Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault declined to register an Alberta sovereignty party after staff carefully scrutinized membership rolls for technical disqualification, Access To Information records show. Elections Canada admitted registering other parties that failed to meet the letter of the Elections Act: "I definitely feel they were giving us a hard time."
Defence Minister David McGuinty fell billions short of promised spending on military preparedness equivalent to 2 percent of GDP in 2025, new figures confirm. Cabinet has promised to try again this year: 'We are making reliable contributions to our allies.'
The Department of Employment in Access To Information research compiled a first-ever demographic profile of debtors under the Canada Student Loan Program. Tradespeople and engineers were most likely to meet their payments, said a report: "Borrowers who studied humanities or social sciences were generally most likely to report using repayment assistance."
Wage disparity between union and non-union workers in Canada is down to about 10 percent, says a Commons committee report. MPs credited a “union threat effect” that prompted private sector employers to pay competitive rates: "The mere threat of unionization will drive employers to improve working conditions."
Parliament would honour home bakers and “promote national pride” every April 19 under a Commons petition sponsored by Conservative MP Adam Chambers (Simcoe North, Ont.). The date marks the passing of an Ontario homemaker credited with inventing the butter tart: 'Support our domestic bakers and promote national pride.'
It was one of Ottawa’s greatest architectural losses, the original Customs House. It stood 62 years and even launched the career of a national leader, Mackenzie Bowell, whose primary achievement was growing the finest beard of any prime minister.
In 1955 a round-trip flight from Toronto to Rome was a staggering $677, the modern equivalent of $6,100. It was the cost of a full order of household appliances or a good used car – not that it mattered. Most Canadians went their entire working lives without ever stepping on an airplane for a holiday. Not till 1944 did any province even mandate two weeks’ annual holiday pay for wage earners. A simple vacation was luxury, let alone travel abroad.
“Don’t you get tired of just reading about things?” the frustrated traveler George Bailey is asked in It’s A Wonderful Life. Bailey, like the film audience, accepted he could never get away. So, they dreamed. The phenomenon inspires this compelling book documenting the aspirations of the “middlebrow,” a pejorative first coined in 1924.
Cabinet’s nominee to manage a registry of foreign agents yesterday promised quick results. Anton Boegman, former Chief Electoral Officer for British Columbia, told the House affairs committee he saw no excuse for further delays: "It is essential to start enforcing the rules promptly."
Construction of regional high speed rail is a $90 billion catastrophe for taxpayers, says an MP whose constituency is on the route. Conservative MP Scott Reid (Lanark-Frontenac, Ont.) yesterday warned of "ruined lives" and wasted billions as the Commons passed the High Speed Rail Network Act: 'Why on earth should people in British Columbia, Alberta or Newfoundland pay for this?'
Analysis of millions of credit reports shows heavy use of credit cards is a two-year “early warning signal” of mortgage defaults, Bank of Canada researchers said yesterday. Findings were drawn from nine years’ worth of TransUnion Canada data: "Monitoring early signs of financial stress among mortgage borrowers is crucial."
Subsidies for private sector newsrooms cost taxpayers $170 million last year, the Department of Finance reported yesterday. Publishers successfully lobbied for taxpayers’ aid seven years ago on a promise that subsidies would be transitional and temporary: "There does need to be a deadline."
Cabinet is looking for a third Budget Officer in six months. Interim Officer Jason Jacques yesterday said he had no word on reappointment with four days remaining in his term: "Things were partisan 20 years ago; they are certainly more partisan now."
Fraud in Canada’s refugee system is difficult to gauge but may be significant, says Immigration Minister Lena Diab’s department. A “meaningful proportion of claims” from illegal immigrants and other refugee claimants are ineligible, it said: "Indicators provide a broader picture of integrity pressures."
The Commons yesterday by a 198 to 134 vote rejected a Conservative motion to suspend free medical benefits for illegal immigrants. The vote followed pointed debate: "It is disgusting."
Seizures of fentanyl chemicals by Customs agents under Canada's new "fentanyl czar" are a fraction of what they were three years ago, records show. Kevin Brosseau, the $286,000-a year Commissioner of Canada’s Fight Against Fentanyl, confirmed the figures after claiming “significant progress” since his appointment: "What’s your record?"
