Canada’s newly-appointed ethics commissioner in one of his first acts in office hired an artistic director to devise a new look for the agency, according to records. Commissioner Mario Dion said he is also experimenting with video production: “It’s fashionable.”
In what may be the last sentence of its kind in Canada, a bookkeeper has been jailed 45 days for selling marijuana. Senators are to vote on whether to legalize cannabis in two weeks’ time. “Courts should not condone defiance of the law even if a change in that law seems imminent,” wrote a judge in Kitchener, Ont.: “He got burned.”
Canada’s consul general in Los Angeles yesterday declined to speak to Canadian media after contacting a U.S. newspaper to complain about a YouTube video. The consulate explained all contact with Canadian journalists must be screened by the Department of Foreign Affairs.
“The policy is rather strict,” said Dan Pasquini, spokesperson for the California diplomatic mission. “The marching orders are really strict. I’m not going to get into the reasons why we do it this way.”
Consul General James Villeneuve earlier contacted a Los Angeles Times columnist to complain of unfair treatment of Canada in a pharmaceutical lobbyists’ YouTube video. The ad questioned Canadian regulation of imported medicines.
“Being Canadian, he was too polite to openly criticize the United States,” wrote Times consumer columnist David Lazarus in a May 11 item Canadian Officials Decry Jagged Little Pill Of Attacks By U.S. Drug Industry. “But Villeneuve allowed that the ads from the Partnership for Safe Medicines are ‘very deceptive’ and ‘kind of mean’.”
The Consul General was unavailable for comment when contacted by Blacklock’s. Spokesperson Pasquini explained rules for dealing with Canadian and American media are different.
“This may sound bureaucratic, but that’s us,” said Pasquini. “Any press requests from Canadian media have to go through the media people at the department. Our Consul General can engage with media in their regions.”
“We actually reached out to the Los Angeles Times reporter – that we can do – but Canadian media calls have to be referred to media relations in Ottawa,” said Pasquini. The department did not comment.
“I’m not sure he’d get in trouble,” added Pasquini. “He’s empowered to speak to the press in the consular region.”
Villeneuve’s comments to Canadian media are rare but not unprecedented. He previously granted a 2017 interview to Toronto’s Get Leashed Magazine to discuss his dog Poppy. “If you ask me, Poppy is a great diplo-mutt,” Villeneuve told the periodical.
The foreign ministry in a 2015 Ministerial Mandate letter wrote, “Members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery, indeed all journalists in Canada and abroad, are professionals who, by asking necessary questions, contribute in an important way to the democratic process. Your professionalism and engagement with them is essential.” Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland in a May 3 statement observing World Press Freedom Day said, “We remind ourselves that without a free and independent press, we all lose.”
Villeneuve was appointed to the Los Angeles post in 2014. He was formerly vice-president of corporate affairs for Labatt Brewing Co. and campaign manager for ex-Toronto mayor Mel Lastman. Villeneuve’s budgeting as Consul General earlier prompted a departmental review after a 2015 Inquiry Of Ministry tabled in the Commons indicated he spent $12,460 on two buffets.
By Staff 
One of Canada’s most acclaimed independent publishing houses has told MPs its copyright royalties dropped 80 percent with free photocopying under federal law. Publishers and authors appealed to the Commons industry committee to tighten regulations that allow mass copying of works in the name of research: “For every cent we get, the author gets a cent.”
Regulations are costing Canadian homebuyers an average of more than $100,000 over the actual cost of construction, say analysts. The C.D. Howe Institute yesterday said costs of restrictive zoning and development charges artificially raised prices in eight cities surveyed nationwide: “There is clearly some market dysfunction.”
The Federal Court of Appeal has dismissed a British Columbia woman’s claim for First Nations tax-exempt status on millions in income. The Canada Revenue Agency complained of “improper manipulation” of tax laws in the case: “It is abusive of the exemption.”
The number of executives in the federal public service has grown 56 percent since 2000, says the Treasury Board. Three departments combined – environment, finance and justice – now have 31 deputy, assistant deputy and associate deputy ministers: “During the same period, the overall federal public service grew by 24 percent.”
A Winnipeg novelist has told the Commons industry committee her income from royalties and licensing fees totaled $103 last year due to free photocopying under the Copyright Act. “Most artists have not seen compensation,” said one MP: “There is something deeply wrong.”
The federal airport security agency yesterday declined comment on how it proposes to regulate legal marijuana. The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority in 2017 suspended a longstanding policy of calling police whenever cannabis was found in travelers’ luggage.: “It is expending increased effort to manage marijuana incidents.”
Cabinet yesterday had no proposals to break a parliamentary deadlock over shippers’ rights in a federal rail bill. Two Conservative senators challenged Atlantic MPs to defy their leadership and amend the legislation: “They can end this really quickly.”
A Crown corporation has fired a senior employee for illegal conduct involving contracting and leaked data. Managers at Export Development Canada made no mention of the incident in April 24 testimony at the Commons trade committee: “We’re not perfect.”
Parks Canada is defending an obscure regulation allowing staff to censor permit holders’ signs or literature for objectionable content. A parliamentary committee said the rule is a clear violation of free speech: ‘Change the regulation or it’s wiped off the books.’
Access To Information records obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation detail menus approved for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and cabinet when traveling aboard Canadian Armed Forces aircraft. Catering charges totaled $576,723 in a fourth-month period last winter: “If you have any edible flowers that would be ideal.”
The Commons on May 22 will vote to reject shippers’ amendments to a rail bill twice approved by the Senate. One MP described the impasse as a game of ping-pong over the rights of freight customers: “How can we explain the refusal to treat all regions of Canada fairly?”
No two
could be more different
than the North Korean Leader
and the American President.
One fascinated with military,
wants nuclear capabilities
at the expense of social services.
Obsessed with appearance
he turned hairstyle
into trademark.
He doesn’t trust
his neighbour to the south
and wants an insurmountable obstacle
along the border.
Nor does he trust the free media,
or even his closest advisors.
They don’t last long on the job.
And he doesn’t like to be confused
with facts.
The other…
(Editor’s note: poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, examines current events in the Blacklock’s tradition each and every Sunday)
