Blacklock's Reporter

Blacklock’s pauses for the Victoria Day holiday with best wishes to subscribers and friends. We’re back tomorrow — The Editor.

Dundurn Press marks the twilight of an era with an intriguing project. They compiled commentaries from the nation’s most distinguished monarchists in what may be the last book of its kind in the era of Queen Elizabeth, 92. It’s a souvenir that documents deep public ambivalence. Canada in 2018 is one of only fifteen nations to retain the Queen as head of state. Others include Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

“The concept of the Queen of Canada or the Queen of New Zealand is an important legal and political reality,” writes contributor Sean Palmer. “However, beyond these constructions the public understanding of the Crown in each realm is not necessarily robust.”

Federal in-house research shows Canadians are wary of any free trade agreement with China. Cabinet has been attempting to negotiate a pact with the People’s Republic since 2016: "I distrust China."

The Canadian Transportation Agency has denied general compensation to unhappy Air Canada travelers including an 89-year old woman left without a wheelchair, and a young family denied boarding amid confusion over travel visas. Cabinet has promised enactment of a passenger rights’ bill with statutory damages by year’s end: "It's frustrating."

Invasive insects may spell an end to ash trees in whole regions of Canada, caution University of Waterloo researchers. Damage from the emerald ash borer first detected in Windsor, Ont. in 2002 is estimated in the billions: "It’s sort of like a slow-moving catastrophe."

The Department of Public Works will not say if Canada’s largest engineering firm will be struck from its bidders’ lists after a former executive yesterday was charged with arranging illegal political contributions. Under a 2015 policy, federal contractors convicted of wrongdoing can be blacklisted.

A federal consumer watchdog says it has lesser powers than provincial regulators to protect Canadians from unfair treatment by banks. The review by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada was prompted by 2016 Senate protests that the Agency is weak: 'They essentially admit it’s something of a toothless tiger.'

The Privy Council has asked federal managers to sign an oath that they will pay students hired for government work. The pledge obtained through Access To Information followed complaints from two-thirds of students hired last year: "We will hold ourselves accountable."

Cabinet yesterday introduced long-promised regulations to counter dumped goods like China-made steel. Amendments to the Special Import Measures Regulations followed two years of review: "We'd like to see them go further."

Canada’s newly-appointed ethics commissioner in one of his first acts in office hired an artistic director to devise a new look for the agency, according to records.  Commissioner Mario Dion said he is also experimenting with video production: "It's fashionable."

In what may be the last sentence of its kind in Canada, a bookkeeper has been jailed 45 days for selling marijuana. Senators are to vote on whether to legalize cannabis in two weeks' time. “Courts should not condone defiance of the law even if a change in that law seems imminent,” wrote a judge in Kitchener, Ont.: "He got burned."

Canada’s consul general in Los Angeles yesterday declined to speak to Canadian media after contacting a U.S. newspaper to complain about a YouTube video. The consulate explained all contact with Canadian journalists must be screened by the Department of Foreign Affairs: “The marching orders are really strict.”

One of Canada’s most acclaimed independent publishing houses has told MPs its copyright royalties dropped 80 percent with free photocopying under federal law. Publishers and authors appealed to the Commons industry committee to tighten regulations that allow mass copying of works in the name of research: "For every cent we get, the author gets a cent."

Regulations are costing Canadian homebuyers an average of more than $100,000 over the actual cost of construction, say analysts. The C.D. Howe Institute yesterday said costs of restrictive zoning and development charges artificially raised prices in eight cities surveyed nationwide: "There is clearly some market dysfunction."

The Federal Court of Appeal has dismissed a British Columbia woman’s claim for First Nations tax-exempt status on millions in income. The Canada Revenue Agency complained of “improper manipulation” of tax laws in the case: "It is abusive of the exemption."