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A disastrous strategic failure has Ukrainians discussing politics again

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Anna Nemtsova is a Daily Beast correspondent and a contributing writer for the Atlantic.

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February of last year, Ukrainians have buried their political disputes in the name of national unity. But some are starting to believe that the tacit ban on discussion of controversial topics has outlived its usefulness.

After all, Ukraine is fighting this war to maintain not only its statehood but also its democracy. And surely the freedom to ask uncomfortable questions of those in power is one of the core components of any democracy worthy of the name.

On July 21, former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko made a public announcement strikingly reminiscent of the start of an election campaign. Standing against a backdrop of military trucks and drones, he drew attention to legislation he had proposed in 2021 that called for funding to prepare, in case of war, for the destruction of the Chonhar bridge — a crucial communications link between mainland Ukraine and the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula. The bill never made it through parliament. “We paid a very high price for being ignored,” he declared.

Poroshenko’s statement was a swipe at his longtime rival Volodymyr Zelensky, who still enjoys sky-high approval ratings as president thanks to his strong wartime leadership. Ukrainians have generally accepted that the war necessitated restrictions to the country’s democratic institutions. Martial law, which was declared immediately after the Russian invasion, has constrained free speech and civil liberties. Yet now Poroshenko is testing those limits.

At the heart of the issue is the government’s potential responsibility for a disastrous strategic failure. In the opening days of the invasion, the Russian army quickly occupied a large chunk of the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson. They did it by rolling across the Chonhar bridge — which the Ukrainian army was supposed to have destroyed but did not.

Why it failed to do so continues to bedevil Ukraine’s politicians, military and journalists — not to mention a team of government investigators that has been working the case ever since.

Late last year, the head of Ukraine’s domestic security service, the SBU, confirmed the existence of an investigation but declined to comment on its progress — and there has been silence ever since. Some leading analysts and politicians, including former Zelensky adviser Oleksiy Arestovych, believe that the Ukrainian Supreme Court — whose head was arrested in a massive bribery scandal in May — should rule that the results of the investigation must be kept secret for national security reasons.

 

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That will be a tough sell with Ukraine’s vibrant civil society. Today Kyiv is waging a bloody counteroffensive against superior enemy forces to recapture the very same territory it lost after the Russians crossed the Chonhar Strait, and casualties are mounting. So questions about the case persist — and not least because of institutional rivalries that might shape the country’s political future.

Was the failure to blow up the Chonhar bridge the fault of the SBU, which was run at the time by a man who was a childhood friend of Zelensky? (He has since been fired.) Or was it a case of pure negligence, the fault of the military, headed then and now by Gen. Valery Zaluzhny?

Zaluzhny, who is immensely popular and has no ties to any political party, is widely seen as Zelensky’s most serious rival. In June, a Ukrainian news agency reported that the general “has not made up his mind” about whether he will enter politics. The country treated Zaluzhny’s 50th birthday last month as an occasion to celebrate a national hero. Ukrainian journalist Oleksandr Martynenko described Zelensky and Zaluzhny to me as “two charismatic, emotional and extremely popular leaders,” and noted that the current president is rumored to view the general as a competitor.

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The declaration of martial law suspended elections. But a presidential poll is scheduled for next March (assuming that the war is over by then).

In the meantime, the mystery around the failure to blow up the bridge just won’t go away. Last month, a leading newspaper interviewed Ivan Sestryvatovsky, a 48-year-old marine whose job was to blow up the Chonhar bridge as the invasion began and who’s convinced the operation was sabotaged. He claimed that the bridge was mined at least a week and a half before the invasion — but nothing happened when he pressed the detonator. Arestovych pins the blame for the failure on betrayal by an SBU officer, allegedly turned by the Russians, who was arrested in March. “It’s a painful and politicized subject,” Arestovych told me recently. He doesn’t think the results of the investigation should be released as long as the war is going on.

But lawyer Masi Nayyem, who lost an eye to a Russian mine during his service as an officer in the army, doesn’t agree. “Our civil society is in charge of our democracy,” Nayyem said. “Not the army, not the presidential administration. Civil society needs to know the truth.” He acknowledged that Poroshenko and other members of the opposition might be trying to exploit the issue for political gain. Even so, he said, investigating possible treason (and fighting corruption) must continue despite the war. “We have to prevent future mistakes,” he said, even if the process is painful.

And that is the deeper story here, and in its way it is a positive one. Every government is subject to error, incompetence, even betrayal. The real question is whether a system allows for scrutiny and accountability. Ukraine’s culture of democratic resilience is precisely what makes it radically different from Russia — and that should include scrutinizing the failures of officialdom.

In Russia, critical voices and unpleasant questions are ruthlessly suppressed. Ukraine should show that it can do better — even during war.

 

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‘Disgraceful:’ N.S. Tory leader slams school’s request that military remove uniform

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HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.

Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.

A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”

Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.

“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.

In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”

“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”

Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.

Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.

Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.

“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.

“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.

“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”

Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.

“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”

NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”

“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Saskatchewan NDP’s Beck holds first caucus meeting after election, outlines plans

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REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.

Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.

She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.

Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.

Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.

The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Nova Scotia election: Liberals say province’s immigration levels are too high

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HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.

Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.

“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.

Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.

“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”

The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.

In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.

“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”

In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.

“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”

Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.

Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.

“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”

In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.

In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.

“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”

Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.

“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”

The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.

“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.

Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.

“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

— With files from Keith Doucette in Halifax

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