Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s weekend appointment of two Liberal Party donors as Alberta senators came 35 years after the province held Canada’s first Senate election. The Government of Alberta denounced the patronage appointments: "The Senate continues to lose credibility."
Conventional television remains a loser, CRTC figures show. English language TV revenues last year fell from $1.2 billion to $1.1 billion, a seven percent decline: "How much time do we have?"
Uncensored coverage of court proceedings is “an important feature of public transparency,” a press ombudsman has ruled. The decision came in the case of a British Columbia weekly criticized for publishing fraud allegations against two local residents: "Canada has an open court system."
Blacklock's Reporter pauses today for the 130th observance of Labour Day in tribute to Canadian workers nationwide. We will be back tomorrow -- The Editor
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom writes: “The radio brings the news about the resignation of the Honourable Premier. Across the kitchen floor, a fly tries to find its way out through the window’s glass…”
Nations at war, glorify war. Otherwise war would be untenable. Remembrance Day observances have seen the Royal B.C. Museum hand out helmets to 7-year olds and have them sit in a jeep. The Calgary Sun assigned a reporter to walk city streets shaming 9 in 10 passersby who failed to wear a poppy. Grade 10 students in Tillsonburg, Ont. were asked to jog through a ditch in a farmer’s field. CTV News Channel called it “a realistic experience about war.”
Canada in recent years was at war in Afghanistan, Libya and Syria. At the same time officialdom and media celebrated wartime exploit as a central fixture of the Canadian experience. This is factually dubious but worthy of thoughtful analysis. Professor Sherrill Grace, a professor of literature at the University of British Columbia, examines the phenomenon. The result is striking and poignant.
The China inquiry yesterday disclosed it is investigating names and dates referenced in a censored report on foreign espionage in Parliament. The Commission on Foreign Interference will “endeavour to shed light on the facts,” Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue said in a statement: "Counsel have undertaken the exercise of identifying and analyzing the information."
Our counsel today will file notice of appeal in Blacklock’s Reporter v. Attorney General. We challenge a May 31 ruling by a federal judge. The outcome will determine the viability of independent media in our country.
Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre yesterday taunted New Democrats to dissolve the minority 44th Parliament and hold a fall election. Poilievre accused NDP leader Jagmeet Singh of prolonging the current session just to qualify for an MP’s pension: "Put the people ahead of your pension."
Employers should not rely on migrant labour as a business model, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said yesterday. Cabinet is restoring 2014 regulations introduced by then-Employment Minister Jason Kenney that limit foreign workers to 10 percent of payroll: "If you as a business think you need more we have some real concerns about your business model."
The price of electric cars would have to plunge by a third to meet Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault’s sales mandate, the Budget Office said yesterday. Guilbeault has directed that electrics account for 60 percent of new passenger vehicle sales by the end of the decade: "The relative ownership cost of battery electric vehicles would need to decrease by 31 percent."
The Supreme Court yesterday brought an abrupt end to years of litigation against vaccine mandates. Judges declined to hear legal arguments from People’s Party leader Maxime Bernier and other plaintiffs who called the cabinet orders unconstitutional: 'Canadians had a right to know whether the government acted lawfully.'
Blacklock’s coverage of alleged 2021 voting irregularities is stoking anti-Asian racism, says Liberal MP Leah Taylor Roy (Aurora-Oak Ridges, Ont.). The MP did not comment directly on a China inquiry affidavit alleging Communist Party agents were hired as poll workers in her riding: "I like all my colleagues take the issue of foreign interference extremely seriously."
Police six years ago were unaware of a torture video allegedly linking a Canadian terror suspect to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc yesterday told the Commons public safety committee. “The existence of that video or the information you recounted to the committee now was not available,” said LeBlanc.
MPs yesterday expressed anger and incredulity after officialdom defended security screening of two terror suspects. The Canada Border Services Agency said it was “concerned these two individuals got through” but defended its system as “robust.”
