The Mounties in 1979 destroyed evidence on Nazi collaborators and suspected war criminals in Canada, newly-released records show. The misconduct was “similar to the destruction of police files on Nazis in South America,” said an internal federal report. READ MORE
The Treasury Board is advising federal managers to avoid use of Liberal Party red in public service announcements. However the Board to date has not explained why it allows the Liberal 2025 election slogan “Canada Strong” in taxpayer-funded promotions: "It literally violates the Treasury Board rules." READ MORE
Airport screeners have bypassed a low-tech security check with the click of a button, according to evidence in a Federal Court hearing. The Court was told of one security guard who circumvented checks on airport employees “for the purpose of reducing the workload for herself.” READ MORE
The Commons today takes up Second Reading of a bill compelling the Canada Revenue Agency to report yearly on all tax convictions and estimate of revenue lost to tax avoidance. The bill drafted by Senator Percy Downe (P.E.I.), a frequent critic of the Revenue Agency, passed the Upper House by unanimous vote last March 12: "If you hide your money overseas, your chances of being caught are very low." READ MORE
Poet W.N. Branson writes: "The world had more colour then. The people had more to lose and even more to live for. But maybe the system has always been this myth..." READ MORE
A quarter-century after a federal health minister declared tobacco was socially taboo, it so happens about 5.7 million Canadians still smoke. The Department of Industry still grants patents for improved cigarette rolling machines, and for many Indigenous Canadians cigarettes are “an important industry that helps to provide the needs of life,” writes journalist Jim Poling, Sr. In Smoke Signals Poling documents tobacco’s role in the Canadian experience, and its long circuitous journey back to the First Nations peoples who first cultivated it. The result is a fascinating social history. Once offered to 16th century European explorers as “a sacred plant linked to the spiritual world,” tax-free tobacco is today again “a central part of Native life,” says Poling. He is thinking not of healing circles but cigarette bootlegging. READ MORE
Bonuses for executives in Housing Minister Gregor Robertson’s department averaged almost $20,000 each last year despite a housing crisis, records show. The department in a memo said high bonuses proved housing was “a Government of Canada priority.” READ MORE
I have served in the legislature, provincial cabinet and House of Commons but none are as maligned as the Senate. Many Canadians do not understand or appreciate what the Senate does or why, or the importance of its work. The scandals don’t help. Yes, the Senate has made mistakes. Canadians are questioning why the Senate is even necessary. There’s no question Canadians have lost confidence in the accountability of Senators.
