Provinces were to blame for homelessness by emptying the mental hospitals, then-Prime Minister Jean Chretien’s cabinet agreed in confidential 1999 meetings. Newly-declassified records show ministers in private conversation said homelessness also appeared to be an issue with the “native population.” READ MORE
The Department of Transport’s electric car rebate program paid millions to affluent drivers with six-figure incomes who planned to buy a zero emission vehicle anyway, new records show. A fraction of electric car buyers, 5 percent, made under $50,000 a year: "It’s a fair question to ask whether regular Canadian taxpayers should be subsidizing the purchase of luxury vehicles for people who are prepared to pay full price for them." READ MORE
Fewer than half of “assault style” firearms banned by federal order were surrendered to police under a now-suspended amnesty program, records show. The roundup was deferred until 2027 at the earliest due to a pending Supreme Court of Canada challenge by gun owners: 'Most did not see themselves or their peers as a major factor in gun crimes in Canada.' READ MORE
Poet W.N. Branson writes: "When the summer warmth fades to winter's chill, my heart seeks the sentimental to its detriment. And the memories fall with the snow: a Thursday night in St John’s, icons, scoundrels and minstrels. You wouldn’t believe me if I told you..." READ MORE
Those who live long enough reach a point where all regrets and anxieties simply vanish. No one on their 100th birthday recites a century’s worth of petty gibes. Perhaps it’s the distraction of arthritis, or the comfort of knowing there are no surviving witnesses to our most embarrassing incidents. Cherie Dimaline, Governor General’s Award-winning author, is only in her 40s and not there yet. Dimaline vividly recalls all her regrets and anxieties, like the time she got drunk on Jägermeister. “Remember there was that party you went to in your early twenties, when they were giving out free Jägermeister and you were still broke enough to think you needed to drink the hell out of that Jägermeister because, well, it was free, and then you got so drunk you started an argument with that group of strangers who said you were an idiot?” writes Dimaline. “Oh, man, you really were an idiot. Wait, let me play that back in detail for you.” READ MORE
The Department of Veterans Affairs says it didn’t have time to invite Afghan War veterans to speak at the ceremonial groundbreaking for a National Monument to Afghan War dead. The 40-minute ceremony did hear from non-combatants including Veterans Affairs Minister Jill McKnight: "Why?" READ MORE
Owners of a heavy duty Russian cargo plane grounded in Toronto by cabinet order are appealing to the Federal Court of Appeal to remove the airline from a federal blacklist. Volga-Dnepr Airlines LLC told judges it played no role in the Ukrainian war, and had freighted cargo in the past for Canada’s Department of National Defence: 'It transported military cargo for countries around the world including NATO support.' READ MORE
The men who kidnapped me called themselves mujahadeen, Holy Warriors of God. They once asked me, “What would you do if the Americans invaded Canada? Would you not take up a gun and fight to protect your family and your country?” My experience as a hostage is a window into the psychology of violence. Every act of violence seems to have a pointing finger behind it, an accusation, a narrative that explains and justifies it. War turns us into the very thing we hate.
