Canadians call China a greater threat than Iran, says in-house federal research on security. Polling by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service followed Prime Minister Mark Carney’s announcement of a “new partnership” with China: "Half of respondents, 52 percent, feel Canada is more dangerous than it was five years ago." READ MORE
The Canada Revenue Agency rates as a “success” an $18 million chatbot that gives taxpayers wrong answers 10 percent of the time, according to Access To Information records. The Agency’s own Taxpayer Bill Of Rights states all Canadians “have the right to complete, accurate, clear and timely information.” READ MORE
Another stamp hike is near after cabinet on Saturday waived a requirement that it approve Canada Post rates. The post office has complained the regulation led to months-long delays in adjusting prices: "The stamp rate in Canada has not kept pace." READ MORE
The Department of Immigration will speed processing of illegal immigrants and refugee claimants in a bid to clear a four-year backlog. Cabinet in a legal notice Saturday proposed strict new deadlines following a dramatic increase in claims: "How did we arrive at this point?" READ MORE
A 2026 tax cut is a net benefit despite any corresponding reductions in credits for the poorest tax filers, says a Department of Finance report. Critics had warned of “unintended consequences” in lowering benefits for the elderly and disabled: "For nearly all Canadians who pay tax, savings from the middle class tax cut will outweigh the reduction." READ MORE
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom writes: "George W. Bush presents a collection of portraits: heads of state met in person. the sharp eye of the former president captures revealing views..." READ MORE
Few authors possess the skill to take an everyday image and turn it just slightly, in Twilight Zone fashion, to reveal a startling and intriguing truth. Professor Joan Sangster of Trent University does just that in The Iconic North. To read Sangster’s account is to question every common media depiction of the Arctic. “The North has been rendered exotic, romantic, terrifying, sublime, enigmatic, otherworldly and intrinsically Canadian, and some of these adjectives are equated not just with the landscape but with the original inhabitants of the North,” Sangster writes. This is not ancient history. Parks Canada spent more than $21.5 million looking for an English shipwreck, "a salient reminder that we need an ongoing critical analysis of a romanticized North ‘discovered’ by white explorers,” says Sangster. The Franklin Expedition was a famous failure of no scientific or exploratory value whatsoever. Media’s fascination with the sailors' deaths is striking. READ MORE
Canadians would first treat me as a kind of fanatic, as though I ate babies for breakfast, but then acknowledge I was always respectful of the Canadian people. I never denounced Canada, I was for Québec. Canada is a great country, but it is not my country. I respect Canadians, and sense we share more similarities than differences. We will make good neighbours one day, and would like to know you as friends. In a democracy you face realities. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Nobody is happy in defeat, but we always respect the verdict of the people. I remain convinced I will see a sovereign Québec in my lifetime.
