Poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, writes for Blacklock’s each and every Sunday: “Went downtown this Canada Day to join the celebration. A girl wrapped in red-and-white sold three flags for two dollars, five for three. She wanted my money…”
Buried in a film vault at the federal archives is a Canadian Paramount newsreel circa 1952 shown in movie theatres nationwide. Cue marching music then title board: “World’s Largest Asbestos Mill!” The camera pans across an industrial complex six city blocks long as the announcer shouts, “The new plant will process more than a third of the free world’s supply of the magic mineral!”
It was a ribbon cutting at Johns Manville Co.’s Jeffery Mine in Asbestos, Que. The premier and archbishop showed up. Coroners had known since 1906 asbestos dust was fatal. The fact was not mentioned.
UBC Press has published the true story never shown in theatres. A Town Called Asbestos documents a lethal product produced and sold with the blessing of regulators and lawmakers alike. “The people of Asbestos should not have had to choose between their jobs and their health but that is just what many had to do,” writes author Jessica van Horssen.
Blacklock's pauses for the Canada Day observance to wish all friends and subscribers a happy First of July. We're back tomorrow -- The Editor
Cabinet yesterday approved a taxpayer-funded booklet for schoolchildren that calls the Red Ensign flag a hate symbol and identifies the Conservative Party by name as a target of “infiltration” by racists. It also warns children to beware of classmates who speak in favour of Donald Trump: "It represents the next stage of our work to fight and win against hate."
A CBC radio show was so offensive it breached the Broadcasting Act, federal regulators ruled yesterday. The decision came over a French-language program that repeatedly used the n-word: "The host and the commentator used the n-word four times, three times in French and one in English, in a segment of six minutes and 27 seconds."
Canadian drivers will pay billions more for gas and diesel under new climate change regulations to be detailed Saturday. “The regulations may increase fuel prices” in addition to the current 12¢ a litre carbon tax on gasoline, said the Department of Environment: "Certainly there are additional costs."
The Department of Health is granting the food industry another four years to comply with new warning labels intended to cut Canadians’ consumption of sugar, salt and fat. Regulations to be finalized tomorrow and originally scheduled to take effect in 2022 will cost industry a half billion, by official estimate: "Costs to industry are anticipated to be significant."
Cabinet should subsidize Canadian fertilizer producers to counter the impact of collapsing farm exports from Ukraine, the Commons agriculture committee said yesterday. Extraordinary measures are needed “given the urgency and severity of what we are collectively facing,” wrote MPs.
A Covid Alert app failed in part because Canadians don’t trust the government, says a Department of Health report. The $20 million program was disbanded last Friday: "Trust in government is clearly an issue."
Secret papers detailing cabinet's use of emergency powers against the Freedom Convoy will be publicly disclosed, a judicial inquiry said yesterday. The Rouleau Commission called it an "exceptional step" in unraveling why cabinet invoked the Emergencies Act against truckers protesting vaccine mandates: "I am committed to ensuring the inquiry will be fair and open."
CMHC employees received the equivalent of more than $6,000 in pay raises through the pandemic, according to Access To Information records obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. The pay hikes were in addition to performance bonuses that averaged $11,000 a year: "We share in the tragedy and the fact the pandemic has made things worse for homeless people."
Uninsured homeowners with mortgages and lines of credit must have a minimum 35 percent paid-up equity in their property, Canada’s chief bank inspector said yesterday. Rules targeting more than $200 billion in outstanding loans will take effect next year: "A portion of principal payments will go towards reducing their overall mortgage amount until it is below 65 percent."
Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier yesterday acknowledged the value of taxes owed but never collected is billions more than originally claimed. Legislators have spent six years prodding the Canada Revenue Agency to calculate the so-called “tax gap.”
The Canadian Pacific Railway could not fully comply with a federal vaccinate mandate and keep the trains running safely, according to labour board records. The CPR said full compliance would “place the critical operations of the railroad at risk.”
The Bank of Canada warns of “downward pressure” on suburban homes following above-normal price gains in the past three years. “A shift in relative prices could be especially problematic,” wrote researchers: "Prices in the suburbs could face downward pressure."
