The Privy Council in an Access To Information memo proposed a legal requirement that the CBC broadcast government messaging in a “national crisis.” Cabinet aides complained they had to buy advertising during the pandemic: "There could be new possibilities to create partnerships to respond to future crises." READ MORE
The Privy Council secretly polled Canadians on pandemic vaccination tactics, Access To Information records show. Researchers tested options from paying Canadians to take a Covid shot to punishing the unvaccinated by denying them access to "certain activities." READ MORE
A month-long Conservative committee filibuster of cabinet’s budget bill has spilled into the House of Commons. MPs on Friday voided a whole day’s worth of debate on Bill C-47 as cabinet fumed: "It was actually a point of order on the process for raising points of order during points of order." READ MORE
Jobseekers polled by the Department of National Defence rate a new recruitment campaign as too technical and “a bit desperate.” Researchers said the air force, navy and army face a "highly competitive job market." READ MORE
A bill for independent oversight of the Canada Border Services Agency will not address “problematic behaviour” by management, employees have told the Commons public safety committee. The Agency is the only police force of its size in Canada without a civilian oversight board: "Make real change." READ MORE
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom writes: "My friend who works as a server at a banquet hall tells me about their training. We are expected to work in the background, she says, allow patrons to focus on their business..." READ MORE
In 2001 Veterans Affairs Canada added 23 names to the nation’s First World War Book Of Remembrance preserved in the Peace Tower. The 23 were shot for cowardice and desertion. Ron Duhamel, then-veterans affairs minister, told the Commons: “People may lose control of their emotions, have a breakdown for reasons over which they have little control,” he said. “I wish to express my deep sorrow at their loss of life”. But what if this is all wrong? What if the image of the frail and cowering soldier executed by sadistic military brass is a First War set piece that owes more to filmography than fact? Historian Teresa Iacobelli challenges readers to review the evidence in Death or Deliverance, as fascinating a case as ever went to the jury. Iacobelli asserts that not only were military executions extremely rare, but that Canadians’ view of the incidents – including Veterans Affairs’ 2001 observance – is skewed by a Hollywood film. READ MORE
I have been a lawmaker. I’ve worked in law enforcement. But no experience prepared me for the night I was arrested. The world looks different when you are at the end of the spear. In the long years since I have often asked myself: How many other Canadians have been in this position? Police wanted to paint a picture of me. It was an easy picture to paint: a drunk politician. But it was not the truth. One Edmonton newspaper depicted me as a notorious criminal. The Calgary Herald reported falsely that I was arrested on “drunk driving charges.”
