The Commons yesterday by a 192 to 140 vote endorsed cabinet's oil and gas emissions cap. The regulations not yet in force would cost at least $3.4 billion and some 3,400 energy jobs, according to the Department of Environment: "Here is where we disagree."
A federally subsidized advocacy group co-founded by cabinet advisor Amira Elghawaby is hiring a “journalist” to supply media with news items about critics deemed far right. Opponents targeted by the Canadian Anti-Hate Network have included a former premier of Newfoundland and Labrador and pro-life Catholics: 'Sometimes the best way to make sure a story is widely read is to give it away.'
Senator Paula Simons (Alta.) personally complained to Canada’s top air passenger regulator over service on WestJet flights, records show Simons yesterday said her intervention with the CEO of the Canadian Transportation Agency was prompted by systemic issues and “had nothing to do with me, personally.”
The Commons finance committee yesterday voted to investigate corporate tax avoidance through offshore accounts. The sponsor of the motion named Prime Minister Mark Carney as the best-known user of “a two-tier tax code.”
A federal cap on oil and gas emissions will have “very minimal impact,” a Department of Environment manager yesterday told MPs. The testimony by Assistant Deputy Minister Megan Nichols contradicted her own department’s research that predicted thousands of job losses: "Can you confirm?"
Parliament must be prepared to compensate canola farmers for lost income if a trade war with China persists past Christmas, growers yesterday told the Commons agriculture committee. Losses to date are near $2 billion, said the Canadian Canola Growers Association: "The longer this goes on, the worse it will get."
Federal managers paid at least $150,000 a year now number more than 9,400, records show. Disclosure of the latest six-figure list follows Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne’s pledge on belt-tightening: "Times have been challenging for many families across the nation, so it’s only normal that from a government perspective we do the same."
A New Democrat candidate who urged voters to make “a ballot question” of alleged Israeli genocide omitted all reference to past remarks in launching a bid for the Party leadership. Avi Lewis would not comment on 2024 Twitter posts in which he accused Israelis of complicity in one of “humanity’s worst crimes.”
Cabinet proposes to ban the swastika as a terror symbol 80 years after Germany prohibited public display of the Nazi banner. Attorney General Sean Fraser wrote the provision into a new hate crimes bill that would also prohibit bullying of worshippers at churches, temples and other community institutions: "It is important that we do not fail one another."
Taxpayers lost more than $128.6 million on loan defaults through regional development agencies last year, records show. The “vast majority” of defaults fell under pandemic relief programs: "A loss rate of around 40 percent is anticipated."
CBC must be more forthcoming in explaining its purpose in newsgathering, says the network Ombudsman. The direction came on complaints of bias over CBC news coverage of gender identity programs in public schools that only featured LGBTQ guests: "It fell short."
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom writes: “On the shelves, enzymes for lactose intolerance…”
If they were re-inventing Parliament it might not look like the Texas hold ‘em version we have now, a rectangular chamber of adversaries seated face-to-face, seeking advantage and winner-takes-all. This is the product of “critical thinking,” writes Patrick Finn: “A mode of thinking that is governed by a critical approach to all incoming information that has winners and losers.”
“Our system of government is based on a form of critical thinking first established in ancient Greece,” explains Finn, associate professor at the University of Calgary’s School for Creative and Performing Arts. “Does anyone think it is still working? Or are we continually asking ourselves why this system will not allow us to work together more effectively?”
Industry Minister Mélanie Joly’s department yesterday said it needs private consultants’ help in managing “a fundamental rethink” of relations with the United States. The department has more than 6,000 employees and access to fully-staffed Canadian trade offices in 15 American cities: "The Minister and senior Department of Industry officials require current intelligence and support on U.S. political, economic, technology and trade dynamics."
Liberal MP Chrystia Freeland (University-Rosedale, Ont.) faces questioning on suspicion she misled Parliament over taxpayers’ financing of Chinese shipyard jobs. “You can grill her,” said one Liberal MP.
