Home bakers yesterday launched a federal petition drive to have Parliament proclaim National Butter Tart Day. The all-Canadian pastry is an indelible part of the country’s “culinary and cultural heritage,” wrote petitioners: "The butter tart is a cherished Canadian dessert." READ MORE
A widening tariff war with the United States including a 50 percent Canadian surcharge on smartphones will not have “a big ongoing impact” on the economy, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem yesterday predicted. Macklem said workers and businesses alike were taking higher costs in stride: "Businesses, workers, they’re adjusting." READ MORE
Canadians are divided over aid to Cuba, according to in-house Privy Council research. Federal focus groups said that, while some were sympathetic with Cubans facing food shortages, Canada should first aid working poor at home: "Canada should primarily be focused on providing assistance to those living in Canada." READ MORE
Questions pending in an October 19 referendum by Alberta's United Conservative Party government are "truly vile," says Senator Paula Simons (Alta.), a Liberal appointee. One question seeks abolition of the Senate: "We must turn the light on these nine dark questions." READ MORE
Cabinet yesterday extended a 10¢ federal gas tax holiday into 2027. Conservative MPs had sought the measure for months: "Every penny we can get reduced in taxes is a penny in the pockets of the people who earned it." READ MORE
MP Lori Idlout (Nunavut) yesterday became the 11th member of the Liberal caucus cited for ethics breaches but escaped all sanctions since she “made an error of judgment in good faith,” said the Ethics Commissioner. A Conservative MP who requested the Idlout investigation earlier complained of the “slow and steady degradation” of Parliament: "Members need to know there will be a reckoning." READ MORE
The Department of Natural Resources yesterday said it will pay a British Columbia consultant $84,000 to find five countries that will buy Canadian softwood lumber. The notice came nearly a year to the day that Prime Minister Mark Carney promised federal leadership to “supercharge” market diversification at a $1.2 billion cost: "Together we’re going to write our own story." READ MORE
My father was offered cabinet posts by the Liberal Party. They wanted to appoint him to the cabinet in 1945, but he declined. The Liberal Party used a lot of our ideas, I think, but my father never wanted to be a Liberal. He always maintained he wanted to achieve his purpose through democratic socialism. That’s what he was. That’s how he lived. He thought all people were entitled to a decent life, that no one should suffer from poor housing and poor health. His whole life was devoted to improving conditions for the common man.
