English speaking Canadians remain indifferent to French despite 54 years of official bilingualism, says in-house federal research. A majority of residents in two provinces, British Columbia and Alberta, said they did not know a single French person: "Positive statements about bilingualism are higher among those living in the eastern part of the country than in the West."
The pending loss of a federal riding in northern Ontario comes at a “very fragile time for democracy,” says New Democrat MP Charlie Angus (Timmins-James Bay, Ont.). A federal commission has recommended redrawing much of Angus’ riding into a new constituency 520,300 square kilometres in size: "Is your opposition to cutting a seat in northern Ontario about protecting your own riding?"
The Department of Industry now expects a heavily-subsidized Volkswagen battery factory will last perhaps “dozens of years,” says Deputy Minister Simon Kennedy. Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne had predicted it would survive 100 years. Kennedy did not explain the discrepancy: "Is that a challenge?"
Cabinet’s National Housing Strategy Act has financed construction of 106,000 homes since 2019, new figures show. CMHC has estimated builders are short of demand by 400,000 a year: "We have a large task in front of us."
The Department of Public Safety is finally installing full body scanners in federal prisons 15 years after the devices were first introduced at Canadian airports. Parliament approved their use in prisons in 2019: "The use of body scan search technology is considerate of inmate, staff and visitor gender considerations."
Successful prosecutions under federal usury laws number only four or five a year, according to Department of Justice figures. Cabinet wrote revisions to loansharking bans into Bill C-47 its Budget Implementation Act: "We haven’t seen much."
One of Canada’s largest mortgage brokers describes as “a fishing expedition” an investigation of its business practices by anti-trust lawyers. The federal Competition Bureau seeks a court order compelling Dominion Lending Centres to surrender confidential records: 'It is essentially a fishing expedition.'
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom writes: “It’s been said great nations act like gangsters, small ones like prostitutes…”
A New Brunswick schoolgirl was so anxious over her father’s deployment to Afghanistan she felt like vomiting every time the phone rang. Another recalled a sibling who “had nightmares that my dad blew up and he had no face.” A third remembers being reprimanded for weeping in class: “My teacher told me to stop crying because there was no reason to cry, and that it was stupid for me to cry over something like that. I got mad at her because my dad just left to go to war for six months, and I’m pretty sure that’s a valid reason to be upset.”
These are the stories in Armyville: Canada’s Military Families During the Afghanistan Mission. The narrative is compelling. Poet Raymond Souster, a WWII volunteer, said every patriot who would send Canadians to war should first walk through the ward in a veterans’ hospital. They should also read Armyville.
The Prime Minister's Office yesterday acknowledged it was told two years ago of a security memo detailing Chinese threats against the family of Conservative MP Michael Chong (Wellington-Halton Hills, Ont.). There was no explanation of why Justin Trudeau said he only learned of the threats last Monday: "He closed his eyes. It’s only now that he is interested because the information leaked out."
Room and board for illegal immigrants who entered Canada at a single Québec border crossing cost more than $127 million in the past five years, new data show. The figures, the highest disclosed to date, include hotel room bookings from Surrey, B.C. to St. John’s: "Staggering."
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland faces an opposition filibuster over her latest omnibus budget bill. Conservative MPs at the Commons finance committee delayed all clause-by-clause votes until Freeland appears for questioning: "Oh my goodness."
Cabinet's estimated $5.2 billion cost of settling with striking federal employees did not include the expense of $2,500 bonuses, says Treasury Board President Mona Fortier. Bonuses would add more than a third of a billion to the settlement: "We can adjust the amount."
Canada Post yesterday reported a pre-tax loss of $548 million last year. Cabinet has yet to detail a management plan to return the post office to profitability but polled Canadians on service cuts: "To what extent would you support or oppose an end to door to door home delivery?"
Alexandre Trudeau yesterday said Canadians “need to recognize certain accomplishments” of the Chinese Communist Party. “I am a reader of Confucius,” the Prime Minister’s brother testified at the Commons ethics committee: "We need to recognize certain accomplishments of that regime."
