Blacklock's Reporter

Historical figures are ready props in any political argument. They are dead and in no position to complain. But this cuts both ways. Historical facts are set in stone: names, dates, embarrassing diary entries. Public figures who invoke history to justify a political impulse are taking a chance, which brings us to The Riel Problem. This is not another book about Louis Riel. It is much better. In my Manitoba school days Riel was given short treatment as a messianic rebel leader who maybe didn’t deserve to be hanged for treason. The first public speech I heard in praise of Riel as a national icon was not by any Manitoba MLA but a Bloc Québécois MP, in Ottawa, in 1993. Today he is “a Franco Catholic martyr,” “an Indigenous hero,” “a Father of Confederation,” writes Albert Braz, Professor Emeritus at the University of Alberta’s Literature and English department. READ MORE

Auditors have uncovered routine irregularities in the hiring of consultants in Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly’s department. The review followed a public outcry over billions spent on consultants government-wide, said an internal audit report: "In the last five years the department signed more than 8,000 consulting service contracts totaling $567 million." READ MORE

Immigration Minister Marc Miller’s office yesterday did not comment after Miller told a U.S. radio interviewer Canada was “open country” for foreigners. Illegal immigration was a minor issue since Canada was surrounded by oceans, the United States and “a block of ice to the north,” he said. READ MORE

Federal subsidies for the electric vehicle industry are now up to $52.5 billion, triple the $16 billion annual GDP of the entire Canadian auto industry. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau yesterday would not say how much his cabinet was willing to pay per job in the sector: "How much is the government paying for each of those jobs?" READ MORE

An Afro-Canadien Museum dedicated to documenting slavery in pre-Confederation Québec has been cited for breach of migrant labour rules. Management yesterday did not comment: "The pay or working conditions didn’t match." READ MORE

A media “fact checker” yesterday was fined for 2019 Facebook messages targeting then-Opposition Leader Andrew Scheer. The paid posts by Canada Fact Check were not fact checks but “partisan advertising,” said the Elections Commissioner. READ MORE

A federal inventory of vacant Crown-owned property lists fewer than 400 nationwide including many unsuitable for housing like cattle barns and boat sheds, records show. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau yesterday repeated his claim that unused federal property will create thousands of new homes: "Anyone who says we don’t need to put everything on the table right now is not listening." READ MORE