Canadians with drug convictions are not barred from becoming federally licensed marijuana dealers, says the Department of Health. Regulators would not say how many of the nation’s commercially licensed growers, processors and retailers have criminal records: ‘The framework does not automatically disqualify individuals with past cannabis or drug-related convictions.’
Federal managers sought to copy a Liberal Party website in promoting a housing program, Access To Information records show. Opposition MPs have complained numerous federal departments are in breach of a directive stating taxpayer-funded advertising must be free of partisan references: “It is clear the shape of the house comes directly from the Liberal video ‘Building Canada Strong.'”
Canada Post yesterday said $673 million in credits voted by cabinet March 30 represented a rollover of lapsed loan funding for a total $2.04 billion to date, not $2.72 billion as reported. The correction came as the Budget Office questioned the scope of service cuts including rural post office closures: ‘We continue to build a modern postal service that meets evolving needs without burdening taxpayers.’
Retired Supreme Court of Canada judge Jack Major, 95, yesterday said the country had entered an era of “judicial supremacy and court overreach.” Major’s comment came in the forward to an essay critical of the current Supreme Court by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, an Ottawa think tank: “The trend of court overreach is regrettable.”
The National Research Council yesterday placed a five-year order for lab rabbits. It followed a long-running campaign by advocates including Laureen Harper and the Humane Society to curb animal testing in labs: “All animals must be delivered in good health.”
Federal managers have created yet more loopholes to avoid complying with cabinet’s “Buy Canadian” policy, Access To Information records show. The Department of Agriculture in an internal memo said it would only comply if it did not cost extra time or money and was “in the public interest.”
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne yesterday disclosed another Canada Post bailout, the third in 16 months to a total $2.72 billion. Terms of the latest line of credit were concealed though previous financing was interest-free without any repayment deadline: ‘Revenues will not be sufficient pay all its operating and income charges.’
The Mounties will not assure MPs a confidential partnership agreement with Chinese police signed by the Prime Minister excludes “transfer of personal information of Canadians or permanent residents,” records show. Pro-democracy activists cite Chinese police for atrocities including torture: “Police routinely arrest, detain and harass leaders and members of various ‘illegal’ religious groups.”
Canadian companies absorbed most of the cost of cabinet’s counter-tariffs on U.S. goods, the Bank of Canada said yesterday. Researchers called the short-lived policy a rare test of how much tariffs cost consumers in real time: “Tariff pass-through is significant but partial.”
Indigenous prisoners are about twice as likely to be gang members as other federal inmates, says the Correctional Service. The agency said Indigenous gang members also tended to be younger and more violent than other prisoners: “Family fragmentation, foster care, etcetera, all play a role.”
Staff in Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Privy Council Office attended a closed-door March 10 meeting to discuss which reporters would be blacklisted or “accredited,” Access To Information records show. Carney weeks later commemorated World Press Freedom Day by announcing: “A strong, independent and free press both defines and defends our values.”
Cabinet will maintain “advancement of religion” as a charitable purpose under the Income Tax Act, says Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne. The pledge followed a Commons finance committee report recommending an end to religious charities: “Canada is not considering amending the Act to remove the advancement of religion.”
Benefits for seniors now account for $1 of every $6 in federal spending, says the Budget Office. Pensioners have outnumbered children in Canada since 2023: “Old Age Security is currently the largest federal program.”
Liberal MP Lori Idlout (Nunavut) remains a major shareholder in a company that received nearly $600,000 in federal contracts in the past five years, newly-released records show. The company runs Indigenous training workshops for federal employees: “This is a highly specialized training program.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs called police after bomb threats targeted a pro-democracy Chinese dance troupe, records show. An RCMP investigation is underway into threats by suspected Chinese Communist Party agents: “The department is aware of the very troubling bombing and mass shooting threats that targeted Shen Yun dance performances.”
