Bracing For A 40% Price Hike

Steel and aluminum prices are expected to jump up to 40 percent under new tariffs invoked yesterday by U.S. President Donald Trump. Similar tariffs in 2018 were blamed for “killing Canadian businesses," the Commons industry committee was told at the time: "These reckless tariffs threaten tens of thousands of good-paying jobs." READ MORE

Offered Marouf A Settlement

Federal lawyers offered a low cash settlement to anti-Semite Laith Marouf over thousands he owed taxpayers as a Department of Canadian Heritage consultant, according to an internal memo. Marouf, a Montréal activist who once fantasized on Twitter about shooting Jews, left for Beirut after pocketing $122,661 to fund a national series of lectures on tolerance: "It was estimated that settling at this time would recover around $40,000." READ MORE

Promises Arctic Naval Base

Any future Conservative cabinet will build an army, navy and air base in Nunavut complete with icebreakers and fighter jets, Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre said yesterday. Canada must “stand on our own two feet,” he said: "Canadians will decide." READ MORE

Forecast A P.E.I. Archipelago

The Department of Environment in an internal 1987 report predicted climate change would turn Prince Edward Island into a “cluster of four islands” and cut Canada’s hydroelectric output. The report was released yesterday under a federal program to digitize thousands of archived reports dating over a century: "The direction of the impact, whether it was a gain or a loss, was considered easier to predict than the magnitude." READ MORE

Upset On Gaza: “We Failed”

Canada failed Gazan refugees by refusing to let more into the country, Liberal Party leadership contender Frank Baylis said yesterday. The former MP (Pierrefonds-Dollard, Que.) and federal contractor said taxpayers should make it up by rebuilding Palestinian homes: "It's a form of discrimination we have done against the Palestinian people." READ MORE

Hire Lobbyist At US$85K/mo

A federal agency is paying a Washington lobbyist US$85,000 a month to manage “outreach to government officials," records show. The confidential contract signed last Wednesday followed Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly’s claim she had deep influence with the White House: 'All discussions will be kept confidential.' READ MORE

Miller Polling On National ID

Immigration Minister Marc Miller’s department in confidential surveys is asking people if they’d accept the first-ever introduction of mandatory identification papers such as a passport for use within Canada. MPs have repeatedly opposed any national ID system as intrusive and costly: "Identification cards allow us to be identified when we have every right to remain anonymous." READ MORE

Guest Commentary

Kelvin Ogilvie

School Days

I survived high school. I was small for my grade and subject to a schoolyard environment that today we’d call bullying. I accepted that as my responsibility and quickly learned how to avoid the worst kids. Today administrators might label a kid like me as ADD, Attention Deficit Disorder. I wasn’t evil, but if the teacher wasn’t looking I’d snap erasers around the room. I needed challenges to expend my energy. Of course, small-town kids have more opportunities today than we had in the 1950s. I know many people of high character who’ve come from small towns and enjoyed success in life.