It was Auditor General Day yesterday, and there were a bunch of reports released, including three from the Environment Commissioner, who is in her office. And so, this is what they found:

• The CBSA’s new digital management software, CARM, is still glitchy two years later and they spend a lot of time on manual workarounds.
• FINTRAC continues to be plagued by reporting backlogs that aren’t going to be cleared until next year at least.
• National Defence didn’t manage their ammunition inventory effectively.
• Ways to improve the dental care programme after it exceeded its budget.
• The government still won’t outline their plan to meet their 2030 emissions targets.
• The procurement process for new call centre technology has been a mess.
• Health Canada isn’t following up on high-risk pesticides identified with monitoring.
• PHAC has not effectively managed their emergency stockpiles.
• The government stopped work on banning thermal coal exports without saying so.

There is a common theme about a lack of oversight in many of these reports, and while a lot of these issues are from the Trudeau era, I have observed that there was an issue with a lack of proper management of government departments, where the attitude seemed to be that these civil servants were left to manage their own affairs, which they didn’t necessarily do effectively. Whether that’s because ministers didn’t feel they were qualified to because they were constantly reporting to the Centre (meaning the chief of staff) was a possibility, or perhaps it was because they didn’t realise that it was their responsibility to do so. I wonder if it will get worse under Carney, however, as ministers are preoccupied with trying to use digital asbestos to “find efficiencies,” or because major projects and decisions are being shunted off to Crown corporations to manage them instead, which are more arm’s-length, and as a result get less scrutiny. We’ll have to see, but the trend is not encouraging.

The government also released their first National Security Strategy in twenty years, and it was a slim, high-level document that had very few details, but outlined five broad themes, including a focus on economic security. There is also concern outlined about “frontier” digital asbestos being a major threat. Philippe Lagassé considers the defence-related items, while Stephanie Carvin has her initial thoughts here.

Carney says we are "forging new partnerships with allies that are anchored in our common values."What are our "common values" with China, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Türkiye, and Modi's India? If the common value is making money, then he should just come out and say so.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-10-30T00:54:22.514Z

— Effin' Birds (@effinbirds.com) 2026-10-29T19:08:01.843Z

Ukraine Dispatch:

A Russian drone killed fourteen after hitting a rail platform in Dnipro. There were other attacks on Kyiv and Kharkiv. De-mining operations around Oleshky have completed so the relief mission and possible evacuation can begin, while president Zelenskyy warns of intelligence about another ballistic missile attack.

Noteworthy:

• The Logic has an excellent reality check about why even a Democrat sweep of the US midterms won’t actually do much to improve the trade relationship.
• Justin Ling recaps some of the Trump erraticism ahead of the midterms.

What is there to opt out of for dental care? It's 100% a federally-funded, privately-administered insurance programme. It has nothing to do with the province. And pharmacare is pretty much a dead letter federally anyway, because most of the premiers, including Alberta's, balked.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-10-29T14:06:47.422Z

Want more Routine Proceedings? Become a patron and get exclusive new content. 

Canada is building closer ties with the European Union shortly after one of the bloc’s member states moved to expel a journalist in what is being condemned as a politically motivated deportation.

On October 13, Russian-born journalist Leonid Ragozin received a letter from the immigration ministry of Latvia, a country he had lived in for 12 years, informing him that his residency permit was being revoked.

The ministry said it was doing so on the basis of Ragozin being declared “persona non grata,” and explained that he would not be allowed to re-enter the country.

In the notice sent to Ragozin and seen by The Maple, the ministry also cited sections of Latvian immigration law that allow the authorities to cancel a residency permit if the holder has posed a security threat to Latvia, “publicly praised” a war crime or crime against humanity, or supported actors seeking to undermine democratic states.

It did not point to any specific statements or actions allegedly taken by Ragozin.

Ragozin is a staunch critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, he has also criticized Western countries, including the United States and its allies, for how they have handled the conflict and questioned their motivations for supporting Ukraine.

This has prompted some right-wing Latvian politicians to claim that Ragozin spreads “Russian chauvinism.”

Ragozin has also investigated ties between Latvian politicians and neo-Nazis in Ukraine, including those connected to the infamous Azov movement, prompting those involved to launch threats and smears against him.

In an interview with The Maple, Ragozin said Latvia’s cancellation of his residency permit bears the hallmarks of a politically motivated deportation.

“I’m receiving threats from major internet personalities,” he said. “They inform me privately by DMing, and also they announce it openly on Twitter that they will basically do their best to destroy my life in the next country where I find myself.”

It’s a case that starkly contradicts Prime Minister Mark Carney’s idealistic rhetoric about the European Union and Canada having “shared values” in democracy and the rule of law ahead of this week’s Canada-EU Summit in Montreal.

During a keynote speech Thursday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made a pitch to establish a partnership with Canada “that comes closer to membership than anything we’ve done before.”

Ragozin’s case also raises questions about Canada’s military presence in Latvia, where Canadian troops are said to be defending “freedom, democracy and peace” as part of a NATO mission on the Russian border.

Years of Smears

Ragozin does not match the profile of a Kremlin propagandist. As a journalist, he spent years working for Western media outlets, including the BBC. In 2013, he began freelancing and became focused on the seismic political changes unfolding in Ukraine.

He moved to Latvia on March 16, 2014, the day Russia held a referendum on whether the Crimean Peninsula should remain a part of Ukraine or join Russia, which annexed the territory two days later.

“My initial reaction, my stance on the conflict that I had in 2014, was that it is an aggression against a neighboring country, and that the occupation is illegal,” he said.

“It is still my position on the conflict.”

“However, over those 12 years, I had this process in which a pile of questions was rising regarding the handling of this conflict by Western powers, by the United States, first of all, and about the motivation.”

Ragozin also investigated links between Latvia’s right-wing National Alliance party and neo-Nazis. In 2019, he reported that party members had travelled to Kyiv and met with Russian neo-Nazis, who were holding the annual festival of National Socialist Black Metal.

“Since early 2020, I became a target of a relentless smear campaign,” he explained. One politician, he said, issued what he interpreted to be a death threat against him.

He was also targeted by Ukrainian personalities after he investigated the assassination of journalist Pavel Sheremet, who was killed by car bomb in Kyiv in 2016. 

During a collaborative investigation with the Ukrainian media outlet Zaborona, Ragozin uncovered evidence suggesting that the killing of Sheremet was likely carried out by individuals tied to Ukraine’s security services and organized crime.

A Political Football

The attacks against Ragozin ramped up during Latvia’s recent parliamentary elections. Two senior political candidates openly debated on Twitter about who should be responsible for deporting him.

“In the process of this discussion, senior members of National Alliance said openly that the interior minister, who is a representative from their party, could not deport me because if he did, then the matter would go into courts, and they said openly Latvia would lose the case in courts because, you know, there’s nothing against me,” said Ragozin.

The members suggested the foreign minister could declare Ragozin a “persona non grata,” a tool that is primarily used to expel foreign diplomats.

Three days after the election, Latvia’s Foreign Minister Baiba Braže announced that she was proclaiming an unnamed Russian citizen persona non grata. Ragozin then received notice of the revocation of his residency permit nearly one week later.

In an emailed statement to The Maple, Latvia’s foreign ministry said: “We reject the publicly circulated allegation that L. Ragozin has been expelled or deported from Latvia, nor is he being politically or extrajudicially persecuted.”

“In accordance with well-established principles of international law, Latvia has the sovereign right to regulate the presence of foreign nationals within its territory, including by placing individuals on the list of persons prohibited from entering Latvia.”

When The Maple told the ministry it had seen a copy of the government notice sent to Ragozin, the ministry declined to provide further comment.

Neither Canada nor the E.U. has commented on Latvia’s moves to deport Ragozin. Global Affairs Canada did not respond to an emailed request for comment from The Maple.

“I find this extremely regretful,” said Ragozin. “Most of all because I interpret this situation as an attempt to undermine the rule of law and freedom of speech in the European Union.”

Ragozin said he believes the threat that Russia poses to Latvia and other Baltic states “is real.”

“However, when it comes to domestic politics, the threat mongering, the war mongering, is a tool of political business,” he explained.

“It is a tool that is being used by politicians who I essentially believe to be bad actors, villains, in order to get more votes, more political support, and I believe economic benefits as well.”

A group called “Independent Journalists in Exile” wrote to two United Nations special rapporteurs on October 12 expressing concerns about the Latvian government’s moves to expel Ragozin.

The letter warned of “broader consequences for independent journalists who have left Russia and established their professional and personal lives in European democracies.”

“Such measures risk creating a chilling effect throughout the community of exiled journalists, encouraging self-censorship and discouraging legitimate public debate.”

Latvia has taken similar actions against other Russian citizens in recent years. Last year, left-wing activist Vladislav Romanenko received a deportation notice from the Latvian government, reportedly on the sole basis of his political activities.

Serbia’s students recently built one of Europe’s largest protest movements. But you probably haven’t heard much about it.

Last November, in Novi Sad, Serbia’s second-largest city, a newly renovated train station canopy collapsed. It killed 15 people, including children (later rising to 16).

Investigations soon revealed the cause: widespread corruption and negligence. Politicians had ignored warnings about the dangerous construction — just to pose for the cameras at its opening. “We’d all heard that corruption kills,” Serbian activist Nina Petrov told me in a recent interview, “but this time we saw it clearly.”

Instead of the usual angry demonstrations, students took an unusual first step: a silent memorial at exactly 11:52 AM every day — the time of the tragedy. These 15-minute vigils quickly became a powerful ritual, spreading nationwide.

Then came the regime’s mistake: violence. “The first blockade started because regime-linked thugs attacked students during our silent protests,” Nina explained. “Everything was recorded. Once those men were identified, the students decided to block their universities. Then it spread [to] every campus, even private ones.”

That violence — and another shocking incident where a student protester was run over by a car — sparked outrage, bringing more people onto the streets. Within weeks, a quiet memorial had grown into Serbia’s largest protest in decades, forcing high-profile resignations and shaking the foundations of Aleksandar Vučić’s authoritarian regime.

So, how exactly did they build and sustain this momentum? Here’s Nina’s explanation of their key tactics, edited for clarity:

Put the hive mind to work

Serbia’s students reject the usual leader-focused model. Instead, they run open, direct-democracy sessions called plenums. Moderators help run the sessions, but everyone can speak; everyone has equal power.

“We have local plenums at each university faculty,” Nina said. “Then there’s a roof structure where delegates share decisions from their plenums. Delegates don’t debate or decide alone—they just represent.”

This keeps their movement united and disciplined. And it’s intentionally slow: “Taking our time helps us avoid knee-jerk reactions.”

Even the structure itself isn’t fixed. Nina told me, “No rule is set in stone. If there’s a need for a better model, we’ll invent one.”

Still, it’s not rigid. Some workgroups, like media, act independently. For example, she explained, “Our media team runs the student blockade account without asking permission for every post.”

Play the future, not the present

The movement quickly grew bigger than just opposing Vučić. They realised early on that removing one corrupt leader isn’t enough.

“This isn’t just about Vučić,” Nina said. “We’re protesting to build a new system that won’t allow this scale of corruption again. We’ve archived everything we’ve done — how we made decisions, organised logistics, built support — so others can replicate it. We want everyone, from communities to factory workers, to learn this model.”

“I hope this becomes the new culture in Serbia,” she added. “Not just voting on election day, but being active citizens every day.”

Get specific. Stay accountable.

Movements succeed when demands are specific, measurable, and verifiable. The Serbian students identified four concrete goals from the start, tracked carefully by experts.

“These four demands have stayed the same from the beginning,” said Nina. We have workgroups checking progress constantly, deciding exactly what it takes for each demand to be fulfilled.”

Escalate with care

They didn’t jump immediately to mass marches. First came the silent vigils: simple, moving, and easy to join, these actions helped keep the victims – and the corruption that led to their deaths – top of mind.

Then, 24-hour roadblocks. Each step tested and built public resolve.

“We always took it one step further,” Nina said. “We’d propose something bigger, then wait to see if people followed. And they did.”

Let violence backfire (and stay disciplined)

When the regime responded with brutality, the students stayed nonviolent — and carefully documented everything.

“After every big protest, we clean the streets,” Nina said. “We don’t fight the police. It’s not their fault; they’re part of the same broken system. This discipline makes the regime’s violence backfire.”

Grow your coalition

Real power comes from uniting diverse societal groups behind common goals. The students didn’t stay isolated. They consciously reached out to farmers, teachers, taxi drivers, even bikers. They brought everyone into the fight, no matter their background.

“Every student protest is led by students, but we coordinate with everyone—farmers, teachers, bikers,” Nina said. “And we actively support their struggles, too.”

Importantly, they didn’t judge Vučić’s supporters: “In some villages, people are still paid to attend his rallies. Many are just surviving; some are blackmailed. We never judge.”

They also refused distractions. “We’re provoked daily, but we don’t waste time answering every accusation from Vučić. We focus on our message instead—mainly through Instagram, because that’s where everyone is.”

Building something new

These students aren’t just fighting corruption. They’re actively creating an alternative, something every activist worldwide can learn from.

“We’re not claiming it’s a blueprint,” said Nina. “It’s a case study. It works for us. Maybe it can work for others.”