Blacklock's Reporter

It was a horrific year, 1917: conscription and coal rationing in Canada, carnage in France, revolution in Russia, unrestricted submarine warfare on the Atlantic. Steamships were torpedoed at the rate of ten a day. One British liner bound for Halifax, the Rappahannock, vanished without a trace. This was the moment French Foreign Minister René Viviani spoke to Parliament. “Every speech is a freeze-frame of history in the making,” writes J. Patrick Boyer in Foreign Voices In The House; “When Réne Viviani spoke in 1917, his vibrant voice had to fill the entire chamber because no amplifying speakers delivered his words to the audience.” Boyer captures the event, May 12, 1917. Canadian casualties were 13,000 a month. Twenty-seven MPs were in uniform. One had been killed in action, another won the Victoria Cross. The MP for Beauce, Que., Henri Béland, could not attend the Commons that day. He was held in a German prison camp. READ MORE

Liberal and Bloc Québécois MPs yesterday by a 6-5 vote blocked a committee motion asking that cabinet disclose a secret blacklist of Nazi collaborators let into Canada after 1945. The majority on the Commons heritage committee expressed unease in identifying suspected war criminals: "This is an extremely delicate situation." READ MORE

Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge yesterday refused to say if she will comply with a Commons committee order banning future CBC executive bonuses while the Crown broadcaster pleads financial hardship. CBC management cut 346 jobs on complaints of “chronic underfunding” while approving $14.9 million in bonuses: "There is a media crisis." READ MORE

Canadians in federal focus groups question the billions budgeted in subsidies for the electric auto industry. Cabinet proposes that by 2035 all new car buyers must purchase a zero emission vehicle: "A number expressed concerns." READ MORE

Cabinet yesterday appointed a five-member panel to find ways to pay for a universal pharmacare program. The final report is not expected until after the next general election: "There is lots to work out." READ MORE

All Canadian cable and satellite TV subscribers should be obliged to pay for LGBTQ programming, the country's only gay-themed channel has told the CRTC. Out TV Network of Vancouver said it faced “continued marginalization and discrimination” with a 60 percent decline in subscribers. READ MORE

Canadians driving across the U.S. border will be asked to pre-submit photos and license plate numbers to the Canada Border Services Agency beginning in 2026, says a federal report. The “traveller modernization” plan is separate from the Agency’s $59.5 million ArriveCan program that ended in failed audits and an RCMP investigation: "Officers will be given smartphones to access the digital referrals." READ MORE