Blacklock's Reporter

Poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, writes for Blacklock’s each and every Sunday: “I stare at a picture of giant flakes on a cereal box. At the bottom, fine print…”

Federal agencies considered issuing garbage bags to nurses for use as medical gowns, according to an internal email from the Prime Minister’s Office. Authorities were so short of rationed supplies they also suggested front line health care workers try aprons and coveralls: "Explore fallbacks should everything else be insufficient, for example heavy duty garbage bags."

A cabinet order by Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland that extends temporary election-time relief cheques for the jobless will cost more than $2.1 billion, by official estimate. Cheques worth $300 a week were to run out just after Election Day: "I am so grateful to Canadians."

A federal labour board has upheld the firing of a Department of Health manager who wrote in an email she’d like to shoot her supervisor. The work environment in the department’s Burnaby, B.C. office appeared “toxic” but did not warrant death threats, wrote an adjudicator: "In hindsight, it might not appear that the danger was imminent."

The Canadian Human Rights Commission in a report to the United Nations says it is investigating a lack of diversity in federal management. The Commission’s own senior management is comprised entirely of white women lawyers: 'The Commission is a fierce ally in the fight against racism.'

Most RCMP members surveyed, 76 percent, say their job is stressful and negative media perceptions of their work make it worse. Findings were based on a union questionnaire following the pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests: "Many of the key stressors facing RCMP officers at this time are not related to the job itself."

A former Liberal MP’s company was in direct contact with federal agencies in negotiating a $237 million contract, says a memo from the Prime Minister’s Office. Frank Baylis’ business partners were warned he should “personally recuse himself." Both statements contradict testimony at the Commons ethics committee: "Baylis Medical was involved in the contract negotiations."

A re-elected Liberal cabinet would strip Canadians of any legal right to challenge mandatory vaccination orders, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said yesterday. The federal Privacy Commissioner has warned compulsory vaccines breach the Privacy Act: "It is an encroachment on civil liberties."

The Liberal Party yesterday detailed a $393 million-a year proposal to cut tax credits for top income earners. “We really welcome scrutiny,” said Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland: "This is a responsible platform; it is a transparent platform."

The Canadian Labour Congress sought federal funding for private sector pension plans that lost income in the pandemic, according to a memo in the Prime Minister’s Office. The Congress within days of the Covid outbreak also petitioned cabinet for a national moratorium on foreclosures and evictions: "We know some companies will fail during this pandemic."

Cabinet yesterday exempted a quarter-million truck drivers, marine shippers and other federally-regulated private sector employees from new “work-life balance” regulations. Parliament three years ago passed a bill regulating shift changes and rest breaks for the sector: "Employer and employee groups expressed diverging views."

Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller’s department spent billions on new water plants without ensuring First Nations had properly-trained managers to run them, says an audit. “We are working on a cascade of priorities,” Miller earlier told reporters.

An estimated 1,250 Canadian citizens and residents are trapped in Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Marc Garneau said yesterday. Garneau’s department in a Travel Advisory warned they are at risk of kidnapping and terrorist bombings: "Shelter in a safe place."

Small business debts now total at least $139 billion nationwide, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said yesterday. Some operators are so desperate they have resorted to credit cards for last-chance financing, wrote researchers: "They may never be able to pay it off."

Green Party leader Annamie Paul yesterday claimed she was victimized by a lying press. Paul’s predecessor also complained of media coverage: "This headline is a lie."