New Democrat leadership contender MP Heather McPherson (Edmonton Strathcona) yesterday had no comment after sponsoring a Commons petition targeting a Jewish charity co-founded by Heather Reisman, CEO of Indigo Books. The petition also asked Parliament to screen all Canadians returning from Israel for complicity in alleged war crimes: "I have to feel in my heart that I’ve done what I can." READ MORE
Federal agencies yesterday outlined payroll cuts that were half the 10 percent stated by Prime Minister Mark Carney. The Budget Office had sought the figures for months: "There is a lack of detail." READ MORE
A labour arbitrator has overturned Canada Post’s firing of a mail carrier who kept thousands of undelivered letters in his vehicle for months at a time. Inspectors found 6,000 pieces of mail including urgent notices: "This can only be seen as very abnormal behaviour." READ MORE
Repeal of U.S. electric vehicle mandates set the industry back “at least 15 years,” says a Department of Environment briefing note. Cabinet to date has yet to report on its review of Canada’s mandate though it was due December 31: "Why the mandate?" READ MORE
A federal agency is shopping for artificial intelligence software to replace a "specialized team" of bilingual employees paid to translate weather bulletins. The proposal by the Meteorological Service of Canada is the first of its kind in the federal use of AI: 'It would rely solely on machine to machine communication.' READ MORE
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
China represents a “new partnership” for growth, Prime Minister Mark Carney said yesterday in confirming a January 13 trip to Beijing to meet President Xi Jinping. It is the first conference of its kind since Carney called China our worst security threat and a federal inquiry likened Communist Party meddling in Canadian elections to a national crime: "I’ll choose my words carefully." 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.
