Blacklock's Reporter

Arne Nielsen  was a Petroleum Hall of Famer, “chief executive politician” of Mobil Oil Canada, as he put it, discoverer of the Pembina No. 1 field at Drayton Valley, Alta., twice chairman of the Canadian Petroleum Association, famed foe of the National Energy Program. His career spanned the biggest energy boom in history, a “golden age,” Nielsen called it.

Recollections in We Gambled Everything are unvarnished in the Scandinavian manner. Nielsen writes of one Alberta premier, “He left us alone.” Of another premier: “He was not considered to be really knowledgeable.” And Pierre Trudeau? “Scruffy-looking,” wrote Nielsen. They met as Trudeau was returning home from a camping trip.

Then there was the house: white, wood frame, 900 square feet. It was on the farm near Standard, Alta., so plain it had no electricity. Nielsen did his schoolwork by kerosene. Here he was raised. Here his mother and father, both Danish immigrants, lived and died. “It has always puzzled me how a house with two bedrooms could handle a family of nine,” he recalled.

The post office says it received "zero representations -- zero," over its latest proposal to increase mail rates. Cabinet just approved the increase, which raises the cost of a domestic letter to a record-high 63¢.

Industry Canada has patented a broom predicted to revolutionize world curling following secret research at the University of Western Ontario. A co-inventor told Blacklock's the device can improve amateur curlers' accuracy by up to 20 percent.

Promised new legislation to balance the market power of railways and their commercial customers will be introduced in Parliament within days, the government says. Commercial shippers have lobbied for years for introduction of reforms that would hold railways to service guarantees in transporting 250,000,000 tonnes of goods annually.

Sub.-Lieut. Jeffrey Delisle was “played” by Canadian military intelligence for years before his arrest as a Russian spy, sources tell Blacklock’s Reporter. Delisle faces sentencing in January after pleading guilty to spying for Moscow. "If what's come out in the media is true, heads would have rolled," said one source.

Canada’s economy has slowed to its weakest pace since last winter. New figures show declines in oil, gas, mining, construction and manufacturing, with GDP declining month-over-month by 0.1 percent in August.

The developers of a Cape Breton golf course required special permission from the navy to name their facility for a famed explorer, John Cabot. The Department of National Defence cited potential "confusion" with a naval reserve unit 1,000 kilometres away.

MPs should recommend wider use of non-union contractors on public works projects, says the parliamentary secretary to the finance minister. The remark followed claims by a construction lobbyist that hiring non-union labour could lower costs of new infrastructure projects by 12 to 18 percent.

The government must craft cyber security legislation to combat hackers and vandals who are costing the Canadian economy billions, says a UK-based crime fighter undertaking landmark research of internet security nationwide: "Canadian businesses do not understand the financial impact of cyber crime, yet they suffer downtime and loss of manufacturing."

Canada's mayors and councillors are warning Parliament time is short in detailing a promised renewal of a $33 billion federal public works program due to expire in 2014. "This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity," said the president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

Bighead Asian carp is the country’s top invading species and must be stopped at the Great Lakes, the House of Commons Committee on Fisheries has been told. One expert says the spread of the carp would be "catastrophic," noting the fish outsizes native predators like pike and can filter vital nutrients from lake waters.

The nation’s accountants are pressing MPs to create an Office of Tax Simplification to ease the “incomprehensible” jumble of tax statutes, bulletins, regulations and technical amendments. "It's too big," said one tax analyst; "It's larger than the Bible."

An industry group warns of possible pork shortages and sector job losses unless the government corrects "inadequate" support programs to aid farmers in crisis. "We need short term actions now," said Canada's largest pork industry advocate.

Canadians would receive tax credits for charitable-style contributions to cutting greenhouse gas emissions, under a private bill now before a Senate committee: “A family could sit down and talk about what they can do together to solve this problem of greenhouse gas emissions." Environment Minister Peter Kent told Blacklock's he opposes the bill.

Canada faces a severe trades shortage despite billions of dollars in federal spending and long waiting lists of applicants eager for training, MPs are warned: "Unless aggressive measures are adopted soon, within 10 years, employers will not find qualified candidates for about 1,500,000 positions."