Blacklock's Reporter

In 2008 the navy deployed HMCS Ville de Québec to patrol for pirates off the Somalian coast. They didn’t find any. “Back on Ville de Québec I’m bored, too,” writes Jennifer Savidge, an intelligence officer aboard the frigate. 

Savidge spins the tale into 272 pages titled Hostile Seas: A Mission In Pirate Waters. The cover image is a stock photo of a ship in a moonlit bay.  There is water everywhere. Pirates, not so much.

“Unlike pirate lore…there is nothing fun or romantic about this enterprise,” writes Savidge, a naval reservist. Hostile Seas reads like the diary of a ten-week cruise.

Illegal immigrants who file a refugee claim in Canada today can expect a ruling by the Immigration and Refugee Board in July 2029, chair Manon Brassard yesterday told the Commons immigration committee. One MP blamed a Trudeau tweet for the unprecedented backlog: "Such large numbers were not expected."

Cabinet will not fix a deadline to enact a public registry of foreign agents though Parliament passed the measure into law 17 months ago, the Commons public safety committee learned yesterday. Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said he was “going through a process.”

Federal lawyers have run up more than $1.6 million worth of billable hours in Federal Court fighting disclosure of Access To Information records, figures show. Prime Minister Mark Carney had called disclosure “quite important.”

Another MP last night quit the Conservative caucus out of ‘desperate’ disappointment at Liberals’ re-election, he said. Matt Jeneroux resigned as MP for Edmonton Riverbend to spend more time at home, he wrote voters: "It is not an easy decision."

Appointment of Liberal MP Chrystia Freeland (University-Rosedale, Ont.) as Special Representative for the Reconstruction of Ukraine came with no office, no staff, no travel expenses or budget, records show. Freeland took the appointment with a $79,700 pay cut: "There will be no administrative support."

The Commissioner of Elections yesterday levied a $200 fine on Liberal MP Jaimie Battiste (Cape Breton-Canso, N.S.) for knowingly falsifying campaign expenses. A former Conservative MP was jailed for a similar offence in 2016: 'A mitigating factor was the personal circumstances in Jaimie Battiste’s life.'

Cabinet will again raise the national debt ceiling for the third time in four years. The Department of Finance in a budget notice said it would hike its borrowing limit by 20 percent to an unprecedented $2.54 trillion: "The current government is the most expensive in Canadian history."

A Crown bank, Farm Credit Canada of Regina, faces new federal scrutiny of its loan portfolio. Cabinet in a notice said it would review lending to Black, LGBTQ and women farmers, noting agriculture currently is “predominantly older white men.”

The lone Conservative MP in Nova Scotia defected to the Liberal caucus from fear of the voters, a former colleague said yesterday. MP Chris d’Entremont (Acadie-Annapolis) denied he was offered any patronage appointment to cross the floor: "I have been sort of re-looking at what my career is bringing."

The Commons yesterday by a 177 to 163 vote passed a cabinet bill granting citizenship to the grandchildren of Canadians abroad. It followed debate that saw MPs clash over Canadian identity: "Without national identity, integration is impossible and the collapse of our country is inevitable."

Cabinet is proceeding with a digital identification system for claimants of federal benefits including Employment Insurance and Old Age Security, says a budget note. The Department of Employment has repeatedly promised it will not be mandatory: 'Cohorts of society may already be somewhat distrustful of public institutions.'

Immigration Minister Lena Diab today is expected to table an updated Immigration Levels Plan proposing a 43 percent cut in new temporary permits on foreign students and migrant labour. Cabinet in its budget document depicted the current system as unmanageable: "We are taking back control over the immigration system."

Room and board for illegal immigrants is costing taxpayers $195 per day on average, a $29 saving from last year, new data show. The Department of Immigration gave no explanation for trimming costs on hotel rooms, meals, medical care and expenses: "Claimants are treated with compassion."

The only Conservative MP elected in Nova Scotia April 28 last night was challenged to test the voters after crossing the floor to join the Liberal caucus. The defection of MP Chris d’Entremont (Acadie-Annapolis) followed his failed bid to become Commons Speaker: "Run in a byelection. Let’s see what your community thinks."