Feds Polled Home Equity Tax

Cabinet quietly polled Canadians on a home equity tax even after promising it would not introduce the measure, records disclose. Cabinet aides commissioned focus groups on the question as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended an invitation-only meeting with home equity tax advocates in Vancouver last June: "We can all learn from each other." READ MORE

MP Silent On 2015 Complaint

Government House Leader Karina Gould yesterday would not disclose records regarding a human rights case in which she complained of an inability to get along with co-workers. Gould is contemplating a bid to become Prime Minister: 'She describes a series of incidents in which she believes she was treated unfairly.' READ MORE

Electric Car Mandate Is Kaput

Automakers and dealers alike yesterday said Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault’s electric car mandate is finished. Forecasts of ever-increasing sales are “a complete fantasy” after cabinet pulled $5,000 rebates for new buyers, said industry executives: 'It is a made-in-Canada policy failure.' READ MORE

‘My Hands Are Soiled’: Adler

Senator Charles Adler (Man.) in a podcast interview said he is in disbelief “my hands would be soiled” with race hatred for First Nations. Adler, near tears with his voice breaking, said he was resigned to being known as a radio host who called Indigenous Manitobans lazy boneheads: "I am ashamed of myself." READ MORE

Mask Mandate Ends In Court

Complaints that maskless workplaces pose a danger to employees’ health are frivolous, a federal judge has ruled. The decision marked the final chapter in pandemic mandates that forced millions to wear masks in public: "It is unreasonable." READ MORE

Files Hidden To Protect Nazis

Federal archivists in an Access To Information memo say they are concealing more than a million pages of records on Nazi collaborators in Canada to protect “individuals determined to be innocent” of actual war crimes. Cabinet had promised German researchers in 2009 that all Holocaust-related files would be released: "People want answers." READ MORE

Gov’t Contracting Fails Again

Public Works Minister Jean-Yves Duclos’ department yesterday was faulted for unprofessional treatment of dozens of contractors. Criticism by the Procurement Ombudsman followed Duclos’ assurance to MPs that his department was “doing really, really good.” READ MORE

Guest Commentary

Stephen & Donna Forrester

Birthplace of the Internet

If you bought the house you got a computer, plus the ability to connect with your neighbours. It was a selling point, like a bonus. The computer was very exciting. It had a “cool” factor. We volunteered right away. You would go to work and tell people you’re part of a “wired community,” and they would ask: What’s that? It was a great conversation piece. Later the emails started coming. Someone’s cat went missing, lost cat, the name of the cat. Then people started sharing complaints about the builder, the deficiencies, problems with the house: Did you get this? Did they fix that? It was like an early version of Twitter.