The Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations says it doesn’t believe any managers meant to steal paintings, jewelry, sculptures or other works that vanished from a $14.4 million Indigenous art collection. It is not known what happened to scores of artworks used to decorate the department’s regional offices: “This went on for decades.”
Canadians nationwide have “strong interest” in a proposed $90 billion regional high speed railway in Eastern Ontario and Québec, Prime Minister Mark Carney said yesterday. In-house cabinet research shows taxpayers are wary of the venture managed by publicly-owned Alto Corporation: “I’m speaking to all Canadians.”
A federal judge yesterday ordered Heritage Minister Marc Miller to release portions of censored files on Nazi fugitives in Canada. The Federal Court dismissed a range of excuses invoked by Miller’s department and Library and Archives Canada in refusing to name names: “What could possibly be in it that still needs to be declassified so many decades later?”
Two Maritime casino operators yesterday were fined a total $631,538 for breach of the Proceeds Of Crime And Terrorist Financing Act. The latest penalties follow a series of checks on the gaming industry by the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre: “Violations were found during the course of a compliance investigation.”
Home bakers yesterday launched a federal petition drive to have Parliament proclaim National Butter Tart Day. The all-Canadian pastry is an indelible part of the country’s “culinary and cultural heritage,” wrote petitioners: “The butter tart is a cherished Canadian dessert.”
A widening tariff war with the United States including a 50 percent Canadian surcharge on smartphones will not have “a big ongoing impact” on the economy, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem yesterday predicted. Macklem said workers and businesses alike were taking higher costs in stride: “Businesses, workers, they’re adjusting.”
Canadians are divided over aid to Cuba, according to in-house Privy Council research. Federal focus groups said that, while some were sympathetic with Cubans facing food shortages, Canada should first aid working poor at home: “Canada should primarily be focused on providing assistance to those living in Canada.”
Questions pending in an October 19 referendum by Alberta’s United Conservative Party government are “truly vile,” says Senator Paula Simons (Alta.), a Liberal appointee. One question seeks abolition of the Senate: “We must turn the light on these nine dark questions.”
Cabinet yesterday extended a 10¢ federal gas tax holiday into 2027. Conservative MPs had sought the measure for months: “Every penny we can get reduced in taxes is a penny in the pockets of the people who earned it.”
MP Lori Idlout (Nunavut) yesterday became the 11th member of the Liberal caucus cited for ethics breaches but escaped all sanctions since she “made an error of judgment in good faith,” said the Ethics Commissioner. A Conservative MP who requested the Idlout investigation earlier complained of the “slow and steady degradation” of Parliament: “Members need to know there will be a reckoning.”
The Department of Natural Resources yesterday said it will pay a British Columbia consultant $84,000 to find five countries that will buy Canadian softwood lumber. The notice came nearly a year to the day that Prime Minister Mark Carney promised federal leadership to “supercharge” market diversification at a $1.2 billion cost: “Together we’re going to write our own story.”
Installing rooftop solar panels on Canadian homes makes “limited” economic sense, says an internal Department of Natural Resources report to Minister Tim Hodgson. Homeowners would take up to 30 years to recover exorbitant costs even with subsidies: ‘The economic case is limited.’
Canadians are proud of their rights and freedoms, the military and hockey, says in-house research by the Department of Canadian Heritage. The findings contradicted attempts by federal managers to emphasize Indigenous reconciliation and “equity and diversity.”
Nearly 380,000 new Canadians gained citizenship last year, according to Department of Immigration figures. The department would not say how many more applications were expected under revisions to the Citizenship Act: “Given the complexity of some Bill C-3 cases, we expect greater pressure.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday would not say whether he’ll lead the Liberal Party into another general election. Asked twice by reporters, Carney, 61, replied: “I am blessed.”
