Cabinet has declared a New Brunswick island the nation’s only tariff-free zone. Campobello Island was a special case since residents have to buy their groceries in Maine, said the Department of Finance: “Residents have no practical choice.”
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers is asking a federal judge to censure Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon for imposing a six-month ban on lawful strike action. The unilateral order breached the Charter Of Rights, Union lawyers told the Federal Court: “Right to strike is an indispensable component of a meaningful collective bargaining process.”
Voters should read for themselves a “jaw-dropping” federal report warning of social and economic collapse, Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre said yesterday. The Liberal Party has not commented on the report: “It’s not surprising Liberals would want to shut out discussion on that.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday dismissed a Conservative proposal to clear public lands of tent cities as “a typical American-style approach.” Carney’s own housing minister has complained of public disorder caused by homeless people tenting in parks and on sidewalks: “Typical American.”
Canadians’ shame over Indian Residential Schools must result in “real closure and healing,” New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh said yesterday. Speaking by videoconference with the Assembly of First Nations, Singh made no mention of a New Democrat bill to criminalize Residential School “denialism.”
New figures from Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault show a wide variance in the number of voters in federal ridings, a difference of 90,000 or more in some cases. The latest revisions under the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act were to ensure each vote carried the same weight with exceptions in extraordinary cases: “It matters.”
Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre yesterday said he was staggered by a newly-disclosed Privy Council report predicting Canadians in 15 years will resort to poaching wildlife for food and crowding into gated communities as protection against civil disorder. “That’s not my words, that’s the government’s words,” said Poilievre as he recited whole passages from the document: “What they are anticipating on the current trajectory is a total meltdown, a societal breakdown in Canada.”
New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh yesterday appealed to British Columbians to “hold the line” on election day to prevent a Liberal majority. British Columbia in the last election gave New Democrats more than 660,000 votes and most of their seats in Parliament: “It will be British Columbians who decide if Mark Carney gets a super majority.”
Voter turnout at Easter weekend advance polls was 25 percent higher than the last national campaign, Elections Canada said yesterday. Returning officers reported Canadians cast ballots by the millions: “Some polls may not have yet reported.”
Repealing the GST on most new home purchases would cost the federal treasury about $400 million to $2 billion annually, says the Budget Office. The largest parties in the Commons have all proposed removing the five percent federal sales tax charged since 1991 on new construction: “The GST was not meant to apply to the basic necessities of food and housing.”
Cabinet did not bother collecting a multi-billion tax on real estate speculators though Parliament passed the measure three years ago, records show. Then-Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland had called it an important initiative to combat speculation: “The Canada Revenue Agency provided transitional relief.”
Cabinet aides propose to issue an 11-year contract for consultants to manage political appointments. The Privy Council would not comment on confidential terms of the agreement that follows repeated complaints of sweetheart contracting: “The Canadian system is kind of near the bottom tier.”
The Liberal Party faces a $350,000 lawsuit for breach of the Trademarks Act. A Court claim accuses Party organizers of misusing a slogan legally owned by Rebel News Network without payment or permission: ‘This behaviour is unacceptable.’
Joseph Tay, a Conservative candidate in Toronto, is being targeted by the Chinese Communist Party on social media, federal election monitors said yesterday. Tay is running in the same riding where the previous Liberal MP was cited for frequent contacts with the Chinese Consulate: “Threats like these are the tradecraft of the Chinese Communist Party.”
Parents should be allowed to make tax-free withdrawals from Registered Retirement Savings Plans to help children buy their first home, Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet said yesterday. Federal data show family aid is crucial in permitting first time buyers to enter the housing market: ‘It is a social contract with younger generations.’
