Blacklock's Reporter

Blacklock’s pauses for the Canada Day observance to wish all friends and subscribers a happy First of July.  We’re back tomorrow  — The Editor

Cabinet yesterday approved a taxpayer-funded booklet for schoolchildren that calls the Red Ensign flag a hate symbol and identifies the Conservative Party by name as a target of “infiltration” by racists. It also warns children to beware of classmates who speak in favour of Donald Trump: “It represents the next stage of our work to fight and win against hate.”

A CBC radio show was so offensive it breached the Broadcasting Act, federal regulators ruled yesterday. The decision came over a French-language program that repeatedly used the n-word: “The host and the commentator used the n-word four times, three times in French and one in English, in a segment of six minutes and 27 seconds.”

Canadian drivers will pay billions more for gas and diesel under new climate change regulations to be detailed Saturday. “The regulations may increase fuel prices” in addition to the current 12¢ a litre carbon tax on gasoline, said the Department of Environment: “Certainly there are additional costs.”

The Department of Health is granting the food industry another four years to comply with new warning labels intended to cut Canadians’ consumption of sugar, salt and fat. Regulations to be finalized tomorrow and originally scheduled to take effect in 2022 will cost industry a half billion, by official estimate: “Costs to industry are anticipated to be significant.”

Cabinet should subsidize Canadian fertilizer producers to counter the impact of collapsing farm exports from Ukraine, the Commons agriculture committee said yesterday. Extraordinary measures are needed “given the urgency and severity of what we are collectively facing,” wrote MPs.

A Covid Alert app failed in part because Canadians don’t trust the government, says a Department of Health report. The $20 million program was disbanded last Friday: “Trust in government is clearly an issue.”

Secret papers detailing cabinet’s use of emergency powers against the Freedom Convoy will be publicly disclosed, a judicial inquiry said yesterday. The Rouleau Commission called it an “exceptional step” in unraveling why cabinet invoked the Emergencies Act against truckers protesting vaccine mandates: “I am committed to ensuring the inquiry will be fair and open.”

CMHC employees received the equivalent of more than $6,000 in pay raises through the pandemic, according to Access To Information records obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. The pay hikes were in addition to performance bonuses that averaged $11,000 a year: “We share in the tragedy and the fact the pandemic has made things worse for homeless people.”

Uninsured homeowners with mortgages and lines of credit must have a minimum 35 percent paid-up equity in their property, Canada’s chief bank inspector said yesterday. Rules targeting more than $200 billion in outstanding loans will take effect next year: “A portion of principal payments will go towards reducing their overall mortgage amount until it is below 65 percent.”

Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier yesterday acknowledged the value of taxes owed but never collected is billions more than originally claimed. Legislators have spent six years prodding the Canada Revenue Agency to calculate the so-called “tax gap.”

The Canadian Pacific Railway could not fully comply with a federal vaccinate mandate and keep the trains running safely, according to labour board records. The CPR said full compliance would “place the critical operations of the railroad at risk.”

The Bank of Canada warns of “downward pressure” on suburban homes following above-normal price gains in the past three years. “A shift in relative prices could be especially problematic,” wrote researchers: “Prices in the suburbs could face downward pressure.”

The Canada Border Services Agency identified “privacy risks” in a biometric scheme to track air travelers, according to records. It involved a little-known pilot project run through a single airport last year: “Privacy risks and their proposed mitigating measures were identified.”

A champion poker player beat the Canada Revenue Agency in Tax Court. A judge has ruled Jonathan Duhamel, first Canadian to win the World Series of Poker, did not have to declare winnings as taxable business income: “The ability to produce a gain in the game of poker is unpredictable.”