Blacklock's Reporter

There were two Franklin Expeditions. One is acclaimed by Parks Canada which spent millions scanning the floor of the Arctic Ocean in search of 19th century English shipwrecks. The other is documented through the passion and extraordinary research of a lone anthropologist, Alison Brown of the University of Aberdeen. The resulting First Nations, Museums, Narrations is intriguing and profound. In June 1929 a band of researchers left Winnipeg to document what they believed were the vanishing First Nations of the Prairies. Canada’s Indigenous population had been decimated by disease and misfortune and numbered some 107,000 people. “Now or never is the time in which to collect from the natives what is still available for study,” noted a director of the Geological Survey of Canada. Anthropologists believed the end was near. “Indigenous people were thought to be assimilating or dying out,” writes Brown. READ MORE

The chair of the Commons ethics committee yesterday told reporters to “do your goddamn job” as cabinet moved to quash committee scrutiny of spending and appointments. Conservative MP John Brassard (Barrie South-Innisfil, Ont.) said media were so Liberal-friendly the “Opposition party is held to a greater account than the government.” READ MORE

Many Canadians are resigned to high household debts and increasingly borrow more to cover basic expenses, a bankruptcy trustee yesterday told the Commons finance committee. Household debt is $3.2 trillion nationwide including more than $2 trillion worth of mortgages, according to Statistics Canada: "Many Canadians have no margin for error." READ MORE

Parliament must mandate that news media drawing taxpayers’ aid tell readers when and how much, says an independent publisher. Rudyard Griffiths, publisher of the news site The Hub, yesterday told the Commons heritage committee that hidden subsidies were “undermining public trust in the media.” READ MORE

The Commons ethics committee yesterday recommended that Parliament close what critics called the “Carney loophole” by forcing the Prime Minister to sell millions in stock holdings. Liberal members of the committee objected: 'It appeared to have been crafted with one individual in mind.' READ MORE

The Commons by unanimous vote has passed a private bill to commission a medal for living organ donors. The award would be a token of the nation’s thanks for “a priceless gift,” said the bill’s sponsor, Conservative MP Ziad Aboultaif (Edmonton Manning): "A transplant recipient once said to me, ‘I just don’t feel that a thank you card is enough.'" READ MORE

Cabinet will take majority control of all 26 Commons committees and no longer “play silly partisan games,” Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon said yesterday. The move effectively quashes all ethics investigations, subpoenas and questioning of reluctant witnesses: "That’s settled." READ MORE