The Government of Canada is such a poor landlord it rates worse than New Zealand, population five million, in managing federal buildings for taxpayer savings, says a Treasury Board report. Managers spend some $10 billion a year without proper oversight, it said: “Property assets continue to deteriorate at an accelerating pace.”
Conservatives would require the Canada Revenue Agency to publicly identify corporations that pay little or no federal tax, Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre said yesterday. Auditors would also be instructed to stop “harassing small businesses and charities,” a longstanding complaint documented through in-house Agency research: “You can’t avoid your taxes; global elites shouldn’t be able to either.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday proposed to reintroduce a tax shelter for property speculators that was abandoned 44 years ago as costly and inefficient. Carney gave no reason for resurrecting the Multi-Unit Residential Building Tax Incentive that cost taxpayers the equivalent of $11,000 for every apartment built: ‘The main beneficiaries were developers, promoters and investors.’
Parliament’s temporary curb on foreign purchase of residential real estate should be made permanent with loopholes closed, New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh said yesterday. The measure due to expire January 1, 2027 was no substitute for a “permanent ban on foreign homebuyers,” said Singh.
The Green Party yesterday claimed unnamed political rivals were frightening its canvassers in what the national campaign manager called an “unprecedented” wave of incivility. The Party would not name names. No police were called: “What part of our democracy will be attacked next?”
Canadian businesses and consumers alike are holding what cash they have in anticipation of a recession, the Bank of Canada said yesterday. Findings were drawn from quarterly surveys: “Is a recession imminent?”
Pandemic-era bans on peaceful protests were unlawful, the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled yesterday. The decision was won by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms on behalf of citizens charged for attending anti-government rallies in 2021: “Everyone has the freedom of peaceful assembly.”
Federal election monitors yesterday said they suspect Chinese Communist Party agents are running a media campaign describing Prime Minister Mark Carney as a “rock star.” The Liberal Party was notified Sunday but made no public comment: “Carney has an ambitious economic recovery plan.”
Media including the CBC left Canadian Jews “ostracized and marginalized” by normalizing anti-Semitic themes in news coverage, B’nai Brith Canada said yesterday. The advocacy group’s Annual Audit Of Anti-Semitic Incidents for the first time faulted media as “megaphones for terrorist propaganda.”
Canada Post should offer small business the same discount bulk mail rates they offer banks, utilities and other large corporations, Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet said yesterday. The election proposal comes ahead of new financial statements due in May that are expected to detail steep losses at the post office: “Nearly all businesses send and receive mail.”
Canadians should expect to become poorer over the next five years, says a Privy Council report. The forecast was drawn from interviews with “experts across the Government of Canada” who said economic outlooks for families were so stark they predicted a national mental health crisis: ‘It is crucial to anticipate potential future scenarios.’
Tesla vehicles remain eligible for federal rebates despite Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland’s claim that she froze payments to punish America. The transport department did not comment: “All vehicles that appear on the list have been deemed eligible.”
CBC News says it will avoid all editorial comment on funding after Prime Minister Mark Carney promised it millions in additional subsidies if Liberals are re-elected. “During the election period we do not have any comment on the parties’ positions on CBC,” said Eric Wright, spokesperson for the network.
Parliament should abolish offshore tax agreements with “known havens” like those used by Brookfield Asset Management, says New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh. Brookfield under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Mark Carney avoided more than $5 billion in federal taxes using offshore accounts, he said: “Is it ethical?”
The British Columbia First Nation that announced its discovery of 215 children’s graves sought a visit to the Kamloops Residential School site by Pope Francis, Access To Information records show. Minutes of a local meeting quoted councillors as remarking they were “the first to announce unmarked graves.”
