The defence department proposes to auction dozens of buildings and nearly 1,500 acres of Crown land to meet its quota of savings under a federal budget review, says a report. The largest federal landlord, the Department of Public Works, has calculated about half of all federal buildings could be sold without affecting services: “The department will reduce its real property footprint.”
Parliament should create a Canadian version of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency to handle wildfires, the Senate agriculture and forestry committee said yesterday. The current hodgepodge of jurisdictional overlap was inadequate, said a report: “No single entity is responsible.”
Specialty drugs lost in a mysterious mishap at a federal warehouse included $20 million in medicines needed to counter a “biological threat,” says a Public Health Agency memo. MPs on the Commons health committee were briefed on the incident behind closed doors last February 10: “I can confirm there was loss of a quantity of treatment for a biological threat.”
Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard Wagner yesterday said Canadians deserve a judiciary free of politics, but would not discuss his own criticism of the Freedom Convoy. Wagner declined to recuse himself from sitting in judgment on protestors he described as anarchists and hostage takers, though none were charged with either offence: “Can you explain why you will not recuse yourself?”
Cabinet today for the third time in five years will table legislation to regulate legal internet content. Attorney General Sean Fraser has said cabinet would not revive terms of previous bills that lapsed on complaints of censorship and federal over-reach: “What’s the urgency?”
Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith (Beaches-East York, Ont.) yesterday in a farewell speech to the House likened his political career to “pushing a boulder up a hill.” The former housing minister is to resign with the Commons’ adjournment for summer recess, expected June 19: “I’ve had some roles.”
Cabinet yesterday again extended an amnesty for various “assault style” firearms pending a final Supreme Court judgment. The amnesty was deferred to an unspecified date in 2027: “The government is providing certainty.”
A defence industry start-up whose chief lobbyist is the brother of Deputy Defence Minister Christiane Fox won a private audience with the Prime Minister to discuss drone technology, records show. The Privy Council yesterday had no comment: “Can you assure Parliament and Canadians that you won’t be using your office as a public office holder to further the interests of private individuals?”
It will take 1,000 years at current construction rates to fully restore housing affordability for the poorest Canadians, says Housing Advocate Marie-Josée Houle. The cabinet advisor in her annual report to Parliament said new supply of public and co-op housing was critical: “The current pace of building deeply affordable homes is so slow it would take over 1,000 years.”
Young Canadians respect the military though few want to actually enlist, says in-house Department of National Defence research. Cabinet is on a recruitment drive to meet its minimum target of 71,500 regular forces, trained and equipped: “The most compelling reasons to consider an Armed Forces career are practical and financial.”
Parliament spends more than $14 billion a year on Old Age Security for pensioners with household incomes over $60,000, records show. A federally-funded research group has petitioned cabinet to tighten income testing for seniors: “It’s appropriate to ask retirees with six-figure incomes to accept fewer taxpayer dollars.”
Alberta separatists are rational people who share “legitimate grievances,” Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre said yesterday. The native Calgarian said he personally opposed independence but cautioned critics from being snide or dismissive: “If you want frustrated Albertans to vote for Canada, the absolute worst thing we can do is dismiss their legitimate grievances.”
Managers have spent nearly $1.6 million advertising a regional high speed rail service that doesn’t exist, records show. The Crown corporation responsible for the railway-on-paper now has 13 vice presidents: “How many?”
Anti-trust lawyers are asking a federal judge to compel disclosure of confidential terms of leases held by one of the nation’s largest grocery chains. Operators of Sobeys are accused of breaching the Competition Act by negotiating restrictive clauses in leases with mall owners: “Real estate that is suitable and commercially attractive for grocery stores appears limited.”
Forty percent of poll workers and returning officers surveyed want to retain old-fashioned hand counting of paper ballots in future campaigns, says an Elections Canada report. It followed a 2021 Liberal Party proposal for voting by smartphone: “This is pretty significant.”
