Blacklock's Reporter

When 167 members of the Canadian Staff Band of the Salvation Army perished at sea in the 1914 sinking of the Empress Of Ireland, mass public observances were held. A prominent memorial was built in Toronto. The Royal family donated $132,000 to a victims’ fund. Canadian newspapers for 40 years afterward marked the anniversary date with annual features. When 329 people, mostly Canadians, perished at sea in the 1985 Air India bombing, there was no fund, no mass public mourning. For years, the only memorial was in County Cork, Ireland, near the spot where Flight 182 took whole families to their death. Few Canadians recall the year this mass murder occurred. The victims were modest people of ordinary means and little public profile. Would it have been different if 329 bankers died, or 329 tennis players? Remembering Air India answers. READ MORE

Finance department executives would be shielded from legal liability for costly errors, incompetence or negligence under a clause inserted in Minister François-Philippe Champagne’s latest budget bill, the Senate banking committee was told yesterday. Senators expressed alarm: "At what point does this legislation place the civil servants above the law?" READ MORE

Newly-declassified records show cabinet in 1996 agreed to buy four used diesel submarines after Defence Minister David Collenette said the United Kingdom cut its price 4 percent in what he called “a very good” deal for Canada. Subsequent maintenance and refits cost taxpayers more than $3 billion and kept most vessels out of regular service. READ MORE

Cabinet’s $90 billion regional high speed rail venture will never be built, a Conservative MP yesterday told the Commons. MP Roman Baber (North York, Ont.) said based on staggering cost overruns in municipal rail projects, it would “cost a trillion” to run an electrified commuter rail service from Toronto to Québec City: "Ninety billion? Are you kidding me?" READ MORE

Federal regulators yesterday fined four credit unions in two provinces a total $816,750 for breach of the Proceeds Of Crime And Terrorist Financing Act. Breaches ranged from paperwork errors to conducting business with a suspected criminal: "We will take firm action when it is required." READ MORE

Canadians under 35 typically have yet to recover from high pandemic-era inflation, the Bank of Canada said yesterday. Worries over a permanent increase in the cost of living were “valid and reflect an important reality,” said a Bank report: "Many Canadians still feel affordability pressures even after inflation has slowed." READ MORE

Cabinet last year sent nearly twice as much foreign aid to Palestine as it sent to Ukraine, totaling nearly a quarter billion. New figures were tabled in Parliament as Prime Minister Mark Carney pledged another $100 million in aid: "I am speaking for Canada now." READ MORE