Blacklock's Reporter

Chinese language media in Canada are dominated by Communist Party news and views, a retired editor of one of the nation’s foremost Chinese dailies said yesterday. Foreign agents typically co-opt publishers trying to make a living on a “shoestring budget,” the Commission on Foreign Interference was told: “From Toronto to Vancouver much of the Chinese language media in these communities exist under the immense influence of the Chinese Communist Party.”

There is no evidence of any fraud in irregularities involving millions in Department of Environment subsidies, the Deputy Minister testified yesterday. The Commons government operations committee opened hearings following an internal audit that showed grants were so mismanaged it represented “potential legal and reputational damage.”

Cabinet should not declassify a secret blacklist of suspected Nazi collaborators recommended for prosecution 39 years ago, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress said yesterday. Suspects named in the confidential 1985 list even if long dead have “several generations of descendants” who deserve privacy, said the Congress president: “Today we hear repeated calls for the disclosure of the names of these innocent people.”

The underground economy now comprises a third of the Canadian trucking industry, the Commons finance committee was told yesterday. Black market operators dodge billions in tax and flout labour laws, said the Canadian Trucking Alliance: “Please help.”

Chinese spies target political aides including unwitting assistants who express no strong views on China, says a secret federal memo. The document by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service explained political staff are co-opted as “gatekeepers” for MPs and senators: “Foreign interference activities often transcend party lines.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other federal officials were warned 163 separate times of foreign interference over a six-year period, China inquiry records show. Trudeau as late as 2023 denied he was ever told of illegal activity by foreign agents: “This list does not include additional ad hoc meetings that may have occurred.”

Addictions Minister Ya’ara Saks is demanding Opposition MPs say they are sorry for needling her as a friend of terrorists. Saks last March 14 was photographed smiling and holding hands with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a Holocaust denier: “Did you get a thank-you letter from Hezbollah?”

Fewer Canadians trust news media, says in-house CRTC research. The latest data follow Statistics Canada figures showing journalists are considered less trustworthy than politicians or police: “Fewer Canadians express trust in news media.”

Subsidized newspapers seek more federal aid. The trade group News Media Canada is asking that MPs mandate a 20-fold increase in federal advertising though cabinet earlier dismissed the proposal as pointless: “Government advertising is not intended to provide such support.”

Defence Minister Bill Blair while testifying under oath misled the China inquiry, records suggest. Documents disclosed by lawyers marked the second time Blair’s explanation for the mishandling of security matters was contradicted: “It is evidence that a minister of the Crown gave under sworn testimony.”

Voters are resigned to illegal foreign money influencing federal elections, says in-house research by Elections Canada. More than two-thirds of electors say they suspect illegal foreign campaign contributions are commonplace: ‘What impact if any do you think it will have on the outcome of the next federal election?’

New evidence shows a former legislator came under federal surveillance for working on behalf of a foreign government to “influence” Parliament. Neither the ex-parliamentarian, party affiliation or the foreign government were named by the Commission on Foreign Interference: “This one is new?”

Liberal-appointed senators are protesting quick passage of a Bloc Québécois bill on dairy quotas. The Bloc has warned Bill C-282 must be signed into law by October 29 or it will “bring down the government.”

A federal labour board faces years’ worth of hearings into complaints Covid vaccine mandates discriminated against federal employees’ religious beliefs. The Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board put an end to in-person hearings to help clear the backlog of grievances: “Scheduling an oral hearing for every religious accommodation case would amount to an impossible burden.”