Blacklock's Reporter

Professor Gene Allen has compiled a history of The Canadian Press from a corporate secretary’s perspective. I didn’t think that was possible. Writing about a newsroom without the people is like writing about the circus without the big top.

Making National News covers ground already ploughed in The Story Of The Canadian Press, a 1948 account by former CP president Mark Nichols of the Winnipeg Tribune. Neither is compelling.

The story of any organization – a newsroom, a box factory, a daycare centre – is the story of humans. Allen, a professor of journalism, appears to miss the point. The result is predictably lifeless. An example is his story of Jack Best.

The Canadian Coast Guard has orders to avoid all military conflict though it’s now under military supervision, a senior officer yesterday told MPs. “If there were anything, we leave,” testified Deputy Commissioner Marc Mes.

Free speech advocates yesterday urged the Commons public safety committee to rewrite a cybersecurity bill. The measure would allow the industry minister to block any individual’s internet access by secret order: "That's dangerous."

An updated Immigration Levels Plan due to be tabled in Parliament today will instead be delayed until budget day, Immigration Minister Lena Diab yesterday told MPs. It is the first plan to be tabled since the Prime Minister said the system was broken: "There are limits."

Chief of Defence Staff General Jennie Carignan yesterday apologized for racism in the army, navy and air force. “We failed,” she said.

The nation's Arab population numbers nearly 800,000 with the majority foreign born, Statistics Canada said yesterday. Montréal was home to the largest Arab community: "Over one quarter of Arabs in Canada, 27 percent, were children."

The Public Sector Integrity Commissioner says she needs triple the number of staff lawyers to handle growing complaints of wrongdoing by federal managers. A “surge of submissions” left a backlog of hundreds of whistleblower complaints alleging misconduct and corrupt practices: "Cases are being delayed."

Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem yesterday reversed a year’s worth of forecasts in acknowledging a recession is possible and may already be underway. His comments followed a Monetary Policy Report that warned Canadians should anticipate a lower standard of living: "Our standard of living as a country, as Canadians, is going to be lower."

A Liberal-appointed Senator last March attended meetings in China that “stressed the need to view each other as partners, not rivals,” according to a report tabled yesterday in the Senate. It came only days before Prime Minister Mark Carney called China the biggest threat to national security: "China, you say?"

A proposed federal ban on public display of the swastika is needless over-reach, says the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. The group in a submission to the Commons justice committee said the proposal “significantly expands criminal law.”

Liberal MP Stephanie McLean (Esquimalt-Saanich, B.C.), secretary of state for seniors, yesterday was cited by the Commons Speaker for sloganeering by lapel button. House rules forbid “props of any kind.”

The Commons yesterday by a 170 to 164 vote ordered month-long hearings into Prime Minister Mark Carney’s stock dealings. Carney was traveling abroad and missed the vote: "The Prime Minister continues to be aware of how he can benefit from the decisions he takes."

Postal employees yesterday urged MPs to permit public consultations on major cuts to mail service. Cuts announced by cabinet were historic and far-reaching, union executives told the Commons government operations committee: "Let Canadians decide."

Protection from anti-Semites is costing one of Canada’s largest Orthodox synagogues a million a year, says a submission to the Senate human rights committee. “We could fund a school with that,” said Congregation Schara Tzedek of Vancouver, largest Orthodox synagogue in the West.

Auditor General Karen Hogan is invoking official secrecy in refusing to release questions drafted by her office to test the accuracy of Canada Revenue Agency call centres. The Agency disputed Hogan’s findings. Hogan’s predecessor published the text of a sample questions in an identical audit eight years ago: "Did anything surprise me?"