Taxpayers must wait until a fall budget update for details of costs to households and industry from retaliatory tariffs, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said yesterday. Cabinet detailed a limited $7.5 billion aid package that business groups dismissed as cumbersome and ineffectual: "Is Canada still committed to a fiscal anchor?" READ MORE
Conservatives yesterday invoked Prime Minister Mark Carney’s misrepresentations over the Gordie Howe International Bridge in demanding he now disclose terms proposed by Canada to avert a continental trade war. Carney secretly agreed to toll concessions as “a good deal for Canada,” then denied the terms and called toll splitting proof of erratic behaviour by Americans: "Transparency is essential." READ MORE
Billions in retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods from farm equipment to smartphones are intended to punish Republican voters, Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said yesterday. Retaliation was "wise and strategic," she said. READ MORE
A federal labour board has dismissed a constitutional challenge of the use of Social Insurance Numbers to catch government employees who falsely claimed pandemic relief benefits. The Canada Revenue Agency had “a legitimate interest” in knowing whether any staff were cheats, ruled adjudicators: "It knew that some wrongdoing had occurred, and it had a legitimate interest in discovering the extent." READ MORE
The military in an annual update on suicides said there were no “statistically significant” changes in rates, and that suicide overall was no more common among Canadian Armed Forces members than the general public. The Commons veterans affairs committee has recommended yearly reporting on suicide rates: "A detailed and nuanced understanding of the epidemiology of suicide is essential." READ MORE
Cabinet will do “whatever it takes for as long as it takes” to compensate Canadians for losses in a widening trade war, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said yesterday. His remarks came five months after Champagne promised to control deficit spending: "How are you going to bring your spending under control?" READ MORE
Leaders stung by a widening trade war yesterday piled insults onto the U.S.A. Ontario Premier Doug Ford likened trading with America to sending weapons to Iranian terrorists and said U.S. President Donald Trump could “kiss my ass.” Prime Minister Mark Carney in separate remarks said America was as unreliable as Russia. Trump in reply called both men "clowns." 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.
