Newly-declassified records show the federal cabinet months before 9/11 was told Canadian charities were being used for terrorist financing. “Most of the world’s terrorist organizations had supporters in Canada,” read minutes of one confidential meeting: "One Minister commented on the need to closely examine the use of charities."
Federal forecasters propose to change the way they talk about the weather, says a report. The Meteorological Service of Canada said it will simplify its current list of dozens of hazards, warnings and alerts: "Canada currently issues alerts for around 28 types of hazards."
A news website Press Progress in business since 2013 faces a “dire financial situation” over a defamation lawsuit, says a staffer. Press Progress is a key defendant in a $7.65 million libel claim that has seen numerous co-defendants settle for six figures: "The consequence is more accurately due to budget pressures."
Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty’s department in a briefing note says it respects Indigenous “rights and title” to ancestral lands but remains in court over First Nation claims to Parliament Hill. Eastern Ontario Algonquin seek $5 billion in damages: "The intention of the litigation is not to dislodge private landowners."
Security expenses for the FIFA Men’s World Cup cost taxpayers a quarter billion, records show. “We made history,” Liberal MP Adam van Koeverden (Burlington North-Milton West, Ont.), Secretary of State for Sport, earlier told reporters.
Foreign Minister Anita Anand’s department billed taxpayers millions to give away free motorbikes in Ghana but failed to provide funding for parts or fuel. There were “several areas of relative weakness” in the $135 million program, said a consultants’ report released yesterday through Access To Information: 'Funding was unavailable to fuel our motorbikes.'
Canadians are eating less meat and skipping meals altogether due to rising food prices, says in-house research by the Department of Agriculture. Data follow figures showing the typical household is no longer able to meet the Canada Food Guide: "During the last six months, have you skipped meals?"
Immigration Minister Lena Diab’s department in an internal report questioned the point of a program that allowed thousands of jobless foreign actors, comedians and artists to enter Canada in the name of cultural enrichment. “The program’s purpose is ambiguous,” said the report: "Its intent remains unclear."
Parliament must maintain secret subsidies for the Toronto Star to “promote ethical governance,” its publisher has written MPs. Payroll rebates worth $29,750 per newsroom employee are set to roll back to pre-Covid rates of $13,750 this winter: "Priority should be given to maintaining the journalism labour tax credit at current rates."
Parliament would fund a permanent, keyword searchable database of every historic building nationwide under a Commons petition tabled yesterday by Liberal MP Yasir Naqvi (Ottawa Centre). Parks Canada has threatened to delete its online record of 13,554 properties dating from 2004: 'Historic places deserve to be preserved.'
The Department of National Defence polled Canadians on whether they were afraid of U.S. President Donald Trump. The in-house research followed repeated statements by cabinet that Trump sought to “break us so America can own us.”
Infrastructure Minister Gregor Robertson will not say how much taxpayers stand to lose under toll concessions at the Gordie Howe International Bridge. A symbolic opening of the Bridge Friday in Windsor, Ont. was disrupted by a fresh demand for more tolls by U.S. President Donald Trump: "Can you outline how much money Canada expects to give the United States?"
The RCMP says investigators have been reassigned to target foreign interference activities in Ontario. No surveillance subjects were named though public inquiries have documented wrongdoing by agents working out of the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa and Consulate in Toronto: "The RCMP has established dedicated capacity in Ontario."
A cabinet decision to dispense with public hearings on sweeping cuts to mail delivery breaches a Postal Service Charter, says the post office’s largest union. Cabinet confirmed its decision in a Commons tabling: 'It is essential that Canadians' voices are heard.'
A federal judge has ordered the Canadian Human Rights Commission to reopen an investigation on whether denial of a mortgage to a marijuana user is discriminatory. The latest ruling follows years of legal challenges over cannabis and property rights: 'At the heart of the complaint was why Scotiabank called a loan.'
