The federal cabinet will decide which energy projects are deemed “nation-building,” says Prime Minister Mark Carney. However cabinet would not override objections from any premier under a bill tabled in the Commons, he told reporters: "Why did you decide to make this a political decision?"
Canadians choose private sector weather forecasts over Environment Canada, says in-house federal research. The finding followed 2022 disclosures the department scooped data on hundreds of thousands of users who downloaded a government weather app: "The most common apps cited included The Weather Network, AccuWeather and ‘the app that comes on my phone.'"
Housing costs will average 52 percent of household income this year, says a federal memo. The figure in 2015 was 38 percent. “Canada is facing a housing crisis,” said the housing department document: "The cost to construct a residential building in Canada has increased by 58 percent since 2020."
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom writes: “Guns in the U.S. are getting out of hand. Stricter regulations must be set, enforced…”
It took an advertising copywriter, Walter Lord, to discover the Titanic in 1955. Of course everyone knew of the big ship that hit an iceberg, but it was Lord who fashioned the story into a narrative he called A Night To Remember. The non-fiction bestseller was a modest 208 pages yet inspired generations of Titanic-themed novels, films and stage plays based on Lord’s simple premise: There is nothing more interesting than interesting people in trouble.
Similarly ex-newspaperman Joe Scanlon and historian Roger Sarty of Wilfrid Laurier University discover the Halifax Explosion and fashion it into a compelling tale of humanity in Catastrophe: Stories And Lessons From The Halifax Explosion. Everyone knows about the 1917 harbour collision of a munitions ship that blew the city sky high. The drama is not in the unsafe transportation of dangerous goods any more than Titanic is illustrative of bad seamanship. It’s the people who make it an indelible story.
Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday named a third of Liberal backbenchers as parliamentary secretaries. The appointments pay a $20,200-a year bonus: 'It's a mandate for change.'
Conservative MPs yesterday challenged cabinet to detail legal analysis of a landmark bill that would allow police to search the mail. “This is something I know I am going to get mail about,” said MP Frank Caputo (Kamloops-Thompson, B.C.), a former Crown prosecutor: "Tell Canadians what its experts have said about whether this legislation is Charter compliant."
The Commons yesterday by unanimous vote passed a Bloc Québécois bill protecting dairy quotas in all future trade talks. An identical bill was gutted in the Senate last year: "From aluminum to forest products, from shrimp to beef and other food products, from services to technology, all of these other Canadian exports are potentially hampered by this bill."
The federal Competition Bureau yesterday cautioned businesses claiming to be “green” to check their facts. The advisory follows Parliament’s 2024 passage of a bill outlawing fake claims that products are environmentally friendly: "The Bureau’s advice is clear: When in doubt, spell it out."
All major banks have signed on to a federal program to offer basic $4 per month accounts effective December 1, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada said yesterday. It follows estimates that leading banks pocket billions a year in service fees: "All Canadians are eligible."
Opposition parties last evening granted Prime Minister Mark Carney a reprieve on a confidence vote 82 days into his term. MPs mustered enough votes to topple the Liberals but acknowledged Canadians “don’t want an election right now,” said one party leader.
Interest costs on the national debt will hit $70 billion by 2029, the Budget Office warned yesterday. It compares to a pre-pandemic debt servicing charge of $24.4 billion annually: "Debt charges will reach $69.9 billion by 2029."
Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem yesterday expressed worry over creeping unemployment. Statistics Canada is due to release its latest Labour Force Survey tomorrow: "Businesses are generally telling us they plan to scale back hiring."
Tens of thousands of Canadians have unpaid federal fines that run to the millions, says the Public Prosecution Service. At current rates of collection it would take about six years to recover the money that is owed, according to figures detailed in a prosecutors' memo: "It’s as if justice exists only on paper."
Attorney General Sean Fraser yesterday apologized after saying First Nations don’t hold a veto over pipeline projects. Cabinet earlier defended Indigenous pipeline blockades as a democratic right: "Who asked you to apologize?”
