Opposition parties last evening granted Prime Minister Mark Carney a reprieve on a confidence vote 82 days into his term. MPs mustered enough votes to topple the Liberals but acknowledged Canadians “don’t want an election right now,” said one party leader.
Interest costs on the national debt will hit $70 billion by 2029, the Budget Office warned yesterday. It compares to a pre-pandemic debt servicing charge of $24.4 billion annually: “Debt charges will reach $69.9 billion by 2029.”
Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem yesterday expressed worry over creeping unemployment. Statistics Canada is due to release its latest Labour Force Survey tomorrow: “Businesses are generally telling us they plan to scale back hiring.”
Tens of thousands of Canadians have unpaid federal fines that run to the millions, says the Public Prosecution Service. At current rates of collection it would take about six years to recover the money that is owed, according to figures detailed in a prosecutors’ memo: “It’s as if justice exists only on paper.”
Attorney General Sean Fraser yesterday apologized after saying First Nations don’t hold a veto over pipeline projects. Cabinet earlier defended Indigenous pipeline blockades as a democratic right: “Who asked you to apologize?”
Police would gain new powers to intercept mail in transit under a bill introduced yesterday by Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree. The bill repeals privacy protections at the post office that date from Confederation: “Are you concerned at all about the civil liberties of Canadians?”
Liberal appointee Senator Kris Wells (Alta.) yesterday said a group of “interested senators” would like to see a third attempt at regulating the internet. The Prime Minister has favoured censorship of what he called “pollution that’s online.”
Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon yesterday dismissed a surprise Commons vote that shamed cabinet for concealing federal finances. All Opposition parties approved the Conservative measure critical of cabinet’s delay of its 2025 budget: “You don’t care about that?”
Cabinet yesterday denied it lost track of millions of illegal immigrants but would not divulge its own figures. The comments followed one MP’s request for a comprehensive deportation plan: “How is the government to ensure they will leave?”
The RCMP and Crown prosecutors would enforce First Nations bylaws under private bills introduced yesterday in the Senate. It follows a Department of Justice report that noted “First Nations justice systems are distinct from one nation to another.”
All candidates for high office in Canada would undergo mandatory background security checks under a Commons petition sponsored by Liberal MP Robert Morrissey (Egmont, P.E.I.). The proposal follows the ejection of four ex-Liberal MPs in the past five months: “Recent events have raised legitimate concerns about foreign influence and potential security risk.”
Cabinet yesterday would not explain its failure to enforce a bill passed by Parliament a year ago to unmask foreign agents. The Department of Public Safety had promised a foreign registry would be in place this month: “Where is it?”
The Department of Health in pre-election focus groups found Canadians skeptical of a promised pharmacare program. People typically assumed they either didn’t qualify or that promised free medication came with strings attached: “Who is eligible? Who is covered? What are eligibility requirements?”
Elections Canada must face parliamentary scrutiny for balloting irregularities including random poll closures, Bloc Québécois MPs said yesterday. Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault has apologized but failed to explain why voters in one riding were left standing outside polling stations: “Elections Canada investigates itself. They need outside scrutiny.”
Covid mandates were “full Communism,” Conservative MP Dr. Matt Strauss (Kitchener South-Hespeler, Ont.), yesterday told the Commons in his maiden speech. Strauss, an emergency care doctor, was an outspoken critic of pandemic controls: “I refuse to be a cog in their broken machine.”
