One of the biggest federal spenders on consultants increased expenditures 10 percent above average last year, records show. The Department of Employment spent $998.5 million even as Prime Minister Mark Carney promised to cut spending on consultants by 20 percent: "I have a simple rule: spend less, invest more."
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom writes: “You were a few seats away from me. Darkness camouflaged my staring at you. You seemed mesmerized, smiling whenever DiCaprio made his entry…”
In 1937 Canada had a higher infant mortality rate than South Africa and Ireland. Until 1919 all national medical services were managed by the Department of Agriculture. Child deaths were such an inescapable horror in family life that Prime Minister John Thompson (1892-4) lost four of his nine children in infancy. Historian Mona Gleason documents the dawn of awareness that Canada’s infants could not be left to sicken and die in an expression of survival of the fittest: “Merely being small and young, in other words, required medical attention.”
Small Matters: Canadian Children in Sickness and Health is a compelling social history that chronicles the country’s struggle towards the light.
A federal memorial to Afghan War dead will be inscribed with an Algonquin land acknowledgement in the name of “supporting reconciliation,” says an internal memo. Veterans Affairs Minister Jill McKnight’s department would not say how many of the 2,229 Canadian casualties in Afghanistan including 158 killed in action were Algonquin: 'It's to recognize the Indigenous peoples on whose traditional territory the Monument stands.'
The Federal Court yesterday in a rare order suspended all constitutional challenges of an immigration law passed March 12 by Parliament. All plaintiffs were ordered into case management on complaints that repetitive claims were clogging the docket: "New immigration proceedings have increased for a fifth record-breaking year and may exceed 30,000 files in 2026."
Cabinet takes Canadian democracy as it is and will not pursue electoral reform, Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon yesterday wrote the Commons. The remarks followed Justin Trudeau’s lament that dropping a 2016 proposal for a national referendum on reform was his greatest regret: "I do wish we had been able to."
Workers whose jobs require sound judgment, physical contacts or special skills have little to fear from artificial intelligence, the Bank of Canada said yesterday. While AI to date had limited impact on jobs in Canada, analysts warned some occupations were vulnerable: "Exposure is lowest in occupations that rely more heavily on judgment."
A Nova Scotia Court has ordered the eviction of a Halifax tenant over derogatory remarks against his South Asian neighbours. A “good behaviour” clause in tenancy laws of most provinces applies to rudeness, a Small Claims adjudicator ruled: "Good behaviour extends beyond merely refraining from threatening to commit physical or property damage."
Opposition parties yesterday demanded Prime Minister Mark Carney disclose to Parliament the secret terms of a cross-border trade pact. A draft agreement outlined by U.S. authorities would end 61 years of tariff-free Canadian auto exports to the U.S. and grant unprecedented Canadian market access for American farmers: "We have the right to know what concessions are being granted to Donald Trump."
The Privy Council spent $34,291 to poll the public on whether they fear Canada will run out of fresh water due to climate change. It followed earlier research on whether Canadians should be afraid of running out of food, though the country is self-sufficient in both: "Please rate your level of agreement or disagreement with the following statement: Canada will not have enough fresh water to meet its needs in the future."
It may take “up to seven years” to 2033 before cabinet is anywhere near its targets on housing starts, says an internal Department of Finance memo. Delays were due to ordinary lags in planning and permits compounded by inflation and labour shortages, it said: "Homebuilder confidence has remained depressed."
A federal agency, the Canada Energy Regulator, has tightened in-house ethics rules for politically-appointed directors. No specific reason was given, though Access To Information records earlier showed one unnamed staffer was caught trading in energy shares: "Appointees are expected to respect the principles."
Turnout by Indigenous voters was far below the national average in 2025 and as low as 30 percent among Inuit, says new Elections Canada research. Analysts attributed the low turnout to younger demographics in Indigenous communities: "Younger electors tend to vote less."
U.S. President Donald Trump last night taunted Canada’s cabinet with a 72-hour extension of a deadline on $28 billion tariffs and a pledge that the long-cancelled Keystone XL Pipeline “may be awoken from the grave!”
Federal archivists are protecting “safety of individuals” in concealing more than a million pages of records on Nazi collaborators let into Canada after 1945, says a newly-disclosed briefing note. Cabinet years ago had promised to release all Holocaust-related files: "They knew."
