Blacklock's Reporter

A Jewish aid group was stripped of charitable status for providing indirect aid to Israeli Defence Forces, Access To Information records show. Ne’eman Foundation Canada of Thornhill, Ont. argued it helped individual ex-military and that national service was an inseparable part of Israeli life: ‘Aiding Canada’s armed forces is charitable; supporting the armed forces of another country is not.’

Parliament must enact tougher laws to shield the nation’s telecom networks from copper thieves, say business groups. Boards of trade in three cities petitioned the Senate transport and communications committee to rewrite the Criminal Code: “Copper theft is a growing problem.”

Happy New Year! Blacklock’s pauses this week for our annual holiday break. We’re back January 2 — The Editor

Merry Christmas and warmest regards to friends and subscribers. Blacklock’s wishes you a safe and happy holiday — The Editor

A third of Canadians borrow from friends or run up credit card debt to buy food, pay the rent or cover other monthly expenses, says in-house federal research. Figures show nearly 4 in 10 people surveyed now carry credit card balances typically charged at 19 percent: ‘There are difficult economic conditions.’

The Canada Revenue Agency yesterday would not comment on warnings it will enforce a $17.4 billion increase in capital gains taxes though the measure never passed Parliament. An Agency manager publicly stated auditors will “continue to administer the proposed legislation” as if it was law: “This makes no sense at all.”

Parks Canada admits it got its facts wrong in a historical commemoration. The agency called Saskatchewan high jumper Ethel Catherwood the first Canadian woman to win a gold medal in Olympic track and field. Catherwood was neither Canadian nor the first gold medalist: ‘We ask those who covered the story to issue a correction.’

Four percent of cross-border travelers are using the federal ArriveCan app, new data show. Voluntary use of the costly application plummeted once cabinet stopped mandating its use in 2022: “How many?”

Almost half of young adults are marijuana users, says a Department of Health report. The rate is 40.5 percent for high schoolers: “Cannabis use among young adults has increased.”

Alberta’s share of the Canada Pension Plan is only worth a third the amount claimed by the province, says a federal report. The analysis by Canada’s Chief Actuary was commissioned after Premier Danielle Smith released data stating Alberta was owed more than half the fund: ‘It is of particular significance.’

Parliament must cut short its five-week Christmas recess to end “total mayhem” in the federal cabinet, says Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre. The appeal followed the loss of more Commons votes that left the two-member Green Party as the only opposition caucus to support Prime Minister Justin Trudeau: “I have never seen anything like it. It is hallucinogenic.”

Cabinet has a new housing minister, the fourth in three years, with updated figures showing construction starts are not close to federal targets. “I understand there’s a short runway,” Minister Nathaniel Erskine-Smith told reporters.

Spanking harms children and should be criminalized, says the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime. Benjamin Roebuck in a letter to senators said Parliament must repeal an 1892 clause of the Criminal Code that allows parents to use reasonable force to correct misbehaving children: “I remain deeply concerned about violence experienced by children.”

Homeowners in one province, Prince Edward Island, accounted for more than half of successful federal applications for the subsidized purchase of heat pumps, records show. Islanders’ claims numbered in the thousands while only a handful of Prairie homeowners qualified for grants: “How many?”