Blacklock's Reporter

Nations at war, glorify war. Otherwise war would be untenable. Remembrance Day observances have seen the Royal B.C. Museum hand out helmets to 7-year olds and have them sit in a jeep. The Calgary Sun assigned a reporter to walk city streets shaming 9 in 10 passersby who failed to wear a poppy. Grade 10 students in Tillsonburg, Ont. were asked to jog through a ditch in a farmer’s field. CTV News Channel called it “a realistic experience about war.”

Canada in recent years was at war in Afghanistan, Libya and Syria. At the same time officialdom and media celebrated wartime exploit as a central fixture of the Canadian experience. This is factually dubious but worthy of thoughtful analysis. Professor Sherrill Grace, a professor of literature at the University of British Columbia, examines the phenomenon. The result is striking and poignant.

The China inquiry yesterday disclosed it is investigating names and dates referenced in a censored report on foreign espionage in Parliament. The Commission on Foreign Interference will “endeavour to shed light on the facts,” Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue said in a statement: "Counsel have undertaken the exercise of identifying and analyzing the information."

Our counsel today will file notice of appeal in Blacklock’s Reporter v. Attorney General. We challenge a May 31 ruling by a federal judge. The outcome will determine the viability of independent media in our country. 

Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre yesterday taunted New Democrats to dissolve the minority 44th Parliament and hold a fall election. Poilievre accused NDP leader Jagmeet Singh of prolonging the current session just to qualify for an MP’s pension: "Put the people ahead of your pension."

Employers should not rely on migrant labour as a business model, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said yesterday. Cabinet is restoring 2014 regulations introduced by then-Employment Minister Jason Kenney that limit foreign workers to 10 percent of payroll: "If you as a business think you need more we have some real concerns about your business model."

The price of electric cars would have to plunge by a third to meet Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault’s sales mandate, the Budget Office said yesterday. Guilbeault has directed that electrics account for 60 percent of new passenger vehicle sales by the end of the decade: "The relative ownership cost of battery electric vehicles would need to decrease by 31 percent."

The Supreme Court yesterday brought an abrupt end to years of litigation against vaccine mandates. Judges declined to hear legal arguments from People’s Party leader Maxime Bernier and other plaintiffs who called the cabinet orders unconstitutional: 'Canadians had a right to know whether the government acted lawfully.'

Blacklock’s coverage of alleged 2021 voting irregularities is stoking anti-Asian racism, says Liberal MP Leah Taylor Roy (Aurora-Oak Ridges, Ont.). The MP did not comment directly on a China inquiry affidavit alleging Communist Party agents were hired as poll workers in her riding: "I like all my colleagues take the issue of foreign interference extremely seriously."

Police six years ago were unaware of a torture video allegedly linking a Canadian terror suspect to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc yesterday told the Commons public safety committee. “The existence of that video or the information you recounted to the committee now was not available,” said LeBlanc.

MPs yesterday expressed anger and incredulity after officialdom defended security screening of two terror suspects. The Canada Border Services Agency said it was “concerned these two individuals got through” but defended its system as “robust.”

Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon yesterday said his order forcing locked-out Teamster rail workers into binding arbitration was “in the best interests of millions of unionized workers.” Speaking at a union convention in Winnipeg, MacKinnon said he remains a friend of labour and considered his appointment as Minister “a fun job.”

The British Columbia Court of Appeal yesterday upheld an order that Canadian National Railway pay $16.2 million for causing a 2015 forest fire. The province’s Wildfire Act allows damages against corporations found responsible: "CN admits as much."

The Department of Foreign Affairs’ New York realtor yesterday testified an existing Park Avenue diplomatic residence was a wonderful penthouse that remains “move-in ready.” The department had cited a need for renovations as justification for buying a new $8.8 million Central Park condo for Consul Tom Clark: “It’s just very interesting to me that this residence was not good enough."

Supporters of the 2022 Freedom Convoy protest outside Parliament included current and former Mounties, says a newly-disclosed RCMP memo. The document said then-Commissioner Brenda Lucki tried to find Convoy sympathizers within the force: "Past and current members participated in or potentially supported the protests."

Canada was “not as prepared as it could have been” for the pandemic, says a Public Health Agency report. The first-ever admission of failure followed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s boast that Canada was among the best prepared nations on earth: "The Public Health Agency was not as prepared as it could have been."