The Mounties from 1955 kept a blacklist of Canadian addresses designated as “potential hideouts” for traveling Communists, declassified records show. The list included homes, cabins, motels, fishing lodges, farms and trailer parks in seven provinces, and was updated annually for years: 'We have noticed Communists visiting out of the way places to spend vacation.'
Labour Minister Patty Hajdu faces Commons human resources committee questioning over cabinet’s unprecedented use of the Canada Labour Code to quash lawful strikes, an issue currently before the Federal Court. One Liberal MP called hearings a political ploy to embarrass the government: "This is a hot issue right now and everybody is talking about it."
The Canada Border Services Agency for years at a time intercepted only a handful of stolen vehicles at the nation’s largest port, records show. Agency managers admitted they had no idea how many vehicles were exported by thieves: "There are areas for improvement."
Canadian companies that shift production to the United States to evade tariffs should face prosecution under a 40-year old law, says a Unifor petition to the Commons finance committee. The nation’s largest private sector union also proposed a federal ban on imports from border-crossing corporations: "You just don’t get to shift production south of the border without there being punishment or penalties."
Environmental groups are petitioning the Commons finance committee to launch a Youth Climate Corps at a billion a year. Cabinet promised a similar initiative in its election platform, but as a pilot project at a fraction of the cost: "The investment must go much further."
The president of an Ontario college listed among the heaviest users of foreign student permits says Canada lost “trust and credibility” in curbing applications. MPs on the Commons immigration committee expressed frustration with testimony by David Agnew, president of Toronto’s Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology: "You make over $450,000 a year."
Governor General Mary Simon yesterday praised public efforts in learning more about the Indigenous experience in Canada. Her scripted remarks for Truth and Reconciliation Day were in contrast to a 2023 speech in which the Governor General referenced hidden Residential School burials and media “denialism.”
The Canadian Space Agency will ask employees to self-identify sexual and gender preferences as “key to driving organizational success.” Census data show fewer than half of one percent of Canadians identify as transgender or non-binary: "We have updated our internal self-declaration forms to enable employees to self-declare as members of the two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual community."
The CRTC yesterday abolished the phone book as a condition of telecom licensing. One commissioner, the lone dissenter, called it a disservice for Canadians in country ridings who must still rely on landlines and telephone directories: "Should we not make an effort to hear from those most likely to depend on phone books?"
The National Research Council is budgeting millions to renovate a vacant library into an “engaging workplace” with an atrium, staff gymnasium, “wellness rooms” and an executive suite for Mitch Davies, its $377,500-a year president. Notices to contractors were issued Friday, only days after the Prime Minister instructed federal agencies to earmark unused property for public housing: "Our people make big things possible."
The Department of Environment secretly commissioned in-house research on a New Democrat proposal to restrict advertising by oil companies, records show. Pollsters were told to gauge support for the private bill by then-MP Charlie Angus (Timmins-James Bay, Ont.) though the measure never went further than First Reading in the Commons: "Fossil fuel advertising currently deploys techniques which knowingly mislead the public."
A subsidized “anti-hate” expert blames Blacklock’s Reporter for a review of its federal funding. Evan Balgord, executive director of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, said in a Friday podcast he thought Blacklock’s was “really cool” until it began reporting on his activities: "They’re the ones who recently reported that we target Catholics."
Canadians nationwide would be directed to open Canada Day celebrations with Indigenous “sacred fires or other appropriate ceremony” under a petition sponsored by Liberal MP Karina Gould (Burlington, Ont.). It follows a federal report suggesting July 1 observances “adapt to emerging needs and social expectations.”
Illegal immigrants need more free legal help, Amnesty International says in a submission to the Commons finance committee. The Federal Courts Administration Service has complained immigration cases are already clogging dockets with taxpayers' costs up more than 300 percent: "Provide Legal Aid funding to ensure certainty and consistency for refugees and migrants regardless of where they are in the country."
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom writes: “Compasses of all shapes and sizes on display at the outdoor equipment store. I check the selection, wondering who’s buying them…”
