Blacklock's Reporter

Historical figures are ready props in any political argument. They are dead and in no position to complain. But this cuts both ways. Historical facts are set in stone: names, dates, embarrassing diary entries. Public figures who invoke history to justify a political impulse are taking a chance, which brings us to The Riel Problem. This is not another book about Louis Riel. It is much better.

In my Manitoba school days Riel was given short treatment as a messianic rebel leader who maybe didn’t deserve to be hanged for treason. The first public speech I heard in praise of Riel as a national icon was not by any Manitoba MLA but a Bloc Québécois MP, in Ottawa, in 1993. Today he is “a Franco Catholic martyr,” “an Indigenous hero,” “a Father of Confederation,” writes Albert Braz, Professor Emeritus at the University of Alberta’s Literature and English department.

Auditors have uncovered routine irregularities in the hiring of consultants in Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly’s department. The review followed a public outcry over billions spent on consultants government-wide, said an internal audit report: "In the last five years the department signed more than 8,000 consulting service contracts totaling $567 million."

Immigration Minister Marc Miller’s office yesterday did not comment after Miller told a U.S. radio interviewer Canada was “open country” for foreigners. Illegal immigration was a minor issue since Canada was surrounded by oceans, the United States and “a block of ice to the north,” he said.

Federal subsidies for the electric vehicle industry are now up to $52.5 billion, triple the $16 billion annual GDP of the entire Canadian auto industry. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau yesterday would not say how much his cabinet was willing to pay per job in the sector: "How much is the government paying for each of those jobs?"

An Afro-Canadien Museum dedicated to documenting slavery in pre-Confederation Québec has been cited for breach of migrant labour rules. Management yesterday did not comment: "The pay or working conditions didn’t match."

A media “fact checker” yesterday was fined for 2019 Facebook messages targeting then-Opposition Leader Andrew Scheer. The paid posts by Canada Fact Check were not fact checks but “partisan advertising,” said the Elections Commissioner.

A federal inventory of vacant Crown-owned property lists fewer than 400 nationwide including many unsuitable for housing like cattle barns and boat sheds, records show. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau yesterday repeated his claim that unused federal property will create thousands of new homes: "Anyone who says we don’t need to put everything on the table right now is not listening."

New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh yesterday said he did not want a 2024 election though the Prime Minister reneged on terms of his Supply And Confidence Agreement. A quarter of Singh’s caucus is not seeking re-election: "I want to hear from Justin Trudeau."

Canadian shippers yesterday cheered another delay in what one called the “big bang” launch of a new digital Customs collection scheme criticized as onerous and costly. The Canada Border Services Agency program mandated to launch May 13 has been postponed until October: 'Every single stakeholder has said it won’t work.'

More than a tenth of pensioners in their 60s remain in the workforce by necessity, Statistics Canada said yesterday. New data follow a recommendation that cabinet rewrite Income Tax Act credits to recognize hundreds of thousands of Canadians who work past 65: "Those working by necessity represented 351,000 individuals."

Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan yesterday said he will introduce a bill by year’s end to detect and block imports of slave-made goods into Canada. Cabinet has long promised legislation to ban the trade: "This year we will introduce legislation."

Federal managers paid out more than $500,000 in settlements to employees suspended under vax mandates, records show. The payments were disclosed at the request of Conservative MP Ted Falk (Provencher, Man.) who opposed mandatory vaccination as a breach of Charter rights: "That is what happened."

The Canada Revenue Agency should  tighten ethics training, say auditors. The recommendation comes after Revenue Commissioner Bob Hamilton misled MPs over the fact 232 employees were fired for defrauding pandemic relief programs: "I don’t have the numbers right in front of me; not very many, obviously."

The Budget Office is calculating the cost of failed asylum claims by illegal immigrants. It seeks to update 2018 figures that put expenses at up to $33,700 per person depending on lengthy appeals: "They are staggering."

Elections Canada yesterday began preparation for printing ballots in anticipation of a general campaign. The agency in a notice to contractors ordered the printing of special ballots for electors with disabilities from August 1: "Be ready."