Federal programs in a single year paid for more than 280,000 hours of counseling for Indigenous people, says an Access To Information note. The Department of Indigenous Services blamed “colonial sources of trauma.”
Cabinet yesterday was formally named in a federal complaint alleging misleading advertising in breach of an Act of Parliament. New Democrat MP Don Davies (Vancouver Kingsway) filed the complaint under the Liberals’ own 2024 law against “greenwashing."
Housing starts remain far short of target with new construction down by double digits in the largest markets, CMHC said yesterday. The figures contradicted repeated claims of success by Housing Minister Gregor Robertson: "Starts were down 19 percent year over year in centres with a population of 10,000 or more."
A federal program to “promote ethical business practices” has blacklisted 23 suppliers in two years, says a Department of Public Works memo. Managers over the same period awarded an average 2,978 contracts annually: "Certain suppliers understand the procurement system."
The Commons public safety committee yesterday by unanimous vote agreed to probe apparent failures in security screening after a Chinese-Canadian intern at NATO headquarters was arrested on espionage charges. Canadians of Chinese ancestry were owed a thorough investigation of security breaches that are “dividing our communities,” said one MP: "We need to get to the bottom of the issue, determine what went wrong."
Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday said he has a secret plan to cover “all eventualities” if the United States imposes $28 billion in new tariffs under a Wednesday deadline. Details of the plan were too confidential to discuss in public, he said: "I have a plan that will cover all eventualities."
Cabinet must lift a six-month advisory against travel to Cuba, says a Commons petition sponsored by New Democrat MP Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre). The petition follows a notice from credit card issuers suspending all transactions in Cuba: "With the loss of tourism to Cuba this year a lot of people are out of work."
The value of private business loans from Canadian pension funds, insurers and investment pools is worth about a half trillion, the Bank of Canada said yesterday. Researchers expressed unease with the largely unregulated practice in case of “a sharp downturn.”
Canadians increasingly assume the CBC and other mainstream media have some “angle or agenda” in reporting the news with a “particular political slant,” says federal focus group research. The in-house report found more Canadians “go to Reddit to see what people are saying” than rely on TV networks or newspapers.
New records show a federal blacklist of Freedom Convoy sympathizers was privately circulated to thousands of corporations. No account to date has documented the consequences for individuals named under the Proceeds Of Crime And Terrorist Financing Act by a cabinet order subsequently ruled unlawful: "There was no verification."
Repeal of electric car mandates will save Canadians billions a year, according to new federal figures. Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin on Saturday served legal notice that mandates suspended six months ago will be permanently abolished: 'Risk of job losses in the Canadian auto sector need to be considered.'
Opposition to a $90 billion regional high speed rail venture is growing, the Department of Infrastructure admits. An internal memo warned impending deadlines must be met if Alto Corporation, the Crown agency overseeing the project, is to start construction in 2029: "The project is increasingly scrutinized for its cost, timeline and potential impacts on communities and agricultural land."
A legal scholar has filed a constitutional challenge against Québec to save the Oath Of Allegiance to the King. The Supreme Court of Canada is to hear a separate challenge of the oath required of MPs, senators and new citizens: "Abolition of the Oath Of Allegiance requires unanimous consent of Parliament and the provinces."
Poet W.N. Branson writes: “The warmth of the summer sun fades as it sets below the mountain, alongside the lake, in the Okanagan. Sitting on the bench, ice cream melts before you can eat it, in the perfect summers eve…”
In 1968 the government passed a Narcotic Drugs Act to pursue a “vision of a drug-free society.” Thousands of people were jailed. Even simple possession of marijuana was punishable by up to six months’ in custody. Drug testing was punitive and commonplace and treatment was “based on obtaining complete abstinence,” noted a federal report.
The country was not the U.S. but Sweden. The scheme worked. Marijuana use by young Swedes fell to 9 percent, less than half Canada’s comparable rate.
Few analysts ever mentioned Sweden in our national debate over marijuana policy. Discussion was coloured instead by the politics, religion and demography of the U.S. Even the title of Paula Mallea’s pre-legalization book The War On Drugs, is an American invention.
