Blacklock's Reporter

New Democrats yesterday declined comment over a candidate's claim that Jewish lobbyists controlled the federal cabinet. Remarks by Ehab Mustapha (Mississauga-Erin Mills, Ont.) followed Party leader Jagmeet Singh’s 2021 pledge of more thorough vetting of candidates after two nominees were removed for anti-Jewish remarks: "Groups like the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs have been influencing policy behind closed doors."

Cabinet’s “safe supply” drug policy was cold-hearted and mean, says Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre. Millions spent on decriminalization in British Columbia and supervised consumption sites nationwide should have been diverted to counseling and treatment, he said: "What was cold-hearted and mean was leaving those people in tent cities dying of drug overdoses."

Liberals on Saturday night acclaimed a new candidate without any Party meeting in Don Valley North, Ont., the Toronto riding that became the epicentre of foreign interference investigations. Ousted three-term MP Han Dong expressed disappointment: "You were aware then that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service had concerns about foreign interference in Mr. Dong’s nomination?"

A federal labour board in the first ruling of its kind has upheld the firing of a government employee for falsely claiming thousands in pandemic relief cheques. “She knew,” wrote an adjudicator with the Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board.

Information Commissioner Caroline Maynard has ordered the Department of Justice to disclose thousands of memos regarding ongoing concealment of postwar files on Nazi fugitives let into Canada. The department promised to comply with a deadline but only after the election campaign: "I order the Minister of Justice to provide a complete response."

Poet W.N. Branson writes: “‘A Mari Usque Ad Mare,’ from sea to sea, the last whiffs of nationalism are burned off like an early morning fog…”

When picking his first cabinet in 2006 Prime Minister Stephen Harper arranged an odd series of background checks with an aide. Harper sat at one end of a table, the aide sat at the other end and asked all the embarrassing questions you’d expect of appointees being vetted for cabinet.

The arrangement meant candidates had to answer the aide while turning their back to the Prime Minister. With one exception all candidates faced the aide while saying, “Yes, Prime Minister,” “No, Prime Minister,” recounts Off And Running. The personal thoughts of cabinet appointees are lost to history.

By anecdote and candid interviews, author David Zussman recounts one of the most profound and least-chronicled democratic rituals, the peaceful transition of governments. The experience is “limited to a small, relatively secret team of people who work in isolation and away from the public eye,” notes Zussman, a former Privy Council

Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday promised results for Canada in renegotiating a new trade deal with the United States but said details must be kept confidential for the time being. His comments followed confirmation of 25 percent auto tariffs: "Look, our responsibility is to Canada and to get the result for Canada."

Federal judges have given the go-ahead for a landmark test of whether individual members of First Nations are protected by Charter rights. The ruling came in the case of a Saskatchewan Cree First Nation that enacted a “citizenship law” so restrictive it was challenged as unconstitutional: "We have the sovereignty."

Workers filing complaints of Canada Labour Code violations should expect to wait up to a year to receive a confirmation letter, says a labour department briefing binder. The department acknowledged it introduced dozens of new regulations without hiring enough inspectors to ensure adequate investigation: 'It will take approximately 11 months."

Auto leasing companies are targets of money launderers, says the Department of Finance. Regulators effective April 1 ordered leasing companies to track all customers in transactions over $100,000: "This closes a regulatory loophole that can be exploited by criminals."

The Communist Party today launches its election campaign with a proposal to tax 100 percent of capital gains. Election of even a single Communist could stem the tide of capitalism, the Party said: "Communists have been elected to Parliament in past years."

Cabinet yesterday capped non-sufficient funds charges at $10 effective immediately. NSF fees are so lucrative the Department of Finance cautioned depositors to expect their bank to hike other service fees to make up for lost millions: "Due to a loss in NSF fee revenue, banks may raise fees in other areas."

Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday declined comment on his past claim the 2022 Freedom Convoy was seditious. RCMP at the time ridiculed Carney for appearing to cut and past a definition from an American dictionary into a Globe & Mail column claiming peaceful protestors committed “sedition in Ottawa.”

Any future Conservative cabinet will amend the Income Tax Act to reduce clawbacks on seniors who remain in the workforce by choice or necessity, Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre said yesterday. The proposal follows a similar 2023 Commons committee recommendation endorsed by the Liberal cabinet but never enacted: "Workers who are over 65 bring lots of wisdom and insight."