Avalanches are the “deadliest natural hazard in Canada,” says a Department of Public Safety report. More people die in avalanches than earthquakes, floods, hail, icebergs or volcanic eruptions, it said, though mountaineering is statistically less risky than taking a bath or eating a meal: 'Avalanches kill more people annually than all other natural hazards combined.'
The Conservative Party last night in a byelection upset toppled a longtime Liberal stronghold in Toronto-St. Paul’s. The win ended a Liberal monopoly of Toronto ridings that narrowly re-elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority government three years ago: "Send Justin Trudeau a message."
Ottawa media last night mistakenly proclaimed the Liberal Party as victors once again in a Toronto byelection. “A win’s a win,” said Paul Wells, pundit and Trudeau author, while one news agency formerly owned by the Toronto Star published a now-deleted headline announcing a Liberal win before all ballots were counted: "The Trudeau team will show new spring in its step."
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s department confidentially polled Canadians on resentment against “the rich” before announcing an $18 billion hike in the capital gains tax, records show. Freeland, a millionaire, within days of receiving the pollsters’ report began characterizing critics as having “rich friends.”
Public support for immigration quotas is falling sharply, says a federal report. The Department of Immigration memo said a third of Canadians nationwide and a clear majority of Ontarians complain there are too many immigrants: "This is the most concern about the rate of immigration to Canada that we have seen in nearly 20 years."
The Commons justice committee has published 78 petitions and reports documenting vulgar anti-Semitism from universities to elementary schools. It follows testimony from witnesses who said campuses now lead the nation in “Jew hate.”
More than a tenth of young drivers have operated a vehicle after using marijuana, says a Department of Public Safety report. Researchers acknowledged Parliament’s 2018 legalization of recreational cannabis countered years of progress in reducing impaired driving rates: 'It is significant.'
The Department of Natural Resources in an internal memo acknowledges cabinet’s 2019 promise to plant two billion trees within a decade was faked. “Two billion trees” was picked as an inspirational slogan and should not be taken literally, it said: "I can’t give an exact date on when the two billion trees will be planted exactly."
The Public Health Agency in an in-house memo says it introduced the $59.5 million ArriveCan app because it feared ordinary Customs forms were infected with Covid. The Agency’s own doctors at the time said there was no evidence paper spread the coronavirus: "We were told we could catch Covid from touching documents."
Tax write-offs jumped 55 percent last year to more than $4.3 billion, records show. The Canada Revenue Agency gave no reason for the surprising increase: "It really has the appearance of an Agency without accountability."
Cabinet sees “potential” in a Department of Employment scheme to build Canada’s biggest database using payroll information on 31 million tax filers. “Government departments and agencies could then access the information when they need it,” said a Briefing Binder: "It would impact every employer and every worker in Canada."
Loblaw Companies and its subsidiaries pocketed more than $10 million in federal subsidies since 2019, records show. New Democrat Alexandre Boulerice (Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie, Que.), the MP who requested the figures, protested that taxpayers who can’t afford to shop at Loblaw still have to pay for it: "Enough is enough."
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom writes: “Boston’s transportation system. The Big Dig. Scheduled to complete in 1998 for $2.6 billion. Completed in 2007 for $14.6 billion…”
If hindsight is 20-20 it’s also two dimensional. The past is often depicted by amateur historians and skillful propagandists as a morality play with cardboard characters: good, bad, black hat, white hat. This is the screenplay of every John Wayne film you ever saw.
More Than Just Games asks, why did Canada support the 1936 Nazi Olympics? There were several reasons. Co-authors Richard Menkis of the University of British Columbia and Harold Troper of the University of Toronto are talented writers with a keen eye for detail.
Just Games is not merely honest, it is compelling. First, Menkis and Troper dispense with myths.
No, Hitler did not pointedly refuse to shake U.S. sprinter Jesse Owen’s hand after the black athlete won gold. Hitler had shaken so many hands earlier in the games the International Olympic Committee told the effusive Fuehrer he’d breached protocol: no more handshakes.
Cabinet aides yesterday confirmed they withheld spy documents requested by the China inquiry. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s national security advisor testified she did not know how many confidential memos were concealed: "It is impossible."
