Cabinet members facing re-election commissioned Privy Council research on whether Filipino-Canadian voters felt they were getting enough "attention," newly-disclosed records show. Liberals currently hold all but three of the ten largest Filipino ridings nationwide: 'Several spoke positively about increasing immigration.'
The federal “safe supply” drug policy is senseless and destructive, says Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre. Speaking in Vancouver, Poilievre told business owners that cabinet must “break the cycle of addiction that is raging out of control in our country.”
Uncorroborated childhood memories cannot be reported as fact, says the CBC’s Ombudsman. The advisory followed complaints a Manitoba town was unfairly depicted as cruel and bigoted in a Truth and Reconciliation Day story: "Our article could have been clearer about the extent to which we were relying on the perceptions of children 45 years later."
Federal anti-trust lawyers are tracking more complaints of false environmental claims by businesses claiming to be net zero, Commissioner of Competition Matthew Boswell wrote in a letter to senators. Current law must be broadened to deal with fake “green” advertising, he said: 'For example, claims about being ‘net zero’ or ‘carbon neutral by 2030.'
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom writes: “You know what bad neighbours are like; they smile and wave, pretending to be your friends…”
In 1959 one of Canada’s great hell-raisers, Aaron Sapiro, died in Los Angeles. There is no gravesite. Sapiro left his body to medical students.
Sapiro as a community organizer in the 1920s promoted co-operatives for grain, dairy and fruit producers from British Columbia to Nova Scotia. He created Prairie wheat pools. “You need to be paid decent prices,” he told farmers.
Saskatoon once presented him the keys to the city in tribute to his public service. The periodical Farm And Home wrote in 1922 that Sapiro “did more than any other man on earth to make farmers the most prosperous and contented in the world.”
Spy the land and you will not find a single monument to Sapiro, though his legacy is everywhere. Such is the fate of community organizers. “Organizing isn’t all fun and winning,” writes Matt Price, former campaign director for Environmental Defence Canada. “It also involves drudgery, tension and controversy.”
Homeowners with billions in mortgages face a “trigger point” on default, says a federal memo. Peter Routledge, Superintendent of Financial Institutions, has repeatedly warned Parliament to brace for fallout from variable rate, fixed payment home loans: "Mortgages such as these total $369 billion."
Treasury Board President Anita Anand has been summoned for questioning over suspicious ArriveCan contracting. Anand as Minister of Public Works was in charge of contracting when program costs soared to $59.5 million on alleged bribery, fraud and bid-rigging: 'They make it sound like she is a passenger, not steering the ship.'
The Department of Public Works last year fired five employees for sweetheart contracting, Deputy Minister Arianne Reza disclosed yesterday. Managers were concerned about “integrity of the system,” she said: "Where does the buck stop?"
The Department of Indigenous Services is attempting to verify contractors who identify as First Nations, Inuit or Métis. It follows the suspension of a federal employee who claimed to be a descendent of an Ojibway chief in applying for millions in contracts: "I myself have picked up the phone to speak to the RCMP."
A national ombudsman yesterday dismissed 157 complaints against a British Columbia radio host falsely accused of Islamophobia. The complaints followed a “volatile” call-in segment in which a Muslim guest compared Hamas terrorists to Nelson Mandela: "Not on my show."
The Commons public accounts committee yesterday by a 6 to 5 vote asked that Parliament ban insider contracting by federal employees. Liberal MPs opposed the motion prompted by disclosures a defence contractor made millions while on the Department of National Defence payroll: "We seem unable to call a spade a spade."
A two-man consulting firm based in a private home in Woodlawn, Ont. received a total $107.7 million in federal contracts, the highest figure confirmed to date, Comptroller General Roch Huppé said yesterday. Huppé could not explain why GC Strategies Inc. was able to skirt contracting rules: "You just wash your hands of that? Is that the way it works?"
Repeated reference to ArriveCan as “Arrive-scam” promotes public cynicism, Liberal MP Iqra Khalid (Mississauga-Erin Mills, Ont.) yesterday told the Commons public accounts committee. “It is impacting public trust,” she said.
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault yesterday skipped a summons for questioning by the Commons transport committee despite two weeks’ notice. MPs had sought to cross-examine Guilbeault over his remarks that Canada had enough roads and didn’t need more: "He is now refusing to answer questions."
