Liberal MP Chrystia Freeland (University-Rosedale, Ont.) will quit Parliament tomorrow in an abrupt departure that averts any Commons ethics committee questioning over conflicts of interest. Freeland’s announcement came only hours after the committee chair expressed outrage over her conduct: "When did we become a country where laws, ethics and morality don’t matter anymore?" READ MORE
A majority of Canadians surveyed, 64 percent, say they changed their household spending habits because of tariffs. Federal researchers found 80 percent concluded U.S. President Donald Trump’s policy had made everyday goods more expensive: "How worried are you that tariffs might reduce your household income?" READ MORE
The Canada Revenue Agency ten years into its investigation of tax avoidance by wealthy clients of a Panamanian law firm has not laid a single charge in the case, records show. Cabinet a decade ago said the Panama Papers case involved thousands of Canadians deemed “high risk.” READ MORE
A federal agency is asking how much Canadians are willing to pay to save Lake Winnipeg, one of the world’s largest freshwater lakes. “This research is required,” the Canada Water Agency wrote in a notice to contractors. READ MORE
Statistics Canada reviewed whether to add a “non-binary” gender category in its monthly jobless reports but concluded the population was too small for accurate data, says a labour department report. Less than a quarter of one percent of Canadians identify as transgender or non-binary: "Given the non-binary population is small, data aggregation to a two-category gender variable is necessary." READ MORE
Parliament should federalize rent controls and cover late payments for tenants “at risk of immediate homelessness,” says the only MP in the federal New Democrat leadership race. Heather McPherson (Edmonton Strathcona) yesterday said regulation must not be left to landlords and local authorities: "Affordable housing is non-negotiable." READ MORE
A now-suspended tax on foreign-owned vacant residences cost nearly as much to collect as it raised in cash, according to Canada Revenue Agency figures. Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced repeal of the tax last November 4: "The form is six pages long." READ MORE
Terror affects families in different ways. Some remember their loved ones as sacrifices for peace; others say we can never have peace. There are very few families in Israel who have not in some way been pained by the experience of terror. I think pain and loss are seared in the consciousness of the Israeli public. Hagit Zabitsky was my niece. I remember her as a thoughtful 22-year old, shy and introspective. On the day she died Hagit was hiking with a friend in the hills when she was bludgeoned to death.
