Cabinet withheld public disclosure of a damning audit of the Canadian Soccer Association until after FIFA World Men’s Cup matches in Vancouver and Toronto, records show. Independent auditors faulted soccer managers for high salaries and sloppy bookkeeping after receiving millions in taxpayer grants: "We made history." READ MORE
Cabinet is extending the annual April 30 tax deadline by two weeks to save time and money spent by tax filers in submitting late receipts and tax slips, says Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne. It marks the first change in the federal deadline since the Second World War: "In terms of tax simplification, I am just getting started." READ MORE
The RCMP says 130 years after the Mounties were made famous by policing the Klondike Gold Rush, the force is no longer able to attract enough recruits to serve in the North. Inflation was to blame in part, said an internal report: "Everyday expenses such as groceries, fuel, utilities and basic household goods are substantially higher in remote communities." READ MORE
Parliament should decriminalize heroin, cocaine and another illegal drugs nationwide, the Canadian Association of Social Workers has told MPs. The group’s submission to the Commons health committee followed a British Columbia court ruling that prosecution breached drug users’ Charter rights: "Criminalization can deepen stigma." READ MORE
A bill granting cabinet unprecedented powers to quash legal strikes hits at “fundamental protection for workers under the Charter,” says Liberal-appointed Senator Hassan Yussuff (Ont.). The former Canadian Labour Congress president did not reply to reporters' questions on what measures he proposed to prevent passage of Bill C-39: "It's political." READ MORE
Blacklock's Reporter today pauses for Remembrance Day observances with gratitude to all who honoured our country. Thank you for your service -- The Editor. READ MORE
The Commons yesterday placed an order for 6,000 bottles of fine wine to “maintain expected standards of hospitality” in the Parliamentary Dining Room. The stocking of the wine cellar came four days after Prime Minister Mark Carney’s budget lamented the plight of “hardworking Canadians struggling to get by.” READ MORE
My grandfather worked as a school custodian for decades in the Toronto District School Board, a man who swept and mopped the floors, who kept the classrooms tidy and locked up at the end of the night so that children had a place to learn and teachers had a place to work. I carry his story with me. When I was 15 years old, I failed the Ontario literacy test. At the age of 30, I was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. As long as I am honoured to call myself a Member of Parliament, I hope I can be a walking, talking reminder that people should never give up.
