Blacklock's Reporter

The First World War gave Canada progressive income tax, national trade unions, the Department of Health, votes for women and daylight saving time. The price was 61,802 dead and 172,000 injured. Was it worth it?

With the passing of all eyewitnesses to the cataclysm Canadian culture has “systematically diminished the violent effects of the First World War,” notes The Great War. Politicians sense it is now safe to stand on tombstones to speak on patriotic themes that play well with focus groups. It is left to historians to correct the record.

Great War is a timely assessment drawn from a Western University conference that saw researchers, genealogists and others examine the cost and contribution of events now a century old. “Military triumphs and narratives of sacrifice will have to be weighed carefully against the brutal realities of the war’s human cost,” editors write.

A Liberal committee majority last night voted to conceal records detailing federal action against the Freedom Convoy. MPs and Liberal-appointed senators on the Special Joint Committee on the Declaration of Emergency voted 6 to 5 to block the release of uncensored documents: "We’re talking about a lot of documents."

GoFundMe denies seizing Freedom Convoy donations. Lawyers in a submission to the Public Order Emergency Commission said rumours the crowdfunding site failed to promptly refund contributions were a misunderstanding: "GoFundMe employees experienced a flood of violent and threatening messages including death threats."

The Commons government operations committee yesterday voted unanimously to examine all contracts for the ArriveCan app. The vote came moments after parliamentary secretary Pam Damoff told the Commons she resented any suggestion the $54 million app was a boondoggle: "Who got rich?"

Inflation is now almost entirely made in Canada, Mark Carney yesterday told the Senate banking committee. The former Bank of Canada governor, now a Liberal fundraiser, said the rising cost of living is “principally a domestic story.”

Fisheries groups yesterday complained to the Senate that Atlantic seals eat too many fish. The Department of Fisheries has rejected a seal cull as unjustified: "Evidence has been published about needing a 65 percent reduction in the seal herd."

Commons Speaker Anthony Rota was so alarmed by the Freedom Convoy he had armed Parliament Hill police stand guard outside his Ottawa residence at night while he slept, records show. Rota’s office yesterday did not comment: "For security reasons detailed information about operational security is not shared publicly."

The Freedom Convoy outside Parliament had to be dismantled not as a safety risk but a public symbol of the “spiritual source of the protest movement,” said Michael Keenan, deputy transport minister. His remarks in a teleconference with police contradicted cabinet claims the Wellington Street blockade was a danger to the public: 'It is obviously less tactically important but has a greater impact from a visibility and communication angle.'

The Commons yesterday by a 208 to 115 vote rejected a bill mandating value for money audits at the Bank of Canada. Three Liberal and Green MPs joined Conservatives in voting for tighter scrutiny of the central bank: "That’s what this bill is all about."

Ex-senator Don Meredith would be the first in Canadian history to be stripped of his “honourable” title under a Senate motion. Senators described Meredith as a national disgrace: "This is an extraordinary process that has never been attempted since this Parliament was established in 1867."

Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan yesterday opened year-long consultations on a proposal to ban replacement workers in the federally regulated private sector including airlines, banks, marine shippers and railways. Legislation must be introduced by December 31, 2023 under a pact with New Democrats: "It’s going to be a change."

Canadians do not trust Dr. Theresa Tam's Public Health Agency and will not blindly follow its advice, MPs on the Commons health committee yesterday told the chief public health officer. Conservatives read into the record a string of incorrect statements made by Dr. Tam: "We’re never doing this again. We don’t trust you."

The Freedom Convoy made Ottawa “virtually ungovernable,” Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said yesterday. Mendicino told reporters the protest had a significant and harmful impact on the government, a claim contradicted by internal memos from Mendicino’s own department: "We had to take the decision."

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson in a private phone call with the Prime Minister called Freedom Convoy protesters nasty and un-Canadian, like “the Republican Party down south,” he said. Watson yesterday in testimony at a convoy inquiry denied politicizing the treatment of protesters: "Reminds me of the Republican Party down south. Can’t reason with them. So vulgar."

Canadians in federal focus groups oppose decriminalization of narcotics, according to a Privy Council Office report. The research paper followed cabinet’s decision to decriminalize personal possession of cocaine in British Columbia effective January 31: "Many were concerned about drug users taking advantage of this initiative."