Blacklock's Reporter

In 1919 there were so many Bolsheviks in Port Arthur, Ont. the local MP called it one of Canada’s worst “breeding places of revolution.” The mayor calculated three-quarters of local Finnish immigrants were socialists. In neighbouring Fort William they held a memorial for Lenin in 1924 and sang the Internationale.

The twin cities on the north shore of Lake Superior were “storm centres in Canadian working-class history,” writes Michel Beaulieu, associate professor of history at Lakehead University.

It is popular now to dismiss Canadian communism as a historical curiosity peopled by colourful idealists. In its day it was serious business.  Churchill scorned fifth columnists like the Lakehead Leninists as Moscow “missionaries”: “Obscure people awaiting the day when they hope to be the absolute masters of their fellow countrymen and pay off old scores.”

Yves Côté, now-retired Elections Commissioner, yesterday acknowledged dismissing complaints that Chinese agents were targeting Conservative Party voters in the 2021 campaign. “There is no duty to investigate everything,” Côté testified at the China inquiry.

Federal security agents in a censored 2021 election memo said they were aware China sought to “cultivate relationships with current MPs.” China-friendly Members of Parliament were not identified: 'China is interested in individuals who are viewed as ‘pro-PRC’ or ‘neutral' in key areas."

Security agents secretly warned Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault of irregularities at a 2019 nomination meeting in a Toronto riding, Don Valley North, the China inquiry disclosed yesterday. Perrault said he referred the incident to investigators but did no more: "Am I correct those concerns related to the Liberal Party nomination?"

One of the Prime Minister’s parliamentary secretaries yesterday accused premiers of wasting Liberals’ time by “spewing the same lines” on the carbon tax. MP Irek Kusmierczyk (Windsor-Tecumseh, Ont.), secretary for employment, complained of “the screaming hypocrisy of premiers coming here to decry a three-cent increase on the price of a litre of gas.”

Cabinet needs new “strategies” to restore public trust in the Government of Canada, says an Access To Information memo. The document complained of “growing evidence” of mistrust by the public: "What are some of the strategies that can be put in place to restore the public’s trust?"

The Canadian Embassy in Washington admits it displayed large friendship banners that mistakenly proclaimed sovereignty over Greenland. The banners were on display more than a week before the Department of Foreign Affairs noticed, a spokesperson said yesterday: "The banner was removed."

Cabinet must cancel a planned 23 percent increase in the carbon tax, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe yesterday testified by videoconference at the Commons government operations committee. “We don’t need to accept this,” said Moe, who launched a February 29 carbon tax strike on natural gas for home heating: "We can make changes."

Chinese émigrés yesterday pleaded with the China inquiry to counter harassment campaigns targeting dissidents in Canada. Witnesses testified foreign agents typically tried to bully pro-democracy activists into silence: "The hidden agenda is trying to persuade these organizations to remain, quote, unquote, ‘neutral,’ and not to be, quote, unquote, ‘political.'"

It would “be a good idea” for cabinet to calculate how much it costs to collect taxes before introducing any new tax, Budget Officer Yves Giroux said yesterday. His remarks followed data showing the paperwork on an equity tax targeting foreign property owners costs more than it raises in revenue: "I think there will need to be a correction in the budget."

The Department of Immigration documented a suspiciously high rate of refugee claims by Mexican travelers at airports in Montréal and Calgary, new records show. Figures predate cabinet’s February 29 decision to reintroduce mandatory visas for air passengers from Mexico: "They are significant and they have increased dramatically."

MPs yesterday ordered disclosure of all internal federal investigations into claims an ArriveCan executive tried to destroy 1,700 emails. Minh Doan, now chief federal technology officer, has not publicly answered allegations he attempted to hide documents on his dealings with contractors: "There seems to be a culture of hiding."

The Canada Border Services Agency disciplined more than 140 employees in a year for wrongdoing, Vice-President Jonathan Moor yesterday told ArriveCan hearings. The Agency is one of the largest police departments in Canada with 16,000 employees and a $2.7 billion annual budget: "We have a lot to do."

Liberal MPs yesterday tried and failed to block speedy hearings into why cabinet concealed evidence of Chinese security breaches at the National Microbiology Laboratory. “Why wasn’t this caught earlier?” asked Conservative MP Michael Chong (Wellington-Halton Hills, Ont.): "This is the start of the matter, not the end."

Cabinet should cut immigration to ease a housing crisis, Canadians tell federal researchers. In-house focus groups by the Privy Council Office found popular support for lowering quotas to “alleviate demand for housing.”