We are grateful this holiday to friends and subscribers as Blacklock's embarks on a 14th great year of independent, all-original Canadian journalism. On behalf of contributors, please accept our thanks. We're back tomorrow -- The Editor.
Poet Jeff Blackman writes: “It’s been so long since the opposition hounded you, ‘What’s a million? What’s a million?’ Clarence. The amateur partisans with their seasonal pragmatism actually believe your big picture, cost-benefit Karma…”
In spring 1999 a paramilitary group called the Scorpions descended on Podujevo, Kosovo, a mid-sized city the size of Medicine Hat. Albanians were rounded up. It was a cold morning, and one small boy named Shpetim, age 9, jammed his hands in his pockets to keep warm. The gesture seemed to irritate the gunmen.
They ordered Shpetim to empty his pockets, and out tumbled the boy’s collection of marbles – plunk, plunk, plunk. The boy’s mother, unsure of what to do, bent down and tried to gather them up as they scattered, writes Eliott Behar. Later they shot Shpetim in the head.
Behar is a former Ontario Crown prosecutor who recounts his two years’ work as a war crimes attorney at The Hague. Behar was raised in Toronto, the son of an architect. His family numbered Holocaust survivors. He is a skillful writer with a police reporter’s eye for detail.
Canadians must be ambitious if cabinet is to meet its climate targets, Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin said yesterday. Her remarks followed testimony by the Commissioner of the Environment that Canada has the worst climate record of any G7 country: 'We are a poor performer.'
There was “no money to be made” in collecting tuition from tens of thousands of foreign students, the president of Conestoga College of Kitchener, Ont., yesterday told the Commons immigration committee. MPs scoffed at John Tibbits' testimony, noting Conestoga was the nation’s heaviest user of the foreign study permit system: "Do you deserve your $640,000 salary?"
Public Works Minister Joel Lightbound in his first meeting with Canada Post’s largest union since the launch of a national strike said service cuts “would stand.” The Canadian Union of Postal Workers distributed minutes of the hour-long meeting in a newsletter to members: "The Minister and his staff appeared to be interested in what we had to say."
Canada’s chief bank inspector yesterday warned lenders to brace for “unexpected economic outcomes” amid the unresolved tariff war. Superintendent of Financial Institutions Peter Routledge said his office will increase monitoring of bank loans: "The lack of clarity on tariffs is generating unease."
Liquor, beer and wine would see mandatory health warnings under a private bill yesterday taken up by the Senate social affairs committee. Senator Patrick Brazeau (Que.), a recovering alcoholic and sponsor of the bill, told legislators to prepare for intense lobbying by industry: "Personally, it led me down a very, very, very dark path."
Cabinet is far short of its target to build electric auto charging stations despite more than a billion in subsidies, says a federal audit. The report warned even if successful there was “no evidence” that financing a national network at taxpayers’ expense would lower emissions: 'Government involvement is necessary to address market failure.'
Canadians must be “very, very careful” that ruthless governments do not steal their rights, Attorney General Sean Fraser yesterday told reporters. Fraser complained provinces’ lawful use of the Charter Of Rights' notwithstanding clause could spell “our future downfall as a nation.”
Cabinet yesterday introduced a bill granting itself new powers to suspend or cancel temporary permits for foreigners let into Canada. It follows figures from Immigration Minister Lena Diab’s department that 3,049,277 foreigners are here on valid or expired permits: "We have rules in this country and we expect people to follow those rules."
Federal regulators should let the real estate market “clear out people who can’t afford what they bought,” a Liberal Senate appointee said yesterday. Senator Daryl Fridhandler (Alta.), a corporate lawyer, questioned government intervention: "Allow basic economics to take their course."
Wayne Easter, retired nine-term Liberal MP (Malpeque, P.E.I.), yesterday requested a judicial inquiry into alleged corruption in his home province. Easter said Prince Edward Islanders were alarmed by suspicious dealings pointing to Chinese subterfuge: "You need a federal public inquiry that can subpoena witnesses, trace bank accounts."
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s candidate to oversee defence contracting is now cabinet's highest paid appointee, figures show. The $679,100-a year salary award for Toronto banker Douglas Guzman, a former associate of Carney’s, is twice the finance minister’s pay: "I am proud to have the opportunity to serve Canada."
Liberal MP Stephanie McLean (Esquimalt-Saanich, B.C.), secretary of state for seniors, yesterday would not say how many cabinet meetings she’s attended since her appointment last May 13. Secretary McLean under questioning from Senator Denise Batters (Sask.) also declined comment on her salary, office budget, core duties or whether she was assigned a car and chauffeur: "I am pleased to have received an invite."
