Blacklock's Reporter

Unravelling Encounters peels the vinyl siding off Middle Canada. It is a riveting account of suburban smugness. I challenge any book club to read and discuss it. I don’t think they have the guts.

Authors recount our affluent nation’s “imaginary past”. They interview one social worker who describes the 1960s as magic – the word is actually used, “magic” – “The music, and growing your hair, and bucking authority, and going against the establishment,” she says: “We really pushed the boundaries.”

By comparison interviewees curse the present as a bleak era of mean-spirited program cuts. “As I listened to social workers talk about recent changes to their work, my attention was drawn to the recurring presence of highly nostalgic memories about the past, especially on the part of research participants who identified as white and female,” writes co-editor Kristin Smith, associate professor of social work at Ryerson University.

The cash-strapped Canada Border Services Agency was reduced to YouTube videos and Twitter as “outreach” following budget cuts, records show. Files released through Access To Information also confirmed cutbacks were to blame for long delays in adopting electronic truck cargo checks 12 years after the U.S.: "The clerks have already left".

Attorneys for Telus have lost a six-figure court ruling that forces the telecom company to collect GST on customers’ calls in the U.S. The company had argued wireless roaming airtime services were exempt from the federal sales tax since they were routed through American cell towers: "Common sense is my starting point".

The Supreme Court is agreeing to hear a landmark appeal of a tax assessment by a company that complained of “hijacking” by city assessors. An Alberta mall claimed it was threatened with a 44 percent increase if it appealed an original assessment from the City of Edmonton: "It's an interesting case".

Canada once more is rated poorly in an international study on innovation. A Conference Board report ranked Canada 9th out of 16 countries, only a slight improvement from previous years: "Businesses are not doing as well as they could".

A federal department is buying Made In Canada flags in an apparent change of policy. The immigration department would not comment on its requirement that only Canadian suppliers may bid to supply a million souvenir flags for swearing-in ceremonies: 'A flag is a keepsake of citizenship'.

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by a taxpayer denied retroactive Canada Pension Plan benefits. The judgment follows disclosures that more than a quarter-million eligible Canadians have not claimed payments they’re entitled to receive: "How fair is that?"

A legal challenge of $900 million federal cuts to sick leave provisions for employees will not be heard in court before the October 19 election. The federal lawsuit by a coalition of unions is scheduled for hearings ten days after the vote: "We are doing everything we can".

In a case dubbed a “wake-up call” for business, Porter Airlines Inc. has paid a $150,000 fine for violating federal anti-spam rules. The company also agreed to submit annual reports to regulators detailing its compliance with rules that restrict sending unsolicited emails: "Porter admitted it did not have proof of consent".

Loan payments and interest last year cost Canadian households the equivalent of more than triple the national defence budget, new data show. Statistics Canada calculated interest payments owed on credit cards, installment loans and other non-mortgage debt totaled $38.3 billion, with another $60 billion paid on principal: "What happens when there is no paycheque?"

Most young Canadians have never heard of a national consumers’ Wireless Code and few are aware of a federal agency mandated to take public complaints, says CRTC research. The Code was introduced in 2013 on a promise of improved service: "The CRTC needed reliable data".

A grounded Canadian-based airline SkyGreece is pleading for time from federal regulators amid demands it immediately compensate stranded passengers. More than a thousand travellers were left without flights when the Montréal-staffed carrier halted operations last month: 'It blatantly violated the rights of passengers'.

The federal Public Health Agency is spending nearly a million dollars on research to determine the spread of mosquito-borne West Nile Virus and other diseases in wildlife populations. The sweep follows a warning of increased risks due to climate change: "The purpose here is to find the clues in nature".

Canada Post is refusing to disclose how many complaints it’s received over a national program to abolish home mail delivery. The number of complaints is “commercially sensitive” and deemed confidential, the Crown agency said: "Customers are freaking out!"

A majority of Health Canada employees who seek counselling say workplace conflict and other stress affects their ability to function. And 1 in 5 said they missed at least four days of work in the past month due to emotional problems: "I often found myself thinking about work at home".