Blacklock's Reporter

Poet Shai Ben-Shalom writes “I examine the icons on my new smartphone. An old camera; a rotary phone; a windup alarm clock; a postal envelope..”

It is an immigrants’ story like no other. British Columbia’s Kootenay region was for years a quiet, peaceful land of alpine valleys and crystal streams, peopled by Catholic loggers and miners, New Democrats and Social Creditors – “blue collar”, one MP called it. Suddenly, the Vietnam War happened.

Sociologist Kathleen Rodgers in her compelling narrative tells what happened next. From 1965 thousands of U.S. draft evaders crossed the border to settle in the Kootenays, cursing U.S. militarism and actually building communes with names like New Family and Harmony’s Gate. “Some focused on ‘free love,’” Rodgers notes.

There had never been anything quite like it. True, Canada has been a haven for American draft dodgers since the U.S. Civil War, and northern migrations are nothing new. It was the century-old influx of Montana cowpunchers and Utah Mormons that even today gives southern Alberta its unique view.

Government House Leader Karina Gould yesterday claimed cabinet’s climate plan cut emissions by “the equivalent of 60 million cars.” Aides did not substantiate the claim. Emissions went up in the last official reporting period, and Canada has never had 60 million cars: "We just got the news."

Canadians face prosecution and jailing for a new crime of “downplaying or justifying the Indian Residential School System” under a private bill introduced yesterday. New Democrat MP Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre), sponsor of the bill, complained of “increasing Residential School denialism.”

Current housing starts are below rates needed to reach Housing Minister Sean Fraser’s affordability targets, CMHC figures showed yesterday. Starts in the first half of the year  fell in three of Canada’s six largest cities: "This level of activity is not enough."

Gambling addiction in Canada has worsened since Parliament legalized single event sports betting three years ago, researchers have told the Senate. The warning came at committee hearings on a bill to regulate advertising: "This is clearly a problem."

Canada has collected more than $100 million in war tariffs on imports from Russia and Belarus, records show. A third of Customs duties were levied on contracted shipments of Russian fertilizer: 'There are still some tariff revenues collected on sporadic imports from Russia and Belarus.'

Cabinet yesterday survived a non-confidence vote by a margin of 211 to 120 on a warning it may be a short reprieve. “This is a limited time offer,” said Bloc Québécois House Leader Alain Therrien (La Prairie, Que.): "There will be plenty of non-confidence votes between now and Christmas."

Chinese-language media in Canada are dominated by Communist Party narratives and censorship of pro-democracy voices, says a top secret federal memo. The document was disclosed by the Commission on Foreign Interference: "China-friendly narratives inundate Chinese language media."

MPs last night blamed poor oversight by Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault for a disastrous fire in Jasper National Park. “When are you going to take responsibility?” asked Conservative MP Blaine Calkins (Red Deer-Lacombe, Alta.), a former Jasper warden, after Guilbeault said it wasn’t his job to “micromanage 4,000 Parks Canada employees.”

A Canada Border Services Agency executive last night predicted a smooth launch for a costly, complex, once-delayed computer program to digitize all tariff collections at the border. Executive Vice-President Ted Gallivan’s testimony was immediately contradicted by shippers who warned of looming chaos: "This is launching in about four weeks and we still don’t really know what we are doing."

Canada is boycotting meetings of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank but has not cashed out its US159.2 million in shares, records show. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced an “immediate halt” to all dealings with the Bank 15 months ago: "Does this activity remain halted or has it resumed?"

Elections Canada does not automatically verify that political donors comply with federal law, Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault disclosed yesterday. Testifying at the Commission on Foreign Interference, Perrault said he relied on the general public to spot illegal foreign donors: "We have asked questions, for example, if we see a cheque from a foreign bank."

The Budget Office is investigating cabinet estimates that a $17.4 billion increase in capital gains taxes will affect a fraction of one percent of Canadians. The Commons finance committee yesterday heard contradictory testimony on the 0.13 percent figure: "We haven’t done that study yet."

Criticism of media is an attack on Canada, Government House Leader Karina Gould said yesterday. Gould's comments followed an on-air apology by CTV National News for deceptively editing comments by Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre: "By attacking the media he is attacking Canadians."