Blacklock's Reporter

Forty summers ago John Turner lost an election no Liberal leader could have won. Years later he told a friend, “I need your help rehabilitating my reputation.” To his death in 2020 Turner was a caricature who spent a pointless few weeks as prime minister.

“He felt enormous pressure to make something of himself, to be of service to his fellow man in some regard, and at the same time he doubted his ability to do it,” writes biographer Steve Paikin. “It was a contradiction that went to the core of his being. He enjoyed success and privilege, yet he was wracked with insecurity and a certain fragility.”

Paikin’s biography is poignant and funny, affectionate and candid. Hear Turner speaking to his wife in the 1970 October Crisis: “If I ever get kidnapped don’t let anyone pay the ransom.” See Turner giving an inspirational talk to ladies in the office: “You’re a f—king all star!” This is gold.

Universities are now a leading source of vulgar anti-Semitism, professors yesterday testified at the Commons justice committee. MPs were told campuses “began convulsing with anti-Semitic activity” following the Hamas killing and kidnapping of Jews in Israel last October 7: "Is this all disintegrating?"

No Canadian should lose workplace drug coverage under a national pharmacare plan, Health Minister Mark Holland said yesterday. His remarks contradicted insurers’ claims that Bill C-64 An Act Respecting Pharmacare may disrupt coverage for millions: "No company would do that."

A Liberal law mandating disclosure of corporate ownership is a privacy breach that exposes investors to “ambulance chasers,” a Liberal-appointed senator said yesterday. Senator Toni Varone (Ont.), a former contractor, said names of shareholders are none of the public’s business: "How do you maintain privacy?"

A Senate committee yesterday by a 9-3 vote agreed to grant cabinet broad powers to criminalize possession of wild animals in Canada. The Fur Institute of Canada called it “deeply concerning.”

Federally registered corporations would have to report annually on how they are benefiting society under a private Senate bill introduced yesterday. Senator Julie Miville-Dechêne (Que.) sponsored the unprecedented measure: 'Minimize any harm the corporation causes to wider society.'

Liberal-appointed senators yesterday proposed legislation to grant cabinet federal powers to criminalize possession of all wild animal species in Canada. Members of the Senate legal and constitutional affairs committee expressed astonishment at the scope of the bill: 'So this would allow the government to ban fur farming?'

Federal aid worth more than a half billion annually reduced the “point-in-time count of homeless persons by about 6,000 people,” the Budget Office said yesterday. The homeless population overall had grown since 2018 despite the spending, wrote analysts: "It costs half a billion dollars for the Prime Minister to drive up homelessness."

Canadians aren’t getting internet bargains because they won’t shop around, says the Department of Industry. The remark followed senators’ complaints that prices charged consumers do not appear to match cabinet claims of large savings: "My bill didn’t go down 26 percent, what are you talking about?"

Canada’s chief bank inspector yesterday said interest rate shocks on mortgage renewals remain a top risk. Peter Routledge, Superintendent of Financial Institutions, said billions in variable rate, fixed payment home loans were particularly worrisome: "Mortgage payments no longer cover the full interest costs or the principal."

Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc yesterday said he's ensuring success for shippers with a new October 21 start date to collect border tariffs electronically. Shippers and Customs officers predict a costly failure: "We have no confidence in where we are now."

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault yesterday garbled figures in claiming the carbon tax has cut greenhouse gas emissions by a third. Guilbeault itemized figures totaling about two percent of emissions, not 33 percent: "I will be the first one to recognize it is complex."

The carbon tax has no impact on most greenhouse gas emissions in Canada, a Department of Environment manager said yesterday. John Moffet, assistant deputy minister, said the fuel tax likely affected only a third of emissions at best: "It is impossible."

Housing Minister Sean Fraser yesterday said critics must “not interfere” in his plan to build 3.9 million homes. Fraser’s remarks followed an observation from one MP that the construction target would require a new home to be built every 60 seconds: "Have a field day."

It will take a generation to see any climate benefit from cabinet’s proposal to plant two billion trees, the Department of Natural Resources said yesterday. The 2019 election promise announced by then-Environment Minister Catherine McKenna will cost $5.9 billion, by Budget Office estimate: "I can’t give an exact date on when the two billion trees will be planted exactly."