The Department of National Defence polled Canadians on whether they were afraid of U.S. President Donald Trump. The in-house research followed repeated statements by cabinet that Trump sought to “break us so America can own us.”
Infrastructure Minister Gregor Robertson will not say how much taxpayers stand to lose under toll concessions at the Gordie Howe International Bridge. A symbolic opening of the Bridge Friday in Windsor, Ont. was disrupted by a fresh demand for more tolls by U.S. President Donald Trump: “Can you outline how much money Canada expects to give the United States?”
The RCMP says investigators have been reassigned to target foreign interference activities in Ontario. No surveillance subjects were named though public inquiries have documented wrongdoing by agents working out of the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa and Consulate in Toronto: “The RCMP has established dedicated capacity in Ontario.”
A cabinet decision to dispense with public hearings on sweeping cuts to mail delivery breaches a Postal Service Charter, says the post office’s largest union. Cabinet confirmed its decision in a Commons tabling: ‘It is essential that Canadians’ voices are heard.’
A federal judge has ordered the Canadian Human Rights Commission to reopen an investigation on whether denial of a mortgage to a marijuana user is discriminatory. The latest ruling follows years of legal challenges over cannabis and property rights: ‘At the heart of the complaint was why Scotiabank called a loan.’
In Washington D.C.
the Redskins football team
is asked to change its name.
Strong arguments are called up.
The term is offensive,
hurtful,
completely inappropriate;
does not inspire tolerance,
respectfulness.
I hardly disagree.
And yet,
considering the Ottawa Senators…
(Editor’s note: poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israel-born biologist, writes for Blacklock’s each and every Sunday)
A friend of mine, a federal contractor, recalls visiting his MP for help on a local issue. The MP grew increasingly irritable and finally threw up his hands, exclaiming: “What’s in this for me?” The meeting ended badly.
This collision of two worlds – the aggrieved petitioner and harassed legislator – is the core of The Effective Citizen. Author Graham Steele, a former Nova Scotia finance minister, acknowledges both petitioner and legislator have legitimate points, albeit on different frequencies, and explains how to tune dialogue to problem-solving.
“The best meetings were the ones where my visitors understood the environment I was working in, and helped me understand the environment they were working in, and together we had a constructive discussion about what was possible or not possible, and why,” writes Steele. “Those meetings were too rare.”
Steele has an unaffected writing style that’s enjoyable for readers, and an unvarnished view of the politician’s world. Many Canadians at some point interact with officialdom over a school closure or traffic light, arena grant, a disallowed pension or hire-a-student subsidy. “A hammer won’t help you if you need a screwdriver,” writes Steele. The Effective Citizen lays out all the tools.
“I’m not giving you secrets for working with politicians,” says Steele. “I’m giving you tools that will put you on a level playing field with politicians.” Among Steele’s practical guidance:
“Take half a loaf, and go back for the rest one slice at a time,” says Effective Citizen; “If the politician has previously taken a stance against you, all is not lost. Times change. Minds change. When a politician says no to you, understand it as meaning, ‘Not yet.’”
The Effective Citizen provides candid insight into the world of caucuses and backbenchers, useful even to readers who could not imagine petitioning their MP for anything, but remain intrigued by the many shortcomings of political discourse.
Why don’t we have a national poverty reduction strategy? Steele thought of that. “Passion is not a substitute for public support,” he writes.
“For example, anti-poverty activists believe that poverty is a vote-moving issue,” says Steele. “I am very sympathetic to them, but they’re wrong. The fight against poverty does not sway many votes in a Canadian election. One of my former colleagues criticized me for having said so in a caucus meeting. Our former party went on to make poverty a central part of their platform in the Nova Scotia provincial election in 2017. They had their worst result in almost twenty-five years.”
By Holly Doan
The Effective Citizen: How to Make Politicians Work for You, by Graham Steele; Nimbus Publishing; 280 pages; ISBN 9781-7710-85311; $29.95
Prime Minister Mark Carney faces a parliamentary hearing regarding his misrepresentations over toll-sharing concessions on the Gordie Howe International Bridge. The chair of the Commons government operations committee yesterday summoned MPs to a special hearing to “get to the bottom of the matter.”
The nation’s largest labour federation yesterday shamed Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem for unlawful practices. Macklem was censured for hiring replacement workers in a five-week dispute with striking security guards: “It is especially troubling that this conduct is coming from the Bank of Canada.”
The Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations waived a requirement that a Kamloops First Nation account for what became of $12.1 million in funding for “exhumation of remains” at an Indian Residential School, according to records disclosed yesterday. The Tk’emlups te Secwepemc First Nation made no attempt to exhume any graves despite funding: “Officials were asked about what appears to be missing reports.”
The Department of National Defence in a report to MPs confirms it is installing new marine radar sites along shipping lanes in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Valley. No reason was given, though the department conducted earlier research that found Canadians feared a Great Lakes flashpoint should the United States “turn on Canada.”
There is no time for any “fulsome review of the future of Canada Post,” cabinet has told MPs in reply to a request for public hearings on the impact of service cuts. More immediate austerity measures are a priority, it said: ‘The government will take into account the issues raised by Canadians as it determines whether additional reforms are needed.’
Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday did not comment after federally-released records showed he misled taxpayers over secret terms of a U.S. toll-sharing agreement on the $6.4 billion Gordie Howe International Bridge at Windsor, Ont. One MP said it was improbable that Carney, “a very smart man who has a background in finance and banking,” was unaware he lied to the public.
Housing starts will continue to go down, not up, through 2027, the federal mortgage insurer CMHC said yesterday. The forecast contradicted Prime Minister Mark Carney’s repeated claims that cabinet was “building more homes, faster.”
The RCMP must reopen its criminal investigation into the killing of 138 Canadian citizens and permanent residents by Iran, says an Ontario businessman who lost his wife and son in the 2020 terrorist attack. Newly-released records show the Mounties abruptly cancelled their investigation after then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with Iranian authorities: “Somebody gave them an order to stop.”
