Cabinet may rely on a “rounding difference” to meet its NATO commitments this winter, the Budget Office said yesterday. Prime Minister Mark Carney had promised to spend the equivalent of two percent of GDP on military preparedness by December 31: “It’s going to be close for this year.”
Conservative MP Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan, Alta.) yesterday accused cabinet of taking steps to pad job creation figures under the Canada Summer Jobs program. Genuis pointed to a federal guide that recommended employers keep postsecondary students on the payroll for as little as eight weeks: “You’re trying to artificially show a high number of jobs created.”
The Department of Housing admits it faked a construction site as backdrop for Prime Minister Mark Carney’s promise of “faster, smarter” home construction. The department billed taxpayers $32,707 to have contractors install a temporary structure for television cameras: “The homes have since been disassembled.”
The Department of Health yesterday commissioned research on the impact of outdoor play on children’s mental well-being. It followed warnings of the long-term effect of pandemic lockdowns and remote learning: ‘It will inform planning for future pandemics.’
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Brookfield Corporation associates own some 2,000 businesses, a company executive yesterday told the Commons ethics committee. MPs said Carney’s personal fortune was so reliant on Brookfield returns that conflicts were obvious: “He knows his fortune is increasing.”
More volunteers are quitting the Canadian Armed Forces due to inadequate housing and health care, says an internal report. It follows a federal audit that concluded the Department of National Defence manufactured its own housing crisis: “Lack of military housing, loss of spousal employment, shortages in primary health care providers and limited daycare spaces can lead to financial and personal hardships.”
Israel’s Ambassador to Canada last night said he was unnerved by rising anti-Semitism here. “Some of the things I’ve witnessed here to me are mind-boggling,” Ambassador Iddo Moed testified at the Senate human rights committee: “When it comes to attacking Jews here, that’s very troubling.”
The National Research Council confirms it spent more than $60,000 on lounge chairs and bistro furniture for a rooftop patio. The spending was approved by one manager who told staff she did “not want anything that looks like a picnic table.”
Cabinet is increasing taxpayer funding for the Canada Infrastructure Bank by 29 percent though the Bank has billions unspent from its initial 2017 financing. It follows a boast by Ehren Cory, the $679,000-a year CEO, that the Bank “reached the stage of being self-sustaining.”
The Canada Revenue Agency has collected nearly a half billion through informants calling a tax evasion tip line but won’t say what it paid in bounties. In-house research shows most Canadians are wary of becoming Agency informants and consider other peoples’ tax planning “none of their business.”
The immigration department is keeping a Conservative “barbaric practices” law on the books “to find out if this is actually happening,” says a senior manager. Then-Immigration Minister Chris Alexander sponsored the contentious 2015 bill targeting polygamy and forced marriage in the immigrant community: “This brings back memories.”
Federal regulators have deferred a proposed 23 percent hike in subscription fees for CPAC, broadcaster of parliamentary proceedings since 1992. The Cable Public Affairs Channel said it faces ruinous losses despite a multi-million dollar bailout in 2024: “We cannot continue to provide our core services.”
A Senate bill mandating health warnings on liquor labels would “stigmatize” wine drinkers, says a petition by the Wine Growers of Canada. The Senate social affairs committee recommended the bill for Third Reading after concluding drinkers should be cautioned on their risks of disease: “It does ruin lives and kills people.”
Canada Post is signaling more stamp rate hikes in 2026 amid ongoing pre-tax losses approaching $1 billion to date this year. The price of mailing a domestic letter has increased 35 percent in the past 18 months, from 92¢ to $1.24: “Rates are underpriced.”
Due to the associated
smell,
skunks are strongly advised
to stay away
from politics.
(Editor’s note: the author, an Israeli-born biologist, writes for Blacklock’s each and every Sunday)
