Then-Finance Minister Paul Martin in a secret 1995 cabinet session warned “compound interest is killing us” after decades of deficit spending, newly-declassified records show. Ministers were told to promptly cut billions in spending “come hell or high water.” READ MORE
A federal manager who called racism a “Canadian reality” has been appointed chair of the Canadian Museum of Immigration. Daniel Quan-Watson’s appointment followed complaints from Museum curators of a “shift in Canadian attitudes towards immigration.” READ MORE
A simple but serious error affecting the outcome of an election should count as an irregularity under the Canada Elections Act, the Supreme Court of Canada wrote in an explanation Friday of its landmark decision to void the outcome in a lone Québec constituency. Incumbent Bloc Québécois MP Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné (Terrebonne, Que.) lost the riding but set the legal precedent: "I think this is an issue that goes beyond party politics." READ MORE
Poet W.N. Branson writes: The old Company wound down and out of the ashes, rises the Phoenix. A people put on clearance, a pelt for a skin, the Phoenix arises anew..." READ MORE
Membership in hate groups has long been linked to economic failure. Few millionaires joined the Aryan Nations. More contentious is a theory that all human beings are prone to irrational impulses that pit Catholic versus Protestant, English versus French, white versus Black. “We are hardwired to be ethnocentric,” writes Kenneth Stern, director of New York’s Bard Centre for the Study of Hate. Stern argues we are programmed through millennia to instincts that long ago meant survival but today make no sense whatsoever. Consider the story of the spider and the sedan. He quotes social psychologist James Waller: “Automobiles kill far more people today than do spiders or snakes. But people are far more averse to spiders and snakes than they are to automobiles. Why? Because for most of our ancestral history, spiders and snakes were a serious threat to our survival and reproduction, whereas automobiles did not exist.” READ MORE
Confidential 1995 cabinet records declassified yesterday indicate then-Prime Minister Jean Chretien threatened the President of France not to act if Québec voted for independence. France would “find itself isolated in the United Nations,” Chretien said. READ MORE
A cabinet bill to penalize taxpayers slow to comply with Canada Revenue Agency demands for documents is needlessly harsh and likely unconstitutional, tax experts have told the Commons finance committee. One group, Tax Executives Institute Inc. of Toronto, said under Bill C-31 a single parent in a $750 tax dispute with auditors could be charged $1,500 in penalties: 'It is grossly disproportionate.' READ MORE
Some MPs come to Ottawa driven by passion for public affairs, others arrive by mishap. I’d worked as an educator for 30 years, teaching English, history and social studies. Current events were always very important in my class. Then I saw how Parliament works. I was shocked at the process. Debate is limited by closure. Many MPs are indifferent and never participate. There is no attempt at thoughtful analysis. Legislation is hastily passed and dissent is not tolerated. Is this too cynical?
