Blacklock’s Reporter today pauses for Remembrance Day observances with gratitude to all who honoured our country. Thank you for your service — The Editor.
Blind and dumb,
The system bore down.
Closing gates as it went.
Dulled and unsettled,
Citizens moved through the city.
A resource distilled into data points.
Their desires, dreams and future,
Nudged by the administrators,
Own desires and dreams.
A Leviathan born in the static,
And borne on the ether.
Manifest in the people.
The man, in his worship of the Machine,
Dimly perceived the zephyr wind,
Whispering from an open sky…
By W. N. Branson
When then-Liberal MP Carolyn Parrish launched a bitter anti-U.S. rant for the TV cameras in 2003 – “Damn Americans, I hate those bastards,” she said – nobody noted her hometown of Mississauga, Ont. was headquarters for Walmart Canada, General Electric Canada and Hershey Canada.
Thus the “continuing paradox” of Canada-U.S. relations, writes political scientist Geoffrey Hale. “Canada’s physical and cultural proximity to the United States leads many Americans and other observers to overlook differences between the two countries, not least many Canadians’ heartfelt desires to be different and to have Americans (and others) notice the differences.”
The same Canadians who harp on “American untrustworthiness” will never hesitate to “take advantage of their proximity to the United States to get the most they can from the relationship,” he writes. So Near Yet So Far invites readers to rethink our relationship with an open mind, stripped of smugness or “ideological agendas.”
Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault met privately with political organizers including staff from NDP headquarters to discuss a bill that stood to benefit New Democrats, the House affairs committee learned yesterday. Elections Canada did not comment: “NDP headquarters staff were invited and attended those meetings.”
Household debt in Canada is nearly $3 trillion, more than the value of all economic production nationwide, Statistics Canada said yesterday. The cost of credit fees and charges alone was costing billions, a StatsCan analyst told the Commons industry committee: ‘It is beyond historical experience.’
Parks Canada knew more than 150,000 acres of dead pine were left standing in Jasper National Park prior to a devastating July 24 fire, records show. The figures were disclosed in Parliament at the request of Conservative MP Arnold Viersen (Peace River-Westlock, Alta.): “Parks Canada undertook a broad preliminary and broadly scoped search.”
Senators have gutted a Bloc Québécois bill to shield dairy, egg and poultry quota holders in future trade talks. Free trade farm groups opposed the bill as protectionist: “Amendment voids the bill of its substance and intention.”
One of the Commons’ newest MPs yesterday choked back tears in her maiden speech as she thanked home voters for sending a single mother to Parliament. “Taking my place in the chamber is a true honour, an honour that I don’t take for granted,” said New Democrat MP Leila Dance (Elmwood-Transcona, Man.).
More fraud rings have been uncovered in federal contracting, a senior manager disclosed last night. “It would be inconceivable” that more criminality will not be documented in coming months, the Commons public accounts committee was told: “It is something that is going to be ongoing.”
A federal cap on oil and gas emissions will result in thousands of industry layoffs, a draft text of regulations confirmed yesterday. The document contradicted claims by Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson that “there will be thousands and thousands of jobs created.”
Liberals must “stand up to a rise of populism,” the co-chair of the Party re-election committee said yesterday. Tourism Minister Soraya Martinez Ferrada also predicted abortion will play a key role in a 2025 campaign though Canada has not had an abortion law for 36 years: “It remains an issue for you?”
The simple rewording of a definition in one federal regulation may improve health care for millions, cabinet said yesterday. The change revised legal terms of Student Loan forgiveness for doctors and nurses who agree to practice in small towns and country districts: “The change in definition is expected to initially increase the availability of health care services for approximately 1.7 million Canadians.”
The Toronto Dominion Bank has paid a $6.5 million fine for cheating thousands of credit card customers for decades, federal regulators disclosed yesterday. The Bank had improperly withheld fee rebates worth $71,723,694: “An estimated 255,886 customers were affected.”
A pro-Taiwan motion yesterday passed the House of Commons without a dissenting vote. MPs agreed the Chinese Communist Party must not “determine the future of Taiwan” and that Taiwanese should be welcomed into international organizations: “Taiwan deserves a seat at the table.”
Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan, former defence minister, last night testified he was not to blame for abandoning 1,250 Canadians and Afghan allies in the 2021 collapse of Afghanistan. Cabinet to date has not explained why Canada’s ambassador and staff fled Kabul aboard a half-empty military aircraft as Taliban seized control of the city: “We put every effort possible.”
