Blacklock's Reporter

Governor General Mary Simon’s office asked federally regulated corporations for money to build a $4 million Rideau Hall ice pavilion, records show. Donors were offered invitations to her official residence, a commemorative photo with Simon and a personal thank-you letter autographed by the Governor General’s husband, former CBC journalist Whit Fraser: "Recognition of philanthropic donations has to be meaningful and appropriate to avoid perceptions of conflict of interest."

It is difficult to guarantee the safety of Jews in Canada given public disorder, the CEO of the taxpayer-funded Canadian Race Relations Foundation said yesterday. Repeated attacks on Jewish institutions including schools were obviously intended to send a message, he said: "No one knows what the future is going to hold."

The Mounties misspent millions on China-made drones that are now compromised as “high security risks,” says an internal report. Replacing the Chinese fleet would cost taxpayers another $34 million, it said: "The current replacement model is more than twice the cost of Chinese drones."

The RCMP yesterday said they were unaware of any progress made in meeting a 2021 Liberal Party promise to create a Canadian Financial Crimes Agency. “We’re not sure exactly,” Chief Superintendent Michael Saghbini told the Commons finance committee.

House administration yesterday had no comment on newly-released accounts showing Liberal MP Greg Fergus (Hull-Aylmer, Que.) in his last year as Speaker spent nearly $300,000 on world travel including spring break in Jamaica. The junkets followed a cabinet pledge to cut unnecessary travel: "I learned the ropes of the job."

Governor General Mary Simon budgeted millions to install an open-air skating pavilion at Rideau Hall complete with artificial ice and decorative roof to “protect it from climate change,” according to Access To Information documents. Staff did not disclose the actual cost: "It would be a fully integrated permanent structure with pipes enclosed in concrete."

MPs have taken another step to compel Prime Minister Mark Carney to sell millions in stock holdings. The Commons ethics committee on Friday asked that Parliament rewrite the Conflict Of Interest Act to eliminate what Conservatives have dubbed a “Carney loophole.”

Housing Minister Gregor Robertson’s department spent more than $97,000 to send managers to a two-day conference on homelessness for “inspiration,” Access To Information records show. Charges included $33,600 for hotels and $8,857 on restaurant meals: 'It arms policymakers with inspiration.'

The Canadian Labour Congress president in a Commons petition accuses Labour Minister Patty Hajdu of misusing cabinet powers to “end a strike by simply sending an email.” The Congress seeks repeal of a federal law used by cabinet to quash eight legal strikes in the past 15 months: 'It gives sweeping, undemocratic powers to the Minister.'

An innocuous Senate bill to celebrate the history of immigration is actually intended to counter “xenophobic rhetoric,” say Liberal-appointed senators. Even the proposed timing of the bill was designed for lobbying purposes, the Senate social affairs committee was told: “Clearly the government is not doing it."

Poet Shai Ben-Shalom writes: “Canadian politicians love the train. They either take Business Class for added room and comfort, or publicly denounce VIA executives…”

In 1895 when the Queen knighted Prime Minister Mackenzie Bowell, once a printer’s apprentice, newspapermen composed a ditty: “When I was a boy I served my term as a junior imp in a printing firm; I washed the windows and scrubbed the floor and daubed the ink on the office door. I did the work so well, d’ye see
that now I’m premier and a KCMG.” Bowell quit school from Grade Four to scrub the floors at the Belleville Intelligencer and wound up owning the company. He was a drudge whose only escape was immersion in drudgery, clocking fifteen-hour days. Years later, when Bowell achieved fortune and fame, he kept a parrot trained to croak, “Wake-up.”

Prime Minister Mark Carney last night avoided questions amid the quick collapse of a much-touted plan to expand Alberta oil exports. Carney’s Québec lieutenant Steven Guilbeault abruptly quit cabinet as critics denounced the proposal as both reckless and ineffectual: "Stop wasting everyone’s time with this political posturing."

A federal dental care plan has gone 50 percent over budget. The Department of Health acknowledged it underestimated the volume of claims now expected to top $4 billion this year: "All this is new."

Canada Post seeks another line of credit from cabinet to cover ongoing losses, Conservative MP Jeremy Patzer (Swift Current-Grasslands, Sask.) yesterday told the Commons government operations committee. “Keep your eyes open,” said Patzer, who did not disclose the source of his information.