Tax Court has faulted the Canada Revenue Agency for ignoring the difference between rush hour and evening traffic in Toronto. Every driver in the region knew the two were “dramatically different,” wrote a judge: ‘Workers in Toronto battle traffic each day.’
Write-offs under the most popular pandemic relief program are near $34 million, according to Access To Information figures. Data show the equivalent of nearly half the national workforce claimed $2,000 monthly cheques under the Canada Emergency Response Benefit Act: “This includes potential cases of intentional misrepresentation.”
Details of federal aid to Ukraine are being censored by the Department of Finance. The department in an Access To Information memo concealed budget line items listing Canada’s $22 billion in aid but predicted Ukraine’s postwar recovery will take 10 years and more than a half trillion: “See table below for a full breakdown.”
Canada Revenue Agency managers enjoy watching daytime TV in business hours and do “not have to account for the time,” according to evidence in a labour board hearing. Sports were popular, testified one manager: “You have to ask, where is the money to blow on TVs?”
New Democrat MP Heather McPherson (Edmonton Strathcona) yesterday sponsored a Commons petition to have the Royal Canadian Air Force rescue refugees from Gaza. McPherson, the Party’s foreign affairs critic, has repeatedly accused Jews of genocide and compared Israeli military action in Gaza to the murder of civilians in the Second World War: “Deploy Canadian military aircraft.”
Canadian airlines cannot refuse passengers’ compensation for poor service under the guise of “safety” compliance, says the Federal Court of Appeal. The landmark ruling came in the case of an Ottawa businessman whose WestJet flight from Regina was cancelled due to staffing shortages: “He arrived at his final destination approximately 21 hours later.”
Canada Post yesterday said it expected to record its steepest pre-tax loss to date in 2025 despite a patriotic appeal to consumers to “shop Canadian, ship Canadian.” Losses would eclipse last year’s $841 million shortfall, said management: “Canada Post is on track to post its eighth consecutive year of losses.”
Canadians supported retaliatory tariffs against the United States even if it meant job losses, says in-house research by the Department of Foreign Affairs. The public expected cabinet would “not back down” prior to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s decision to fold $30 billion in retaliatory tariffs: “I know it’s a little complex.”
The Department of Employment yesterday said it will hire more consultants, this time to interview employers to gain an “in-depth understanding” of its hire-a-student program. The department earlier confirmed it tripled spending on consultants because none of its 34,410 employees were “available.”
Illegal immigrants and refugee claimants occupy more than a tenth of beds in homeless shelters, says a memo to Housing Minister Gregor Robertson. Actual figures are likely higher but unverifiable due to the refusal of “sanctuary cities” like Vancouver to keep records on foreigners without permits, said the document: “This allows individuals to access services without fear of being deported.”
Executives at the Public Health Agency in an internal report admit they were unprepared and poorly trained to manage the Covid outbreak that killed 60,871 Canadians. The acknowledgement came three years after the Agency awarded a pandemic hero’s medallion to every manager and employee for “their commitments towards pandemic relief.”
A British Columbia family made to hurry up and wait for a WestJet flight to Kelowna has been awarded $5,323 in compensation. The airline falsely blamed the weather for an inexplicable delay in boarding, said a British Columbia Tribunal: “It was caused by WestJet.”
A federal subsidy program that gave away more than $130 million on a promise of promoting business start-ups and creating jobs achieved neither, says a Department of Industry report. Auditors could not identify a single start-up or count any net job creation despite claims of success by then-Trade Minister Mary Ng: “These would have been useful.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney has gone too far with trade concessions to the United States, says a key ally. Lana Payne, national Unifor president, said Carney’s elimination of $30 billion in retaliatory tariffs was “not an option.”
Federal inspectors have confirmed a black market in migrant worker permits, says a labour department briefing note. The department said it would tighten inspections amid public complaints that foreigners have cost Canadians jobs and wages: ‘Misuse includes the buying and selling of permits.’
