Cabinet is dismissing complaints of wasteful spending as this year’s deficit approaches $50 billion or more. Conservative MP Corey Tochor (Saskatoon-University) provoked a formal protest for rough language after telling the Commons that cabinet was “pissing away taxpayers’ money.”
A federal count on homeless people will be updated by Christmas, the first revision in two years, says the Department of Infrastructure. It follows a Budget Office report pointing to a steady increase in the number of homeless: "The next update is expected by late 2024."
Poet W.N. Branson writes: “Snug against the Laurentians, Commerce and import flow out along the river. Older ways brush against myths older still…”
The Second World War altered a quarter billion lives. The number of eyewitnesses dwindles. We are left with personal accounts of ordinary people who saw extraordinary things. Surviving The Gulag is one.
Ilse Johansen in postwar years worked as a school janitor and cruise ship stewardess in Vancouver. Friends recall she seemed friendly enough but could not bear to throw out even scraps of food. Johansen wrote her memoirs, translated here from the original German. Surviving the Gulag is like pulling a loose thread that slowly unravels a tightly-knit narrative leading to unexpected places.
Johansen at first glance is not a sympathetic character. She was a German nationalist with an office job in Romania and a Nazi membership pin. “She herself wore the uniform of the Nazi Party for her civilian duties as a secretary in Bucharest,” writes editor Heather Marshall of the University of Alberta.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau yesterday outlined pre-election perks for taxpayers that open a budget hole worth $5 billion to $10 billion, figures show. The finance department declined comment on the impact on this year’s deficit that is already 17 percent over estimate: "That sounds like a trick."
Senators must stand up for transparency in determining if any foreign agents are in the Upper House, a Liberal appointee said yesterday. “The Senate has to stand up and speak up,” said Senator Percy Downe (P.E.I.).
Ex-broadcaster Tom Clark yesterday said he would not resign from his $205,000-a year post as New York Consul amid criticism he lied to a parliamentary committee. Members of the Commons government operations committee said Clark was deliberately evasive over his role in the purchase of a luxury Manhattan penthouse at taxpayers’ expense: "Your champagne tastes weren't being met."
Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault yesterday said he was never told of a cabinet plan to rewrite the Elections Act to guarantee pensions for 28 Liberal and New Democrat MPs. Perrault confirmed he attended secret meetings with political aides from the two parties but said the pension question was never raised: "No, that never came up."
The Public Health Agency increased its payroll after the pandemic was over, new figures show. No reason was given. The data follow Budget Office estimates that employee costs for all federal departments and agencies were $69.5 billion last year: "Yes, there is room to reduce."
Immigration Minister Marc Miller yesterday enacted new regulations he acknowledged will cost Canadian jobs, a first for any federal cabinet. Miller's department in a legal notice quietly reneged on a public promise to limit foreign students in the workforce: "This may result in increased competition for Canadians."
Cabinet proposes to spend $46 million this winter on preparations to host soccer's 2026 World Cup with more funding due next year. The figure is among millions in discretionary spending buried in budget bills that Government House Leader Karina Gould described as essential: "These are things that matter to Canadians."
Hundreds of criminal gangs have turned to wholesale production of fentanyl, says a confidential federal memo. Canada is now a net exporter of fentanyl to the United States and Australia, officials say: "Canada is now a source and transit country for fentanyl."
The Canada Revenue Agency has begun writing off millions in tax owed by bankrupt marijuana dealers. Unpaid excise taxes overall are more than a quarter billion since Parliament legalized cannabis: '66% of licensees have an outstanding tax debt.'
Cabinet members yesterday expressed regret over the dismissal of Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault on complaints he faked claims of Cree ancestry. Boissonnault’s ouster provoked a sharp exchange in the Senate where one legislator said the Minister should have been fired months ago: "Why did it take so long?"
Cabinet is three to four weeks away from budget trouble due to ongoing Commons gridlock, Treasury Board President Anita Anand said yesterday. An Opposition filibuster has blocked passage of all money bills: "That is extraordinary. We must vote on these."
