We wish you a happy New Year. Blacklock’s pauses this week for our annual holiday break and will return January 3 — The Editor

Warmest regards to friends and subscribers for a safe and happy holiday. Blacklock’s bids you the best of the Christmas season — The Editor

Federal regulators yesterday fined the Canadian operations of China’s largest state-controlled bank. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China paid $701,250 for breach of the Proceeds Of Crime And Terrorist Financing Act, the largest penalty of its kind issued this year: “We will be firm.”

Rolling lockdowns and the Covid recession cost at least 740,800 jobs in small business, the nation’s leading employer, the Department of Industry said yesterday. Damage was so deep it will take time to document the full extent of losses, researchers warned: “How many businesses appear and disappear?”

Federal employees opposed to a Treasury Board vaccination order yesterday said they are “working furiously” to file legal challenges including numerous union grievances. The Board earlier budgeted $81.9 million to enforce the order but would not say if the figure included legal fees: “Our first course of action will be filing ‘cease and desist’ letters to our employers.”

The Department of Immigration yesterday said foreign arrivals topped a 108-year record. A target of 401,000 immigrants was surpassed, beating the one-year milestone set in 1913: “This is the most newcomers in a year in Canadian history.”

More than 40 percent of New Brunswickers surveyed are daily marijuana users, the highest rate in the country, says federal research. A Department of Health survey also confirmed illegal marijuana dealers lowered prices to undercut retailers licensed under Parliament’s 2018 Cannabis Act: ‘To say we’ll legalize marijuana and everything will fall into place, it does not work that way.’

Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson yesterday disclosed his wife Tara bought shares in a leading defence contractor five weeks after he was reappointed to cabinet. Mrs. Wilkinson is the most active stock trader of any cabinet spouse with shares in Pfizer, Enbridge and other federally regulated firms: “My spouse has purchased shares in Lockheed Martin Corporation.”

A Liberal MP last night was publicly censured for holidaying out of the country. MP Yves Robillard (Marc Aurele-Fortin, Que.) was stripped of committee assignments after ignoring cabinet’s plea to avoid non-essential travel: ‘It is unfortunate to see politicians not take their own advice.’

The Federal Court yesterday took Christ out of Christmas. Administrators amended rules to remove reference to Christmas holidays on the Court calendar: “It is a shame that many feel the need to abandon their traditions to appease the sensibilities of non-Christians.”

Cabinet yesterday began the slow rollout of regulations to remove accessibility barriers in public services. Bill C-81 An Act To Ensure A Barrier-Free Canada passed Parliament two years ago but will not be fully enforced until 2040: “There’s a nebulousness attached to it.”

The Department of Environment that blacklisted plastic toys as toxic now seeks data on Canadians’ everyday use of toiletries and medicine cabinet items. The research is for “the purpose of protecting the environment and health and well-being of Canadians,” wrote staff.

The Senate proposes a 5.4 percent budget increase this winter, more than the rate of inflation. The hike would see the Senate cost almost $122 million next year, a record: “Those are big numbers.”

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault yesterday postponed a threatened national ban on sales of plastic forks and other goods until 2024 at the earliest. Plastic straws blacklisted as an environmental peril may still be sold under the counter at grocery and hardware stores, said Guilbeault’s department: “It’s not a silver bullet to ban, ban, ban.”

Public feuding over a six-figure salary paid to a small town doctor is the basis of a defamation case in an Ontario court. The Owen Sound, Ont. physician last year was among the highest paid public health officers in Canada, earning more than twice Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos: “Why not move to seven figures?”