Federal payroll costs total a record $71.1 billion annually and are headed for more than $76 billion based on current trends, the Budget Office said yesterday. It follows cabinet’s Throne Speech announcement that it would be “capping the public service.”
Attorney General Sean Fraser is asking a federal judge to quash his own government’s release of a secret report deemed “injurious to national defence.” The Department of Justice seeks to block the scheduled release of the Access To Information document next Tuesday: ‘The risks are significant.’
A Liberal Senate appointee who denounced Conservative critics as “cold-blooded” on climate change jetted home each weekend to Winnipeg for no official reason, accounts show. Senator Charles Adler (Man.) yesterday had no comment: “No matter how much I read, I never feel I understand enough about the issue of our time, climate change.”
Clean Fuel Regulations that will add 17¢ to a litre of gasoline by 2030 should be repealed, Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre said yesterday. In-house research by the Department of Natural Resources found most Canadians were unaware of the impact of the regulations: “Have you been able to afford the energy bills for your household’s daily needs?”
Energy workers typically take years to recover from mass layoffs, Statistics Canada said yesterday. New data on lost earnings follow a 2022 federal memo that acknowledged climate policies would result in “significant labour market disruptions.”
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.”
