Blacklock's Reporter

Parliament’s Special Joint Committee on the Declaration of Emergency yesterday entered its 18th month of deliberations with no deadline in sight for a final report into cabinet powers used against the Freedom Convoy. MPs complained they are still waiting to see all records in both official languages: "It became obvious the Liberal members of the committee were not prepared to permit the release of any government documents."

The Commons finance committee has voted down a motion to question the finance minister over looming impacts of interest rates on mortgage renewals. “I am very concerned about what is going to happen in the fall,” said Conservative MP Adam Chambers (Simcoe North, Ont.), sponsor of the motion: "We are not paying close enough attention to what is happening in the mortgage market."

Parliament must investigate the role of “smaller investors” in housing including Airbnb listers, says New Democrat MP Daniel Blaikie (Elmwood-Transcona, Man.). Liberal members of the Commons finance committee expressed interest, noting another Commons committee is already acting on an NDP motion to review “financialization of the housing market.”

Federal managers need “tips, tools and techniques” to deal with media on sensitive First Nations controversies, says the Department of Indigenous Services. It proposed to hire media coaches at undisclosed hourly rates: "Figure out who is taking the training and why."

A federal agency that overpaid employees thousands of dollars by direct deposit waited too long to recover the money, a labour board has ruled. Federal lawyers likened the mistake to a “lottery” for lucky winners.

Canada’s oldest public broadcaster has repeatedly breached terms of its license, says the CRTC. Regulators imposed no sanction on Alberta’s CKUA Radio network: "It must comply at all times."

Poet Shai Ben-Shalom writes:: “Dead organisms buried, decomposed, turned into crude oil, waiting until they are brought to the surface, eager to make contact with today’s living organisms…”

“It is sometimes very hard to tell the difference between history and the smell of skunk,” wrote English author Rebecca West. This is enough to make you wary of history that smells like violets.

Winston Churchill & Mackenzie King casts these “two elderly statesmen” as wartime peers out to save democracy. Author Terry Reardon is struck by parallels. Both were Sagittarians born in 1874, both had blue eyes and “large egos,” both stood 5’6”.

In chronicling their fifty-year acquaintance Reardon sees two dynamos of the Second World War. Well, not exactly. Churchill’s own Foreign Office in 1940 described King as “lukewarm about any war measure which he cannot show to redound to Canada’s own advantage.”

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland yesterday boasted “Canada did pretty well” on Covid though death rates here were higher than in Australia, South Korea, Norway and other industrialized countries. A proposal to conduct an inquiry into cabinet’s pandemic management is currently stalled in the Commons health committee: "Of course we could learn lessons about how to do better."

Hundreds of artifacts have vanished from two federal museums, auditors disclosed yesterday. Missing items included museum pieces “of great historical significance.” They were not identified: "We were particularly concerned."

Ratepayers in four provinces face steeper hydro bills, as much as 15 percent more, under draft Clean Electricity Regulations released yesterday. “It’s time to roll up our sleeves,” said Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault: "Higher incremental rate increases are expected."

Government-issue digital currency is unnecessary and would only be feasible if most Canadians asked for it, the Bank of Canada said yesterday. Consumers would have to “drive its use,” said a Bank report: "Acceptance and use of a central bank digital currency could be challenging."

The Supreme Court of Canada yesterday declined to hear petitions from church groups challenging pandemic bans on in-person worship. No reason was given. “We are disappointed,” said Marty Moore of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms that acted as counsel in two cases: "Prohibiting in-person worship is not a matter of national importance."

Cabinet yesterday for the first time acknowledged “highly suspicious and abnormal” activity in Chinese-language media targeting an Opposition MP. The Department of Foreign Affairs said while it was impossible to prove the Chinese Embassy was involved, “China’s role in the information operation is highly probable.”

Ottawa and Toronto lobbyists boosted attendance at the Prime Minister's annual Calgary Stampede fundraiser, records show. A fifth of donors to the Laurier Club event were Ontario lobbyists and political aides: 'Thousands of Canadians are chipping in.'