Cabinet’s $90 billion regional high speed railway faces new barriers, specifically land use restrictions at federally-designated historic places along the proposed route including a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Parks Canada in an Access To Information memo expressed concern over “possible impacts.”
Canada was the best prepared country in the world for pandemic risk, officials boasted in newly-declassified 2005 cabinet minutes made public yesterday. The Public Health Agency to date has failed to explain what went wrong: “Canada was the best prepared among countries for a pandemic risk.”
Sales of heat pumps grew sixfold nationwide even before cabinet launched a costly subsidy program to promote their use, new figures from the Canada Energy Regulator showed yesterday. The devices were most popular in Atlantic Canada where oil furnaces had been a mainstay of home heating: “Once you make the switch to get off oil and gas you can save hundreds.”
A federal judge has upheld the Canada Border Services Agency’s confiscation of thousands in Vegas winnings from a cross-border traveler deemed improbably lucky. Under the Proceeds Of Crime And Terrorist Financing Act, Canadians returning home must account for all cash holdings over $10,000: “This can hardly be characterized as unreasonable.”
A federal delegation on tour in China urged battery electric car makers to increase Canadian demand for their vehicles, according to a report to Parliament. Automakers with assembly plants in Canada have warned a guaranteed five-year quota of 278,989 Chinese imports will cost jobs here: “Unfettered access, even if limited by quotas, will weaken Canada’s ability to protect its people.”
The Assembly of First Nations says it rejects any fixed deadline under Prime Minister Mark Carney’s legislated plan to speed approval of “nation building” projects. The group in a report to parliamentarians dismissed Carney’s deadlines as a pressure tactic: ‘It is aggressive.’
Many Ukrainian war refugees let into Canada are expected to return home “when it is safe to do so,” says a Department of Immigration briefing note. The document set no quota but estimated over 308,000 Ukrainians arrived in Canada under a special aid program: “Temporary in-Canada measures remain in place until March 31, 2027.”
A third of affordable housing in Canada is in poor or fair condition, CMHC said yesterday. Problems identified by the federal insurer included plumbing, electrical and roofing in need of repair: “1 in 3 units are in fair or poor condition.”
A Nova Scotia jail guard has been sentenced to three years in a federal penitentiary for smuggling marijuana for inmates. The fact Parliament legalized recreational marijuana in 2018 was no excuse, the Court ruled: “Our community does not accept this type of behaviour.”
An executive who questioned why Canadians “glorified this idea of homeownership” yesterday was named chair of cabinet’s latest housing agency, Build Canada Homes. Evan Siddall as $459,000-a year CEO of CMHC also financed research into a home equity tax but dropped the scheme when Blacklock’s made it public: ‘Mr. Siddall brings deep experience.’
Telefilm Canada yesterday budgeted $1.5 million to install a temporary Canadian pavilion on the French Riviera, at the Cannes Film Festival. It follows the Prime Minister’s pledge to the Liberal caucus to banish “wasteful spending.”
A new Commons petition asks that Parliament correct an omission in Books of Remembrance by honouring the first nine Canadians killed in combat under Canadian command. The Books currently honour all other military and merchant mariners to die in service of the nation: ‘It was the first battle fought exclusively by Canadian troops led by Canadian officers.’
The Department of Employment is proposing to review millions in jobless benefits for commercial fishermen. Employment Insurance regulations in the sector have remained unchanged since 1996: “Without these benefits, they did not believe many would continue to work in the industry.”
Two opposition parties yesterday in a rare joint petition asked that the Commissioner of Lobbying investigate Prime Minister Mark Carney over ties to developers who stand to benefit from a proposed $1.45 billion bailout of distressed condos in Metro Vancouver. “Where did it come from?” asked one MP.
Irregularities from missing fuel to contract splitting have been uncovered at the Canadian Embassy in Nairobi. The latest critical audit in Foreign Minister Anita Anand’s department follows a series of investigations triggered by the discovery of a fraud ring at our Embassy in Haiti: “The procurement and vendor landscape remains challenging with risks linked to corruption.”
