Blacklock's Reporter

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."

Health Minister Mark Holland’s Public Health Agency has failed an internal audit on conflicts of interest. Auditors said management operated a feeble honour system that asked staff to disclose unethical contracting without any “clear reporting mechanism for employees to report other employees’ conflicts.”

The number of pleasure boats registered in Canada dropped by almost a tenth since Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland introduced a luxury tax, new figures show. Manufacturers had predicted the tax would only punish Canadian industry and prompt boaters to register their vessels tax-free in the United States: "The tax can be easily avoided."

CBC News should stop commissioning its own election polls, the network's Ombudsman said yesterday. It followed viewer complaints over a 2023 opinion survey published three days before balloting in a provincial vote: "Devote less time to the horse race and more time to the issues."

A long-promised federal flood insurance plan will be operational in about 18 months, says the Department of Public Safety. Homeowners on flood plains would be asked to pay up to $900 a year for extra coverage under threat of being disqualified from disaster relief: "This is a priority."

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s office yesterday had no comment on what, if any, contingencies it has to deal with a seven-week filibuster that has gridlocked the Commons. Freeland was counting on quick passage of an $18 billion hike in capital gains taxes by Christmas: "It's an important moment."

The Department of Immigration in a “Welcome To Canada” guide advised foreigners to be prepared to book Airbnb rentals or resort to homeless shelters on arrival here. “Search online,” said the guide published in Arabic, Dari, Haitian Creole and Spanish: "Housing costs in Canada are high."

Labour disputes are “economic self-destruction,” Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon said yesterday. MacKinnon for the fourth time in three months forced transport unions into binding arbitration without Parliament’s consent: "Are you concerned about the precedent you are setting?"

Federal funding for a United Nations Agency that employed anti-Jewish terrorists totals nearly $286 million since 2016, new figures show. The costs were tabled at the request of an MP who complained taxpayers were subsidizing the United Nations Relief and Works Agency while fellow Canadians scrounged for food: "We will immediately stop funding UNRWA."

MPs must investigate taxpayer financing of a Canadian-produced documentary, says the Ukrainian Canadian Congress. It petitioned the Commons public safety committee for first-ever public hearings on a film depicting the Russian army in Ukraine: "Seek a return of these taxpayer funds."

Investigators have confirmed whistleblowers’ complaints of "misuse of public funds" through sweetheart contracting in Defence Minister Bill Blair's department. It follows a 2022 audit that documented inside dealing and favouritism: 'The process was tainted.'

A federal agency whose president boasted to MPs of "the highest standard" on ethics has failed an internal audit. Irregularities in contracting at the National Research Council included favouritism, missing paperwork, inside dealing and poor oversight: "Millions of Canadians are skeptical when they hear senior civil servants uttering words like, ‘trust us.'"

Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault will testify on why he attended a secret meeting with New Democrats and Liberals to discuss rewriting the Elections Act. Perrault’s office said he considered it routine though it included a proposal guaranteeing pension eligibility for 28 New Democrat and Liberal MPs: "Didn’t you find it unusual?"

MPs may not call Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a terrorist even if the word appears in constituency mail being read aloud in the House of Commons, the Speaker has ruled. Reciting letters with rough language was no excuse for breaching decorum, MPs were told: "We will not tolerate these type of comments."

A total 200,000 fewer foreign students were let into Canada this fall compared to last year, says the Department of Immigration. Managers would not say how many existing foreign study permit holders remain in the country including dropouts and refugee claimants: "How many?"