policy for either of those parties, if not the elected MP’s?

(I always raise an eyebrow of concern when I hear that government policies and decisions are made by people who are not elected…)

 

[Brad Sallows]

Every party has eminences grises who have influence in the backrooms. Occasionally we get a PM (eg. Harper) who mostly has a mind of his own.

 

[OldSolduer]

Every party has eminences grises who have influence in the backrooms. Occasionally we get a PM (eg. Harper) who mostly has a mind of his own.

As opposed to the sock puppet we have now.

 

[Kat Stevens]

It amazes me constantly that I never see Butts' lips move when Trudeau talks.

 

[Spencer100]

Genuinely curious - who decides policy for either of those parties, if not the elected MP’s?

(I always raise an eyebrow of concern when I hear that government policies and decisions are made by people who are not elected…)

Yes and No. Take the current PMO, much of the policy or day to day stuff is made by unelected staffers or PMO policy officers in close to PM. Telford, Butts etc. The days of the backbench and now even Cabinet Ministers having a say are are very much receding. Because the PM (this is every party) in also the Party leader and controls party funds, nomination papers, even the office assignments (I know Speaker but the Speaker is most likely in the gov party) etc. I would put to you much of the current actions of the PM are not even in the party overall policy papers voted at the party conventions.

We have move away the older Westminster model some of the checks and balances on the PM have been removed or weakened. At different times things government funding for parties, the removal of the party leader by vote of the seating MP's of that party, party leadership parachuting candidates and/or overriding local party riding associations. These and others has all contributed to the rise of the "presidential" PM and the weakening of the individual MP and or party member.

Also attached to this is the media and the publics desire for the election campaigns to focus on one leader. And also the party's (especially the Tory's) total need to control the message. No off script talking. In the CPC case any off script out burst is magnified by the national media.

 

[Kirkhill]

No business case for LNG Export? For Natural Gas Pipelines?

If Quebec doesn't want it in Saguenay then Churchill Manitoba. Ship in the summer when demand is low. Stockpile in winter when demand is high. Short pipelines to the existing network.

Germany touts possible ‘major role’ for Canadian LNG in shift away from Russia

‘As Germany is moving away from Russian energy at warp speed, Canada is our partner of choice,’ Scholz says at a conference in Toronto

www.theglobeandmail.com

Heather Exner-Pirot: Canada is hoarding its resources. Our allies have noticed

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's trip to Canada was supposed to be about LNG, not hydrogen

nationalpost.com

Canada just missed possibly one of the greatest opportunities in its history

Canada could have been using its LNG to save an embattled Europe ... and make billions in the process

nationalpost.com

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/ottawa-rejects-saguenay-energy-project-1.6320373

Further to;

Europe gas shortages to last several winters, Shell boss warns​

Ben van Beurden says energy rationing will be needed for a number of years

Europe’s energy crisis will last for several winters, the boss of Shell has said, as he warned it is "fantasy" to think shortages caused by Russia cutting supplies can be resolved quickly.

Ben van Beurden told a conference in Norway that power rationing will be needed for a number of years as electricity prices hit fresh record highs.
He said: “I do not think this crisis is going to be limited to just one winter.


“It may well be that we have a number of winters where we have to somehow find solutions through efficiency savings, through rationing, and through a very quick build out of alternatives that you may have [such as] alternative gas imports [and] hopefully alternative energy sources.”

On Monday, Belgium’s energy minister, Tinne Van der Straeten, called for European gas prices to be urgently frozen, saying the next “five to 10” winters will be “terrible” without urgent action.

Europe has been plunged into turmoil by cuts to Russian gas supplies as the Kremlin hits back at sanctions imposed following its war on Ukraine.
Russia typically supplied about 40pc of the EU’s gas before the war, with countries including Germany among the most reliant.

Soaring prices as countries compete for scarce supplies have triggered a major cost of living crisis while several major industrial energy users have been forced to curb production.

Britain gets little gas directly from Russia but is exposed to the surge in prices, with the annual price cap on household energy bills set to rise by 80pc in October to £3,549.

Problems and maintenance of EDF’s nuclear fleet in France have also worsened the strain on electricity markets.

On Monday, forward power prices in Germany climbed above €1,000 per MWh for the first time - about 20 times higher than historic long term averages.

Nervousness over gas supplies is rising ahead of a three-day shut-down from Wednesday of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline under the Baltic Sea to Germany.
Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned gas giant, announced the previously unscheduled maintenance earlier this month, triggering concerns over whether it will re-open.

The pipeline is already running at only 20pc of capacity, complicating efforts in Germany and elsewhere to fill up gas storage sites ahead of winter.
Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's president, on Monday said Russia was trying to prevent European nations from filling gas storage sites enough to cope with winter.

The head of Germany's energy regulator said Germany was making better progress than expected in filling its gas storage, but further supplies would be needed.

Europe gas shortages to last several winters, Shell boss warns

Ben van Beurden says energy rationing will be needed for a number of years

www.telegraph.co.uk

The sun is shining. We have fields of grass. And we can' t be bothered to make hay.