Maintaining embassy lawns and tennis courts abroad is important for the “representational image of Canada,” the Department of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. Diplomats served notice they're hiring full-time gardeners to tend the acreage at the Canadian Embassy in Rome and nearby Villa Grandi, a luxury estate occupied by the ambassador: "Maintain the tennis court." READ MORE
An expanded trade war has cabinet “constantly looking at our tax system,” Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters Saturday. The Budget Office had warned of larger-than-forecast deficits even before the shock of 50 percent tariffs: "We will borrow." READ MORE
Carmakers repeatedly warned cabinet any permanent tariff on vehicles for the first time since 1964 would leave Canada without an auto industry. Records show industry lobbyists met with MPs and officials 53 times in a seven-week period prior to the collapse of trade talks: "There is no Canadian auto industry without the United States." READ MORE
Cabinet says it has no plans to mandate national digital identification despite budgeting billions to develop and test a digital ID system. The pledge came in reply to a Commons petition sponsored by Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis (Haldimand-Norfolk, Ont.): "Testing in stages, first in controlled environments, then in real world pilots, is standard practice." READ MORE
Contractors must use all-Canadian materials and supplies in costly renovations to the Prime Minister’s official residence, according to a federal notice. The manor house at 24 Sussex Drive “must be completed by Canadians for Canadians,” it said. READ MORE
One of the biggest federal spenders on consultants increased expenditures 10 percent above average last year, records show. The Department of Employment spent $998.5 million even as Prime Minister Mark Carney promised to cut spending on consultants by 20 percent: "I have a simple rule: spend less, invest more." READ MORE
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom writes: "You were a few seats away from me. Darkness camouflaged my staring at you. You seemed mesmerized, smiling whenever DiCaprio made his entry..." READ MORE
I tell friends, never miss an opportunity to tell your family how much you love them, and how grateful you are that they’re part of your life. I think of Fabian every time I spot a camper on the highway – Fabian loved camping – or hear Eddy Murphy’s laugh. At home, I pass by the cemetery where he rests multiple times a day. A friend once told me, when you pass away nobody mourns you longer than family. It was a reality check. We were talking about work-life balance. Mine had been way out of balance for a long time.
