An internal report is faulting Labour Minister Patty Hajdu’s department for poor service and growing backlogs of unresolved complaints under the Canada Labour Code. “Backlogs have increased significantly,” wrote auditors.
Taxpayers paid $487.9 million to plant 228 million trees under the now-disbanded Two Billion Trees Program, records show. Official figures counted millions of saplings scheduled for planting in national parks that were not actually planted: “The program made strong progress.”
A newly-registered Commons petition yesterday challenged Prime Minister Mark Carney to reinstate a $3.7 billion Google tax he suspended 14 months ago as “part of a bigger negotiation” with the United States. Collapse of trade talks cleared the way to revive the tax approved by Parliament, wrote petitioners: “This tax concession has yielded no lasting benefit.”
Costs of lawyers’ billable hours on land claims and other Indigenous litigation went up 24 percent after then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau disbanded the old Department of Indian Affairs to create two new departments, figures show. “Roles and responsibilities are not always understood,” wrote auditors.
Civil defence planners in 1954 proposed drawing up a “brains and skill” A-list of gifted Canadians to be saved in case of nuclear war, newly-declassified records show. People whose intelligence was deemed essential would help rebuild a postwar world, said a secret memo: “Special facilities should be provided to preserve the lives of persons whose intelligence and experience may be essential.”
Ron Hallman, the $327,000-a year Parks Canada CEO responsible for forest management, was given a hero’s farewell in retirement with an Army band and testimonial by a former prime minister, Access To Information records show. No mention was made of the disastrous 2024 Jasper fire: “Showcase Ron’s accomplishments.”
Cabinet yesterday approved a rare deer cull at a national historic site. The Department of Environment in a legal notice called it a question of public safety: “A controlled cull was determined to be the most effective approach.”
Taxpayers must wait until a fall budget update for details of costs to households and industry from retaliatory tariffs, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said yesterday. Cabinet detailed a limited $7.5 billion aid package that business groups dismissed as cumbersome and ineffectual: “Is Canada still committed to a fiscal anchor?”
Conservatives yesterday invoked Prime Minister Mark Carney’s misrepresentations over the Gordie Howe International Bridge in demanding he now disclose terms proposed by Canada to avert a continental trade war. Carney secretly agreed to toll concessions as “a good deal for Canada,” then denied the terms and called toll splitting proof of erratic behaviour by Americans: “Transparency is essential.”
Billions in retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods from farm equipment to smartphones are intended to punish Republican voters, Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said yesterday. Retaliation was “wise and strategic,” she said.
A federal labour board has dismissed a constitutional challenge of the use of Social Insurance Numbers to catch government employees who falsely claimed pandemic relief benefits. The Canada Revenue Agency had “a legitimate interest” in knowing whether any staff were cheats, ruled adjudicators: “It knew that some wrongdoing had occurred, and it had a legitimate interest in discovering the extent.”
The military in an annual update on suicides said there were no “statistically significant” changes in rates, and that suicide overall was no more common among Canadian Armed Forces members than the general public. The Commons veterans affairs committee has recommended yearly reporting on suicide rates: “A detailed and nuanced understanding of the epidemiology of suicide is essential.”
Cabinet will do “whatever it takes for as long as it takes” to compensate Canadians for losses in a widening trade war, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said yesterday. His remarks came five months after Champagne promised to control deficit spending: “How are you going to bring your spending under control?”
Leaders stung by a widening trade war yesterday piled insults onto the U.S.A. Ontario Premier Doug Ford likened trading with America to sending weapons to Iranian terrorists and said U.S. President Donald Trump could “kiss my ass.” Prime Minister Mark Carney in separate remarks said America was as unreliable as Russia. Trump in reply called both men “clowns.”
Parliament must be recalled from its 13-week summer recess to address a widening continental trade war, Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre said yesterday. The Commons trade committee in 2024 held emergency hearings under similar circumstances: “Canadians elect Parliament to defend their interests and decide the hard questions.”
