Cabinet rates its “nation building bill” a success though no project has been approved since it passed into law last June 26, a parliamentary committee was told. Conservative MP Aaron Gunn (North Island-Powell River, B.C.) ridiculed the claim at a hearing of a Special Joint Committee: "John A. Macdonald and Wilfrid Laurier are looking down on us saying, ‘These guys know how to build things now’?" READ MORE
A federal appointee mandated to monitor Canadian corporate ethics abroad has not tabled an annual report since 2022, Conservative MP Arnold Viersen (Peace River-Westlock, Alta.) yesterday told the Commons. Union executives have long questioned the Ombudsman for Responsible Enterprise: "The concern here is not an isolated delay but an ongoing failure." READ MORE
The nation should avoid a 2026 recession if world events are resolved smoothly, the Bank of Canada said yesterday. “If the situation changes, we may need to change course,” Governor Tiff Macklem told reporters. READ MORE
Employment Insurance claimants have no right to keep undeserved benefits even if they were paid through government error, says a federal judge. The ruling came in the case of a jobless claimant told to repay the treasury $1,366: "She did nothing wrong." READ MORE
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne shaved $11.5 billion off a near-record 2025 deficit due in part to higher tariff revenues, budget documents showed yesterday. However ongoing deficits are projected to push debt servicing costs to an unprecedented $58.7 billion this year: "Risks remain elevated." READ MORE
Cabinet yesterday said it will strip the Canadian Transportation Agency of its processing of air passenger complaints. The federal Agency ran up a backlog of 92,500 complaints, by official estimate: "Beyond the backlog, the government also intends to develop a simpler and more effective regulatory regime." READ MORE
The Department of Employment is not close to recovering costs of processing migrant worker permits, records show. An employer’s fee has not increased in 13 years: "What has been the total annual cost to the federal government?" READ MORE
I often wonder what became of Dennis. He was known to neighbours in the North Park district of Victoria where I lived in 1997. It was a rough-and-tumble neighbourhood. Dennis had a wife and baby. I had seen them going to the welfare office down the corner. He was violent, and he could get very drunk. I don’t think he ever finished high school. I can’t say if restorative justice would have done Dennis much good. Afterward I wondered, what brought Dennis to the point in his life that he was so hateful, so angry, he would shave his head and wear a “White Power” t-shirt and look for someone to hurt?
