Blacklock's Reporter

The Privy Council spent $34,291 to poll the public on whether they fear Canada will run out of fresh water due to climate change. It followed earlier research on whether Canadians should be afraid of running out of food, though the country is self-sufficient in both: “Please rate your level of agreement or disagreement with the following statement: Canada will not have enough fresh water to meet its needs in the future.”

It may take “up to seven years” to 2033 before cabinet is anywhere near its targets on housing starts, says an internal Department of Finance memo. Delays were due to ordinary lags in planning and permits compounded by inflation and labour shortages, it said: “Homebuilder confidence has remained depressed.”

A federal agency, the Canada Energy Regulator, has tightened in-house ethics rules for politically-appointed directors. No specific reason was given, though Access To Information records earlier showed one unnamed staffer was caught trading in energy shares: “Appointees are expected to respect the principles.”

Turnout by Indigenous voters was far below the national average in 2025 and as low as 30 percent among Inuit, says new Elections Canada research. Analysts attributed the low turnout to younger demographics in Indigenous communities: “Younger electors tend to vote less.”

U.S. President Donald Trump last night taunted Canada’s cabinet with a 72-hour extension of a deadline on $28 billion tariffs and a pledge that the long-cancelled Keystone XL Pipeline “may be awoken from the grave!”

Federal archivists are protecting “safety of individuals” in concealing more than a million pages of records on Nazi collaborators let into Canada after 1945, says a newly-disclosed briefing note. Cabinet years ago had promised to release all Holocaust-related files: “They knew.”

Federal programs in a single year paid for more than 280,000 hours of counseling for Indigenous people, says an Access To Information note. The Department of Indigenous Services blamed “colonial sources of trauma.”

Cabinet yesterday was formally named in a federal complaint alleging misleading advertising in breach of an Act of Parliament. New Democrat MP Don Davies (Vancouver Kingsway) filed the complaint under the Liberals’ own 2024 law against “greenwashing.”

Housing starts remain far short of target with new construction down by double digits in the largest markets, CMHC said yesterday. The figures contradicted repeated claims of success by Housing Minister Gregor Robertson: “Starts were down 19 percent year over year in centres with a population of 10,000 or more.”

A federal program to “promote ethical business practices” has blacklisted 23 suppliers in two years, says a Department of Public Works memo. Managers over the same period awarded an average 2,978 contracts annually: “Certain suppliers understand the procurement system.”

The Commons public safety committee yesterday by unanimous vote agreed to probe apparent failures in security screening after a Chinese-Canadian intern at NATO headquarters was arrested on espionage charges. Canadians of Chinese ancestry were owed a thorough investigation of security breaches that are “dividing our communities,” said one MP: “We need to get to the bottom of the issue, determine what went wrong.”

Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday said he has a secret plan to cover “all eventualities” if the United States imposes $28 billion in new tariffs under a Wednesday deadline. Details of the plan were too confidential to discuss in public, he said: “I have a plan that will cover all eventualities.”

Cabinet must lift a six-month advisory against travel to Cuba, says a Commons petition sponsored by New Democrat MP Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre). The petition follows a notice from credit card issuers suspending all transactions in Cuba: “With the loss of tourism to Cuba this year a lot of people are out of work.”

The value of private business loans from Canadian pension funds, insurers and investment pools is worth about a half trillion, the Bank of Canada said yesterday. Researchers expressed unease with the largely unregulated practice in case of “a sharp downturn.”

Canadians increasingly assume the CBC and other mainstream media have some “angle or agenda” in reporting the news with a “particular political slant,” says federal focus group research. The in-house report found more Canadians “go to Reddit to see what people are saying” than rely on TV networks or newspapers.