Blacklock's Reporter

In 1955 a round-trip flight from Toronto to Rome was a staggering $677, the modern equivalent of $6,100. It was the cost of a full order of household appliances or a good used car – not that it mattered. Most Canadians went their entire working lives without ever stepping on an airplane for a holiday. Not till 1944 did any province even mandate two weeks’ annual holiday pay for wage earners. A simple vacation was luxury, let alone travel abroad.

“Don’t you get tired of just reading about things?” the frustrated traveler George Bailey is asked in It’s A Wonderful Life. Bailey, like the film audience, accepted he could never get away. So, they dreamed. The phenomenon inspires this compelling book documenting the aspirations of the “middlebrow,” a pejorative first coined in 1924.

Cabinet’s nominee to manage a registry of foreign agents yesterday promised quick results. Anton Boegman, former Chief Electoral Officer for British Columbia, told the House affairs committee he saw no excuse for further delays: "It is essential to start enforcing the rules promptly."

Construction of regional high speed rail is a $90 billion catastrophe for taxpayers, says an MP whose constituency is on the route. Conservative MP Scott Reid (Lanark-Frontenac, Ont.) yesterday warned of "ruined lives" and wasted billions as the Commons passed the High Speed Rail Network Act: 'Why on earth should people in British Columbia, Alberta or Newfoundland pay for this?'

Analysis of millions of credit reports shows heavy use of credit cards is a two-year “early warning signal” of mortgage defaults, Bank of Canada researchers said yesterday. Findings were drawn from nine years’ worth of TransUnion Canada data: "Monitoring early signs of financial stress among mortgage borrowers is crucial."

Subsidies for private sector newsrooms cost taxpayers $170 million last year, the Department of Finance reported yesterday. Publishers successfully lobbied for taxpayers’ aid seven years ago on a promise that subsidies would be transitional and temporary: "There does need to be a deadline."

Cabinet is looking for a third Budget Officer in six months. Interim Officer Jason Jacques yesterday said he had no word on reappointment with four days remaining in his term: "Things were partisan 20 years ago; they are certainly more partisan now."

Fraud in Canada’s refugee system is difficult to gauge but may be significant, says Immigration Minister Lena Diab’s department. A “meaningful proportion of claims” from illegal immigrants and other refugee claimants are ineligible, it said: "Indicators provide a broader picture of integrity pressures."

The Commons yesterday by a 198 to 134 vote rejected a Conservative motion to suspend free medical benefits for illegal immigrants. The vote followed pointed debate: "It is disgusting."

Seizures of fentanyl chemicals by Customs agents under Canada's new "fentanyl czar" are a fraction of what they were three years ago, records show. Kevin Brosseau, the $286,000-a year Commissioner of Canada’s Fight Against Fentanyl, confirmed the figures after claiming “significant progress” since his appointment: "What’s your record?"

The Department of Public Safety never undertook any security review of the subsidized purchase of Chinese vessels because rules don’t permit it, Minister Gary Anandasangaree said yesterday. “We had no authority to undertake that review,” he told the Commons transport committee.

Cabinet yesterday gave Cuba an advance on $8 million in yearly foreign aid before the April 1 start of the budget year. Emergency shipments of Canadian petroleum products to ease fuel shortages were not considered, Foreign Minister Anita Anand told reporters: "Why aren’t you sending fuel?"

MPs yesterday said they doubted whether taxpayers will ever see repayment of billions in emergency loans for the post office. Cabinet in 13 months awarded a total $2.04 billion in credits to maintain mail deliveries: "Taxpayers are not going to see that money."

A cabinet proposal for regional high speed rail is “sexy” but expensive, the CEO of the Crown corporation responsible for the venture yesterday testified. Martin Imbleau acknowledged taxpayers were “suspicious and skeptical.”

The fisheries department yesterday said it’s assessing whether to raise a proposed $10 fee on boaters to finance national clean-up of abandoned and wrecked vessels. Enforcement by 2028 is “likely,” it said.

Former prime minister Brian Mulroney personally petitioned the Liberal cabinet to approve full combat benefits for Canadian veterans of the Persian Gulf War, newly-disclosed Access To Information records show. Cabinet dismissed the appeal: "They must not now be forgotten."