The Senate concealed hundreds of thousands of postcards mailed by Canadians opposed to a cabinet bill, the chair of the budget committee confirmed yesterday. Senator Tony Loffreda (Que.), a Liberal appointee, denied any trickery: "This decision was not made to silence anyone." READ MORE
A live microphone caught Prime Minister Mark Carney scolding a cabinet minister for acting stupidly. Carney attempted to laugh off the incident when questioned yesterday, then declined comment: "My answer is my answer, thank you." READ MORE
Organized crime is targeting the West Coast fishery, a former RCMP deputy commissioner has told the Senate fisheries committee. Senators were urged to press for mandatory disclosure of companies buying lucrative quotas in the crab fishery: "Organized crime is not a distant or hypothetical concern." READ MORE
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne says the Model T Ford was a start-up failure, proving success with cabinet’s electric vehicle policy will take time. A spokesperson later explained Champagne was tired and meant the Tesla Model S, not the bestselling Model T: "It was a misspeak." READ MORE
Liberal MP Steven Guilbeault (Laurier-Sainte-Marie, Que.) yesterday bid farewell to a half-empty House of Commons, confirming he will resign this summer. Guilbeault sat quietly as one Conservative MP faulted him for environmental policies that “caused so much hardship for so many families across this country.” READ MORE
Federal managers yesterday confirmed Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Buy Canadian policy benefits 100 percent foreign-owned corporations with storefront operations in Canada but couldn’t say if a company hiring temporary foreign workers would qualify. Carney announced the policy last September 5 on a promise to “build Canada strong.” READ MORE
A Bank of Canada executive yesterday blamed immigration in part for high youth unemployment rates. Nicolas Vincent, external Deputy Governor, said young jobseekers face difficulties not seen in a generation: "Their contribution to the rise in overall long-term unemployment exceeds what we saw during the recession in the early 1990s." READ MORE
I remember one oldtimer telling me, “You don’t have to be smart or know all the answers to work hard. You can compensate for a lot with hard work.” I never forgot that miner’s advice. On completing high school I landed my first industrial job as a hard-rock miner for Copperline Mines Ltd. in Parsons, B.C. My mother Angeline had raised us at our home in Trail. My father Vincent worked at the Cominco smelter. Dad didn’t want me working there. Sickness robbed him of a happy retirement. So, I worked.
