Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson yesterday said he was one of the few MPs still alive who personally knew Tommy Douglas. Record show Douglas left Saskatchewan years before Wilkinson was born. Staff clarified Wilkinson’s claim: "Minister Wilkinson met Mr. Douglas a couple of times."
The Public Service Alliance of Canada yesterday urged 120,000 members to ratify a Treasury Board contract that met many of its key demands in a 12-day strike. “This agreement delivers important gains for our members and will set the bar for all workers in Canada,” said Chris Aylward, national president.
Dozens of organized crime groups have “influence” in the public sector, says a federal report. “Infiltration in public sector agencies is not necessary to support organized crime operations,” wrote police: "Corrupt activities in government processes can increase project costs by up to 50 percent."
Universities should mandate anti-Black racism training and fund an “Award for Black Excellence,” says a federal report. “A wider range of topics may be explored to understand the implications of Blackness,” wrote advisors to the $1.2 billion Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council: "We must be relentless in our pursuit of equity."
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's brother has been summoned to testify Wednesday at the Commons ethics committee over his role at the Trudeau Foundation. Alexandre Trudeau was a senior director when the Foundation falsified reports to conceal Chinese donations, says a former CEO. The Income Tax Act requires that all charities truthfully account for donations under threat of 125 percent penalties and loss of charitable status: "A Chinese Association was communicating with employees of the Foundation. They were giving clear direction on what needed to appear on receipts."
Today marks the last tax deadline that sees the Canada Revenue Agency accept cheques for all payments under a practice dating back 106 years. The Agency said it will detail new rules on electronic transfers for large payments to take effect in 2024: 'We will communicate details in due course.'
Uncollected customs duties still run to millions despite a 2017 report that recommended an immediate crackdown on tax evasion, says an internal Canada Border Services Agency audit. Inspectors complained of “significant non-compliance” by importers dodging tariffs: "Challenges were encountered."
Cabinet was warned Canadians were upset with ineffective gun laws just seven weeks before it abandoned plans to restrict hunting rifles. Internal Privy Council polling showed Canadians complained gun crimes went unresolved while cabinet chased pointless legislation: 'Their impression is crimes involving firearms had largely continued unabated.'
A third of Canadians with high skill jobs have a Grade 12 certificate or are high school dropouts, says federal research. Conversely more than a third of low skill jobs are held by Canadians with a postsecondary education: "The correlation between educational attainment and holding a lower or higher skilled job was not as high as one might expect."
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom writes: Public transit becomes dangerous. More robberies, sexual assaults than ever. Police storm bus stations, charging three for possessing open alcohol containers…”
Police were not infrequent visitors to author Cheri DiNovo’s childhood home. All families have troubles but DiNovo’s make Angela’s Ashes look like a holiday camp. “I grew up in a violent, neurotic, narcissistic household where victims of their own personal traumas acted out in nasty, aggressive ways,” she writes. “This is not to blame any of them.”
Take Uncle Ken, one of the more responsible adults in the home. “It was Ken who took me to dance classes, Ken who took us shopping, Ken who drove us up to the family cottage and stayed with us there, Ken who financially supported us, Ken who always arrived at breakfast at the same time,” writes DiNovo.
“My breakfast was Sugar Crisp, white toast and milk. His, brown toast and coffee. It was also Ken who, one day as I was slurping down my second bowl of cereal, picked up a knife and slashed my Aunt Lorna across the neck.”
The Senate last evening by a 52 to 16 vote passed into law first-ever federal regulations of legal internet content in Canada. “I am excited,” Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez told reporters.
Bank scares in the U.S. and Switzerland have prompted cabinet to grant itself unusual powers to stem any financial panic in Canada. “Why is it that government feels those authorities should be granted?” New Democrat MP Daniel Blaikie (Elmwood-Transcona, Man.) yesterday asked the Commons finance committee: "There are some extraordinary powers."
The CBC is a “pillar of democracy,” Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said yesterday. The network in the past year published 36 corrections: "We have seen some very troubling trends around the attack on the role that media play including the CBC."
Most Canadians named in the offshore Panama Papers scandal had actually paid their taxes, says the Canada Revenue Agency. Auditors said only two criminal investigations are ongoing following the disclosures seven years ago: "Just because a Canadian individual or company has their name in a leak, it doesn’t necessarily mean they have not met their tax obligations."
