Infrastructure Minister Gregor Robertson will not say how much taxpayers stand to lose under toll concessions at the Gordie Howe International Bridge. A symbolic opening of the Bridge Friday in Windsor, Ont. was disrupted by a fresh demand for more tolls by U.S. President Donald Trump: "Can you outline how much money Canada expects to give the United States?" READ MORE
The RCMP says investigators have been reassigned to target foreign interference activities in Ontario. No surveillance subjects were named though public inquiries have documented wrongdoing by agents working out of the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa and Consulate in Toronto: "The RCMP has established dedicated capacity in Ontario." READ MORE
A cabinet decision to dispense with public hearings on sweeping cuts to mail delivery breaches a Postal Service Charter, says the post office’s largest union. Cabinet confirmed its decision in a Commons tabling: 'It is essential that Canadians' voices are heard.' READ MORE
A federal judge has ordered the Canadian Human Rights Commission to reopen an investigation on whether denial of a mortgage to a marijuana user is discriminatory. The latest ruling follows years of legal challenges over cannabis and property rights: 'At the heart of the complaint was why Scotiabank called a loan.' READ MORE
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom writes: "In Washington D.C. the Redskins football team is asked to change its name. Strong arguments are called up. The term is offensive, hurtful..." READ MORE
A friend of mine, a federal contractor, recalls visiting his MP for help on a local issue. The MP grew increasingly irritable and finally threw up his hands, exclaiming: “What’s in this for me?” The meeting ended badly. This collision of two worlds – the aggrieved petitioner and harassed legislator – is the core of The Effective Citizen. Author Graham Steele, a former Nova Scotia finance minister, acknowledges both petitioner and legislator have legitimate points, albeit on different frequencies, and explains how to tune dialogue to problem-solving. “The best meetings were the ones where my visitors understood the environment I was working in, and helped me understand the environment they were working in, and together we had a constructive discussion about what was possible or not possible, and why,” writes Steele. “Those meetings were too rare.” READ MORE
Prime Minister Mark Carney faces a parliamentary hearing regarding his misrepresentations over toll-sharing concessions on the Gordie Howe International Bridge. The chair of the Commons government operations committee yesterday summoned MPs to a special hearing to “get to the bottom of the matter.” READ MORE
My mother and my grandmother made most of our clothes when we were growing up. It was a normal day to get up and go out and get your water and cut your wood and go hunting or fishing. People might consider it to be a hard life, but for us it was not a hard life, it was a normal life. And the contentment to be able to go out and get what you need from the land, there’s a certain tranquility about that. As soon as I started going to school, I realized there were a lot of changes happening in our community.
