Foreign Influence Commissioner Anton Boegman yesterday appeared confused over the number of foreign agents in Canada though he is mandated to identify them in a public registry. MPs on the House affairs committee faulted the $265,000-a year Commissioner for lackadaisical work: "You’re not even in the process of taking steps to enforce the law." READ MORE
Coast Guard vessels may soon carry drones but remain unarmed though they count as national defence under a 2025 regulatory change, MPs were told yesterday. Cabinet transferred the Coast Guard’s $2.4 billion annual budget from the Department of Fisheries to National Defence to meet its minimum NATO spending targets: "How is its spending being counted?" READ MORE
Parliament should mandate disclosure of all editorial directives at CBC News, a Liberal-appointed senator said yesterday. The proposal by Senator Daryl Fridhandler (Alta.) followed an outcry after the network decreed 9/11 should be reported not as a terrorist attack but “hijackings that led to passenger jet crashes.” READ MORE
A federal judge has rejected a legal challenge by a Liberal appointee over a potential conflict of interest. The Nova Scotia lawyer sought to quash a request that he get out of private practice while serving as a public office holder: "What happened here?" READ MORE
The number of businesses in tax delinquency with the Canada Revenue Agency jumped 83 percent in the past decade, new records show. The period coincided with pandemic impacts that saw 1 in 10 small businesses vanish nationwide: 'Delinquent accounts have unpaid tax debt.' READ MORE
Cabinet has “work to do” on security following the arrest of a suspected Canadian spy at NATO headquarters, Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said yesterday. The Minister said he was leaving the investigation up to Belgian police for the time being: "There will obviously be some serious learning that comes out of that." READ MORE
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne yesterday would not answer the Commons finance committee when asked if he would cap spending on cabinet’s regional high speed rail venture at $90 billion. The Budget Office has predicted costs are already 26 percent over budget: "Are you uneasy with this?" 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.
