The Budget Office yesterday challenged Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne to explain why he seeks a 20 percent hike in the national debt ceiling. The increase would take permitted borrowing to a record $2.54 trillion: "This is more than required." READ MORE
The Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations is sealing all reports filed by a Kamloops, B.C. First Nation that was paid to exhume the purported graves of 215 children at an Indian Residential School. “Confidential information,” the department wrote in denying an Access To Information request for the records: "None of these sites have been investigated further." READ MORE
Anti-Semitic slurs are now commonplace among medical students, Jewish interns and health care practitioners in three provinces have told the Senate human rights committee. Doctors in Alberta, Manitoba and Québec said bigotry was part of everyday life on campus: "For a profession whose core principles include impartiality, evidence and care for all patients, this is profoundly corrosive." READ MORE
CBC and Al Jazeera viewers consider themselves uniquely informed, says an Elections Canada report. The two TV networks were named by self-described “informed” voters when asked where they got their news: 'They tended to rely on certain media outlets.' READ MORE
The Canada Revenue Agency has a duty to explain itself when rejecting taxpayers’ appeals, says a federal judge. “Trust us” was insufficient, ruled the Federal Court of Appeals: "This is no small thing." READ MORE
Housing department staff in an Access To Information memo to Minister Gregor Robertson complained of the trouble and expense in opening a new office in Toronto or Vancouver. Rents were too high, they said: "There is a 3 to 4 year wait time." READ MORE
The Canadian Armed Forces spent tens of thousands on a “gender equity” analysis of housing while failing a federal audit as a bad landlord, records show. The hiring of a “social inclusion advisor” was among contracts approved by the military’s Housing Agency: "Are you a business or organization looking to build your awareness on equity?" READ MORE
When I think of my father Chung Fan Siu, I recall his constant struggle with nicotine addiction. He smoked for over 70 years. It is Dad’s life, and his eventual death, that I recall when I speak of the dangers of cigarette smoking. We could have had Dad with us a lot longer than we did, if not for the cigarettes. My mother grew to hate cigarettes. She banned smoking in our home, and Dad would huddle outside to have a cigarette. I remember it was an ongoing battle.
