CBC managers will not tell the Budget Office how they plan to spend an extra $150 million added to their 2026 budget, records show. The additional funding raises the Crown broadcaster’s annual parliamentary grant to a record $1.6 billion this year: "Abuse of taxpayer dollars when Canadians are struggling for financial survival has contributed to the ‘defund the CBC’ movement." READ MORE
Vaping by young adults threatens to undermine a longstanding federal campaign to cut smoking rates to five percent of the population by 2035, says a Department of Health report. Researchers noted legalization of marijuana also had consequences: "Cannabis consumption begins as early as 13 or 14." READ MORE
Record-high natural gas stocks of more than a trillion cubic feet helped overcame the cold winter, federal regulators said yesterday. Homeowners and industry “relied heavily” on fuel in storage, said the Canada Energy Regulator: "To meet demand, central and eastern Canada relied heavily on withdrawing gas from storage." READ MORE
Canadians with drug convictions are not barred from becoming federally licensed marijuana dealers, says the Department of Health. Regulators would not say how many of the nation’s commercially licensed growers, processors and retailers have criminal records: 'The framework does not automatically disqualify individuals with past cannabis or drug-related convictions.' READ MORE
Federal managers sought to copy a Liberal Party website in promoting a housing program, Access To Information records show. Opposition MPs have complained numerous federal departments are in breach of a directive stating taxpayer-funded advertising must be free of partisan references: "It is clear the shape of the house comes directly from the Liberal video ‘Building Canada Strong.'" READ MORE
Canada Post yesterday said $673 million in credits voted by cabinet March 30 represented a rollover of lapsed loan funding for a total $2.04 billion to date, not $2.72 billion as reported. The correction came as the Budget Office questioned the scope of service cuts including rural post office closures: 'We continue to build a modern postal service that meets evolving needs without burdening taxpayers.' READ MORE
Retired Supreme Court of Canada judge Jack Major, 95, yesterday said the country had entered an era of “judicial supremacy and court overreach.” Major’s comment came in the forward to an essay critical of the current Supreme Court by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, an Ottawa think tank: "The trend of court overreach is regrettable." READ MORE
He could be brutal, but he could be smooth. What a man. He would lace into you if he didn’t agree with you completely, but if he knew there was a little thread of an idea there, then he would join it with his threads. This is the guy with a fantastic brain. He’d put ideas together and it would be beautiful. He loved to play bridge to relax. Once a month he played with friends and kept the scores in his head. Brilliant, oh, he was brilliant. I loved him, and he loved me. That’s Arthur Meighen.
