The Canada Revenue Agency polled Canadians on whether they resent tax avoidance by the rich. In-house records show the Agency hired researchers at $174,047 to poll public resentment about the tax habits of wealthy Canadians: "There was specific interest in gauging how respondents view the Agency’s treatment of ‘rich’ people without defining ‘rich.'"
Cabinet should decriminalize heroin nationwide, says a Black Justice Strategy report. One MP of Kenyan descent yesterday called the Department of Justice document “appalling.”
Elections Canada in a report to the China inquiry now says it knew of at least 149 complaints of foreign interference in the last two general elections. The agency two years ago assured MPs it was unaware of any claims foreign agents were at work: "I have no reason to believe the election was not a free and fair election."
Canada’s Ambassador for Climate Change billed more than $254,000 in travel expenses in less than two years on the job, accounts show. Catherine Stewart charged for stays at luxury hotels ranging up to $623 a night, according to Access To Information records: "Climate change will bring unprecedented challenges."
Talk of a home equity tax is merely a “rumor” though the Prime Minister met privately for an hour with equity tax lobbyists, says Liberal MP Karina Gould (Burlington, Ont.). Political aides in Gould's office in a note to homeowners dismissed the meeting as routine and unimportant: "I can assure you."
The Canada Revenue Agency demanded Saskatchewan pay $42.4 million worth of carbon taxes within 14 days or else, according to Federal Court records. Saskatchewan Attorney General Bronwyn Eyre called the unprecedented order an obvious threat at political direction: "They started with the threats."
Canadians will live in townhouses and walk-up apartments under a Housing Design Catalogue for builders and buyers. No designs for detached single family homes are welcome: "I want to solve the housing crisis."
Risks of money laundering in real estate have worsened despite attempts to curb black marketeers, the Department of Finance said Saturday. The department in a regulatory notice said it will mandate that all realtors identify anyone involved in the purchase or sale of property in Canada: "Realtors do not want to see a single dollar of dirty money."
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom writes: “Followed a floater in my eyeball. Saw it disappearing before I could reach to a pen…”
At a plain beige Parliamentary cafeteria where Canada’s leaders took lunch there was a salad bar with fresh greens, chickpeas, beets and whole broccoli, sometimes artichoke hearts. It was the most colourful table in the place. Further down was a grey deep fryer that sold salted, fat-laden potatoes and meats. Can you guess which had the line-up every day at noon?
In examining the national diet, Professor Anthony Winson of the University of Guelph laments the “nutritional degradation of food.” It is not food at all, Winson writes, but “edible commodities that too often subvert our well-being and promote disease instead of nourishing us.”
Soft-drink consumption in Canada increased 50 percent in a generation. The incidence of diabetes in Ontario alone rose from 6.6 percent of the population to 10.5 percent in a decade. Nationwide Canadians spent $2 billion a year on confectionery where profit margins average 35 percent. Industrial Diet notes this is neither new nor unique. Consumption of sugar in the U.K. first spiked in 1844 and has risen almost annually ever since except for periods of wartime rationing.
There is no evidence a $30 billion national daycare program saw more mothers join the workforce, says a federal document. The Department of Social Development briefing note directly contradicted claims by Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland: "That is feminist economic policy."
Eight Canadian diplomats couldn’t spot the error on a large map of Canada displayed at our Embassy in Washington, Access To Information records show. Staff at the Embassy yesterday would not comment on the banner that mistakenly identified Greenland as Canadian territory: "Great, thank you."
An undisclosed number of Liberal MPs want the Prime Minister out, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said yesterday. Freeland told reporters the “vast majority” but not all members of the Liberal caucus support Justin Trudeau: 'The people did send us a message.'
Taxpayers should expect “mind blowing” costs from cabinet’s program to censor legal internet content, Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner (Calgary Nose Hill) said yesterday. Budget Office figures requested by the MP said internet surveillance will take an entire bureaucracy with at least 330 federal employees and a five-year budget of $201 million: "The mind-blowing cost of the bill could grow."
Federal prisons are contracting Amazon.com to run a delivery service for inmates. The Correctional Service promised there was no cost to taxpayers: "All items are purchased using inmate funds and are at zero cost to Canada."
