Cabinet yesterday again extended an amnesty for various “assault style” firearms pending a final Supreme Court judgment. The amnesty was deferred to an unspecified date in 2027: "The government is providing certainty."
A defence industry start-up whose chief lobbyist is the brother of Deputy Defence Minister Christiane Fox won a private audience with the Prime Minister to discuss drone technology, records show. The Privy Council yesterday had no comment: "Can you assure Parliament and Canadians that you won’t be using your office as a public office holder to further the interests of private individuals?"
It will take 1,000 years at current construction rates to fully restore housing affordability for the poorest Canadians, says Housing Advocate Marie-Josée Houle. The cabinet advisor in her annual report to Parliament said new supply of public and co-op housing was critical: "The current pace of building deeply affordable homes is so slow it would take over 1,000 years."
Young Canadians respect the military though few want to actually enlist, says in-house Department of National Defence research. Cabinet is on a recruitment drive to meet its minimum target of 71,500 regular forces, trained and equipped: "The most compelling reasons to consider an Armed Forces career are practical and financial."
Parliament spends more than $14 billion a year on Old Age Security for pensioners with household incomes over $60,000, records show. A federally-funded research group has petitioned cabinet to tighten income testing for seniors: "It’s appropriate to ask retirees with six-figure incomes to accept fewer taxpayer dollars."
Alberta separatists are rational people who share “legitimate grievances,” Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre said yesterday. The native Calgarian said he personally opposed independence but cautioned critics from being snide or dismissive: "If you want frustrated Albertans to vote for Canada, the absolute worst thing we can do is dismiss their legitimate grievances."
Managers have spent nearly $1.6 million advertising a regional high speed rail service that doesn’t exist, records show. The Crown corporation responsible for the railway-on-paper now has 13 vice presidents: "How many?"
Anti-trust lawyers are asking a federal judge to compel disclosure of confidential terms of leases held by one of the nation’s largest grocery chains. Operators of Sobeys are accused of breaching the Competition Act by negotiating restrictive clauses in leases with mall owners: "Real estate that is suitable and commercially attractive for grocery stores appears limited."
Forty percent of poll workers and returning officers surveyed want to retain old-fashioned hand counting of paper ballots in future campaigns, says an Elections Canada report. It followed a 2021 Liberal Party proposal for voting by smartphone: "This is pretty significant."
Commercial radio stations would receive forever licenses under a CRTC proposal detailed Friday. Regulations open for public comment to July 6 would extend AM and FM licenses in perpetuity, saving station operators the cost of attending regular renewal hearings every five to seven years: 'This would save time and effort.'
The Senate has passed into law a cybersecurity bill rewritten by critics with greater privacy protection. The measure in final debate was rated better than none: "Yes, this legislation is long overdue."
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom writes: “Applicants for Summer Jobs program must check a box on the form. Agree with women’s right to abortion…”
The First World War gave Canada progressive income tax, national trade unions, the Department of Health, votes for women and daylight saving time. The price was 61,802 dead and 172,000 injured. Was it worth it?
With the passing of all eyewitnesses to the cataclysm, Canadian culture has “systematically diminished the violent effects of the First World War,” notes The Great War. Politicians sense it is now safe to stand on tombstones to speak on patriotic themes that play well with focus groups. It is left to historians to correct the record.
Great War is drawn from a Western University conference that saw researchers, genealogists and others examine the cost and contribution. “Military triumphs and narratives of sacrifice will have to be weighed carefully against the brutal realities of the war’s human cost,” editors write.
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne misled Canadians on the size of his near-record 2025 deficit, Budget Office figures disclosed yesterday. Analysts said there is now a 99 percent chance the finance department will miss ongoing targets: "What credibility do you think you have on any fiscal matter?"
The Senate yesterday rewrote a hate crimes bill to restrict the public display of the noose. The amendment came on a personal appeal by Senator Wanda Thomas Bernard (N.S.) who recounted her own experience with anti-Black bigotry: "They yell profanities at you and tell you to go back to Africa.”
