Blacklock's Reporter

Poet Shai Ben-Shalom writes: “A civil war in South Sudan. This mother of five is hiding in the swamps, feeding her children with water lilies until the next shipment of grains is airdropped…”

Off the highway in Morrisburg, Ont. is a “historic site,” Upper Canada Village. The attraction is a fake.

“What was it really like to live and work in the 19th century?” the pamphlets ask. “Visit  Upper Canada Village and travel back in time!” It is in fact a 1961 recreation of a genuine 1761 community destroyed to make way for the St. Lawrence Seaway. To actually travel back in time you must read Negotiating A River, the saga of a mega-project that created an engineering marvel and submerged a piece of the national fabric under 40 feet of water.

In a celebration of “faith in progress and technology,” writes author Daniel Macfarlane, seaway builders decided “it was worth erasing key parts of Canadian history, literally flooding the site of Crysler’s Farm from the War of 1812. The memorial there was relocated to a hill on the new shore beside Upper Canada Village.”

Conservative MPs yesterday asked to summon Chinese Ambassador Cong Peiwu for questioning over clandestine operations by his Embassy. One Chinese diplomat has been expelled to date for harassing an MP’s family: "It is about as low as it gets."

The Canada Revenue Agency yesterday hinted it may “take a look” at the federally-subsidized Trudeau Foundation. “Could be,” Revenue Commissioner Bob Hamilton testified at the Commons public accounts committee as MPs from all opposition parties sought an audit of the charity's books: "The potential for us to take a look? Could be."

Cabinet yesterday served notice it will invoke closure to get its budget bill out of the Commons finance committee. Conservative MPs are filibustering the bill until Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland appears for two hours of questioning: "We are running out of time."

Federal drug regulators in a memo to the health minister complained of the “hard reality” of political influence by pharmaceutical lobbyists. The Access To Information memo was disclosed yesterday by New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh: "It is very clear the Liberal government is in the pocket of the pharmaceutical industry."

Seal hunters yesterday appealed to the Senate fisheries committee to encourage Canadians to eat more seal meat. “It’s super good,” testified one sealer, but added: “It’s not going to replace beef.”

Canada’s chief bank inspector yesterday said he’s concerned over billions loaned in certain variable rate mortgages. “We are watching very carefully,” Superintendent of Financial Institutions Peter Routledge told the Senate banking committee: "What I am concerned about is the build-up in variable rate mortgages with fixed payments."

CRTC censors must mandate corrections to “errors of fact” in newspaper and online news articles, says the National Council of Canadian Muslims. Members of the Senate transport and communications committee expressed alarm over the proposal: "Are you actually calling for regulation of the free print media?"

Almost six million Census users identified their ethnicity as Canadian, according to Statistics Canada data detailed yesterday. Census takers for years would not list “Canadian” as an actual ethnic group, prompting public protest: "How many generations do we have to go back before we’re Canadian?"

Figures don’t support a Conservative MP’s protest that his 2021 election loss was due to Communist Chinese agents, say Liberal members of the House affairs committee. Ex-MP Kenny Chiu yesterday testified the very nature of election interference made it difficult to document: "In your particular riding the NDP vote actually went up."

Chinese subterfuge against parliamentarians will be investigated by the House affairs committee. A unanimous Commons vote for full hearings came yesterday as one cabinet representative complained of “innuendos” against the Prime Minister.

A filibuster of Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s budget yesterday entered its second week as Conservative MPs talked out the clock at the Commons finance committee. The opposition demanded Freeland appear for a minimum two hours’ questioning if she wants the budget passed: "I feel sad about that."

The profit-driven housing market is “harming people” and must be regulated by Parliament, Federal Housing Advocate Marie-Josée Houle said yesterday. Only regulations will lower prices, she said: "Corporate investment in housing is a serious human rights issue."

A 33 percent increase in mandatory security fees will cost air passengers more than a quarter billion next year, the Parliamentary Budget Office said yesterday. Cabinet raised the fees for the first time since 2010 though figures showed revenues were an average 12 percent more than the cost of airport X-ray scanning: "It has become a cash cow, not a fee for service."