Blacklock's Reporter

Three senators defied pandemic bans on non-essential travel by repeatedly flying to Ottawa and back home on government jets at taxpayers’ cost, according to Access To Information flight logs. None explained what constituency business they had during Covid lockdowns in their home provinces. The health department at the time said it was unsafe for Canadians to visit family and friends: "Ask yourself before you go out this weekend, is what I’m about to do worth the risk?"

Cabinet will not make it a legal requirement that airlines pay cash refunds to passengers ticketed on Covid-cancelled flights. It had promised in a January 15 Ministerial Mandate letter to “ensure Canadians get refunds for air travel cancelled due to the pandemic.”

An MP who rewrote the Income Tax Act to benefit family-owned businesses vows to fight attempts by the Department of Finance to reopen the bill. The department in an unusual statement said it will attempt to revisit the measure that cuts taxes by at least $178 million a year: "This is desperation."

Attorney General David Lametti in a single day appointed four Liberal Party donors as judges. The flurry of appointments Friday came three weeks after the Commons justice committee rejected an investigation of Party vetting of judges: "I am confident they will serve the people."

The Department of Employment unfairly rejected applications for Canada Summer Jobs funding from church groups, a federal judge has ruled. The Court was told the department appeared to badger Christian applicants with repeated claims of inadequate paperwork: "It’s pretty scathing."

Poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, writes for Blacklock’s each and every Sunday: “Enter a Justice clothing store in Syracuse, New York. Inquire whether an item bought at that location can be returned in a Canadian branch…”

“I admit it. I love the Canadian Constitution,” enthuses Professor Adam Dodek. So few Canadians do. In this we are not unique. A U.S. Rasmussen poll once found only 51 percent of Americans would actually vote for their Constitution; 63 percent thought it was an “excuse” to ban school prayer. And a U.K. study by the Hansard Society confirmed only 26 percent of Britons know what the House of Lords does. Forty-nine percent could not tell the difference between “parliament” and “government.”

In Canada the Constitution is so unloved, Dodek recalls the main textbook on our supreme law once went out of print for months “and nobody seemed to notice.” Dodek, dean law at the University of Ottawa, has a solution: his readable, 176-page account of the constitution and its meaning, written in plain English.

A federal agency paid an upfront cash advance to a Chinese company for pandemic vaccines never delivered. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had denied the contract with CanSino Biologics Inc. of Tianjin existed, calling it “disinformation.” The agreement was disclosed through Access To Information records obtained by Conservative MP Tom Kmiec (Calgary Shepard): "That is simply not true."

Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier had government aircraft fly empty on a 2,200-kilometre round trip from Ottawa to her Gaspé home so crew could taxi her to a local news conference. “This is getting weird again,” a Department of Transport manager wrote in an Access To Information email. Lebouthillier had said all Canadians must reduce their carbon footprint: "Climate change has repercussions everywhere."

The Conservative chair of the Senate communications committee managing Bill C-10 said he’s been flooded with protest emails on the measure. Senator Michael MacDonald (N.S.) said the bill sends Canada “down a rabbit hole on internet regulation.”

Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault has issued a guide for reporters on how combat “disinformation and misinformation.” Guilbeault’s department will detail “concrete action they will take to implement the guiding principles” within a year, he said: "We have to act now."

A $15 minimum wage is a “powerful tool when it comes to fighting poverty,” says Labour Minister Filomena Tassi. The labour department in a report said in fact there was only weak evidence suggesting minimum wages cut poverty rates: "Individuals in many poor families work very little or not at all."

Blacklock's pauses for the Canada Day observance to wish all friends and subscribers a happy First of July. We're back tomorrow  -- The Editor

The Senate yesterday referred Bill C-10 to committee hearings as one legislator likened first-ever internet regulations to book burning. “I don’t think this bill needs amendments,” said Senator David Richards (N.B.). “I think however it needs a stake through the heart.”

Airbnb says it cannot meet cabinet’s deadline to begin collecting GST effective tomorrow. A lobbyist for Airbnb in a submission to the Senate national finance committee said the measure was unfair: "As written, it is impossible to comply with by July 1."