The Department of Foreign Affairs spent more than $32 million on an iceberg-themed pavilion at the Osaka World Fair, records show. Expenses included $164,279 for questionnaires and $50,000 on "creative concept options" even as Prime Minister Mark Carney appealed to Canadians to make sacrifices: "We won’t play games." READ MORE
Statistics Canada yesterday said it’s revising how it calculates inflation for its benchmark Consumer Price Index but wouldn’t discuss what changes are contemplated. The agency in the past has removed or added check-out items to reflect changing spending patterns, it said: 'The Index can only reflect changes in consumer expenditures when basket weights are updated.' READ MORE
An activist group is out of Department of Canadian Heritage funding for the first time since 2020 after being accused of anti-Catholic bias, Access To Information records show. The Canadian Anti-Hate Network received hundreds of thousands in taxpayer funding until MPs questioned its role in “spurring greater polarization.” READ MORE
Billions in federal aid for Ukraine are an expression of Canadian values, Prime Minister Mark Carney said yesterday. “We’re going to be on the right side of history,” he told reporters. READ MORE
Cabinet’s “Buy Canadian” policy is to be phased in over an indefinite period, says a memo by the Department of Public Works that manages most federal contracts. The announcement of the policy last September 5 did not imply Canadians would get immediate preferential treatment in contracting, it said: "Measures will be phased in." READ MORE
Rideau Hall on Saturday stripped civil honours for a Canadian Business Hall of Famer. Jacques Lamarre, retired CEO of SNC-Lavalin Group Inc., had his Order of Canada revoked: "Events of recent years have been trying for me." READ MORE
Parliament should ban public display of the Soviet hammer and sickle as a hate symbol, says the Ukrainian Canadian Congress. A federal bill currently before the Senate would ban the swastika and Hamas banners: 'The Congress was disappointed the Communist hammer and sickle was not included.' READ MORE
Martial arts have been part of my life since I was a schoolboy, and it’s made me a better MP. It taught me patience and discipline. I closed my studio on winning election to Parliament in 2011, but the discipline is with me every day: Focus, try to avoid inflammatory language, step back when angry, and always maintain a posture that is fair and open. While I may fail — and I often do — I remember that success in martial arts, like life, is more about being willing to try again, no matter how many times it takes.
