Blacklock's Reporter

Then-Justice Minister Mark MacGuigan in 1982 wanted to sue child killer Clifford Olson to recover federal cash payments but dropped the idea for fear of political embarrassment, say declassified records. Cabinet at a confidential meeting complained it only learned after that fact the RCMP paid Olson $100,000 to disclose where he buried his victims in the British Columbia woods: "Mr. MacGuigan stressed the decision was his alone."

Then-Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s cabinet opposed compensation for Japanese-Canadians interned during World War II since they did not appear unhappy, according to declassified Cabinet Minutes. Ministers said compensating those whose property was seized would set a precedent: "All minorities will feel they should have a right to redress."

A private bill to outlaw exports of plastic garbage will damage cross-border trade in waste, industry lobbyists yesterday told the Commons environment committee. MPs gave Second Reading to the bill February 3 by a vote of 179-148: "Out of sight, out of mind is not a solution."

Cabinet considered seizing factory production and imposing a cap on corporate profits in early days of the pandemic, according to internal emails. “What are next steps to advance this?” wrote one political aide in discussing extraordinary measures under the Emergencies Act: "Is there another Act where we could make these amendments?"

Then-Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s cabinet in secret 1983 meetings dismissed Brian Mulroney as a “new boy” easily ridiculed for “glibness and flippancy,” according to declassified records obtained by Blacklock’s. The Liberal cabinet expressed confidence it would beat Mulroney in a 1984 election: 'Ministers should be seen to be giving the ‘new boy’ a chance."

Then-Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau planned to combat 1981 recession protests with pro-Liberal federal advertising and tips for cabinet on how to “appear to listen,” say declassified records. Trudeau cautioned: “Nothing would be more harmful than to communicate a sense of not knowing what we are doing.”

Fewer than a third of small business owners, 32 percent, say they get respect from the Canada Revenue Agency, according to in-house research. Just 28 percent said they think the Agency treats taxpayers fairly: "Answers vary according to their experience."

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s family farm is auctioning all equipment in a retirement sale organized by Freeland’s father Donald, 76. The finance minister, a millionaire Rhodes Scholar, frequently invoked the farm as proof her family was not part of the “Upper Canada elite.”

When Nunavut became a territory they put the Motor Vehicle Division in a village called Gjoa Haven. Nobody can drive there; Gjoa Haven is on an island. All of Nunavut has no highways and only 5,000 registered vehicles anyway.

Nunavut’s creation was not merely the world’s largest Indigenous land claim but an experiment in community-based government. “There was a sense at the Nunavut Implementation Commission that we were creating a big, new beautiful world,” one official tells the authors of Made in Nunavut.

Did it work? “More than one person interviewed used the word ‘mindless’ to describe some of the moves made to accommodate job targets,” authors write.

Then-Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau privately feared the severe 1981 recession would spell destruction of the Liberal Party, according to declassified records. Cabinet ministers were urged to combat public protests by planting pro-Liberal statements in the press: 'In the Prime Minister's view the mood of Liberal Party members which was developing across the country was potentially very destructive.'

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland yesterday said a record 56 percent increase in the debt ceiling is necessary, but would not detail what cabinet will do with the money. “We are being extremely transparent,” Freeland told the Commons finance committee.

The first audit of the costly Canada Emergency Recovery Benefit program will be complete by March 25, Auditor General Karen Hogan yesterday told the Commons public accounts committee. MPs have asked why the program went 240 percent over budget to eclipse spending on national defence: "It is actually meant to identify what is going on now."

RCMP receive more than a hundred calls a day from tipsters alleging clandestine activities by agents of the Communist Party of China. Commissioner Brenda Lucki yesterday told a Commons committee she could not divulge the nature of complaints: "We get an average 120 tips per day."

The feminist movement is “easily manipulated,” the federal cabinet concluded at a confidential 1981 meeting. Declassified records show ministers schemed to co-opt women’s groups to avert public criticism of cabinet: "There was a need for a well-planned counteroffensive to prevent the situation from snowballing."

Then-Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau gave his own cabinet scant minutes to hurriedly review the National Energy Program the very day it was introduced in Parliament, say declassified secret records obtained by Blacklock’s. Cabinet members complained they could not “get an adequate grasp of the details” of the landmark tax plan: "Ministers were generally surprised."