751 unmarked graves Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up here to get it delivered weekday mornings. Canadian news was dominated Thursday by the discovery of 751 unmarked graves near a former residential school at Cowessess First Nation, in Saskatchewan. The horrible story also made news around the world. It was a difficult day. “We are treating this like a crime scene at the moment,” said Chief Cadmus Delorme. “We are seeing the results of the genocide that Canada committed—genocide on our treaty land,” said Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations Chief Bobby Cameron, who called the graves evidence of “a crime against humanity, an assault on First Nation people.” Canadian politicians offered condolences and some communities announced plans to cancel or change Canada Day plans because of the grim news, CBC reports. Cap-Pelé, in New Brunswick, is planning to raise the Mi'kmaq Grand Council flag and have a moment of silence in honour of the victims of residential schools. The CBC reports: Roger Augustine, the Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief, said the gesture of raising the Mi'kmaq Grand Council flag is "powerful." "I'm sensing that Cap-Pelé pretty well decided as a community this is what they're going to do, and that support is heartwarming and I really appreciate what they're doing," he said. Others said Canada Day festivities should go ahead. Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett had to issue a humiliating apology after sending a nasty text to former cabinet colleague Jody Wilson Raybould, CTV reports. A Mississauga priest apologized after lamenting in a sermon that Canadians weren't thanking "the church for the good that was done in those schools." Chief Delorme called on the Pope to apologize for the Roman Catholic Church's role in the schools, which he has never done. The Regina archbishop said a delegation of “Indigenous leaders and survivors and elders, knowledge keepers and youth will go to meet with Pope Francis before the end of the year.” In the Leader-Post, Murray Mandryk writes that it was a day of reckoning for everyone. Iran to blame: A Canadian report into the shooting down of Ukraine International Airlines flight 752 blames the disaster on Iranian authorities but does not accuse Iran of intentionally shooting down the plane, which caused the deaths of 176 people, including 55 Canadian citizens. The Globe reports: The report found that the errors and failings of Iranian officials combined to create conditions where an Iranian “surface-to-air (SAM) unit operator likely misidentified” Flight PS752 as a hostile target. “A series of acts and omissions by Iranian civil and military authorities caused a dangerous situation where previously identified risks were underestimated and not taken seriously,” it said. Experts unimpressed: Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has lost all credibility in the fight against military sexual misconduct, experts told the Canadian Press. Sajjan has struggled to cope with revelations of misconduct by senior officers. The most recent development was the revelation that one of his military assistants was ordered suspended from the Vancouver police three years ago for an inappropriate relationship. Sajjan's office pointed out he didn't hire the assistant. Carleton professor Stephen Saideman said that fits a pattern: “The way he's responded to it has been typical: Everything that's happened under his watch is not his fault.” The Conservatives have called for him to be fired but the Liberals have rallied around him. Propagandizing at home: Military commanders now admit they violated federal rules and acted without authority when they ordered intelligence teams to collect information on the public, reports David Pugliese in the Ottawa Citizen. Information was culled from social media accounts of members of the public in Ontario and data was compiled on peaceful Black Lives Matter gatherings. Military commanders also proceeded with a plan to use propaganda techniques employed during the Afghanistan war, claiming that was needed to head off civil disobedience by Canadians during the coronavirus pandemic.“ Errors conducted during domestic operations and training, and sometimes insular mindsets at various echelons, have eroded public confidence in the institution,” noted a June 9 document signed by acting Chief of the Defence Staff Lt.-Gen. Wayne Eyre and Deputy Minister Jody Thomas. Ousted MLA: CBC reports that Nova Scotia PC Leader Tim Houston ejected MLA Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin from his party after she called on protesters to shut down the province's border crossing with New Brunswick, which they did, until the Mounties managed to re-open it. Smith-McCrossin’s role in the Highway 104 blockade crossed a party line that convinced the Progressive Conservatives to unceremoniously remove her from caucus Thursday. “The more details that I learned about how the blockade transpired, what happened at the blockade, the more I learned from Elizabeth about her involvement, the more obvious it became that it is not anything that I support, it is not anything that the PC caucus supports,” Houston said in a noon-hour Zoom news conference Thursday. Building back like the Americans and Brits: The Liberals selected their economic recovery slogan after polling showed that Canadians disliked the phrase "green new deal," reports the Ottawa Citizen, based on a report from Blacklock’s Reporter. The research, done by The Strategic Council, asked participants which phrase described “what the goals of Canada’s economic recovery could be and (were) asked to discuss the one that best summarized their preferred approach” The winner, eventually, was “build back better,” a phrase already in vogue in the United States and the United Kingdom. — Stephen Maher Correction: A line in Wednesday's newsletter suggested Yukon was facing a new wave of Delta COVID-19 cases. In fact, the prevalent strain there is the Gamma variant. | 