Federal managers refuse to tell Parliament the titles and creators of artworks that vanished from a multi-million dollar Indigenous collection. MPs have suggested the Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations deliberately downplayed suspected thefts from its offices over decades: "You shrug your shoulders and pretend it doesn’t matter."
The Department of Public Works last year logged 364 tips after launching “fraud awareness” campaigns involving federal contractors, records show. The department in a report to the Commons government operations committee said it also fired several employees: "This is a troubling outcome, something you never want to see."
Cabinet will have “lots of legislation” to introduce from today’s opening of Parliament's 2026 sitting, Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon said yesterday. He expressed no interest in a snap election this year: "We believe we have a strong mandate."
Canada is witnessing a decline in “democratic norms” and the “rule of law,” says a Law Commission report. Findings were drawn from interviews with MPs and senators, judges, lawyers and scholars: "Public institutions do not work unless they are reviewed and accountable."
The RCMP in a secret 1981 memo feared Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed could lead the West out of Confederation. Western separatism “lacks a dynamic leader” but might succeed with a charismatic organizer like Lougheed, wrote the Mounties counter-terrorism unit: "If Lougheed or someone of his stature agitates for Western independence, it could become a reality."
A federal employee suspended after declining a Covid vaccination has won back pay and $5,000 in damages. The Department of Public Safety employee was owed compensation for “loss of dignity,” a labour board ruled: 'We have over 350 cases like these.'
Atop a hill overlooking the Rideau River on Ottawa’s Charlotte Street stood a mansion that had its share of drama. It saw a sensational spy scandal and a suspicious fire. One prime minister called it “a place of intrigue.” It took KGB defections and the collapse of the Soviet Union to reveal the extent of Soviet skullduggery at 285 Charlotte.
Every hometown has its triumphs and tragedies, but few produce writers as evocative as Professor Jonathan Vance of Western University, one of the most skillful Canadian historians of his generation. Vance chronicles his town’s collision with the First World War, a fascination born in Vance’s youth when he walked door to door as a hydro meter reader in the Township of East Flamborough and spoke to ordinary neighbours with extraordinary experiences.
“The statistics say that about 8 percent of its population served in uniform and about 1 percent died – or , if you prefer raw numbers, 210 out of 2,400 served and 28 died,” writes Vance. “But how much do those numbers actually reveal?”
Bonuses for federal executives averaged nearly $18,000 in 2024, according to figures detailed in a year-end briefing note. Updated numbers on 2025 bonuses are due shortly, said the Treasury Board: "How does it work in the public sector?"
Federal job cuts will total about 40,000 by 2029, according to Treasury Board briefing notes. Board President Shafqat Ali has declined to specify actual numbers of layoffs since it “impacts those public service employees and not only them, their families."
A Bloc Québécois MP is sponsoring a Commons petition to cancel all subsidies for halal and kosher meat processing in Canada. MP Martin Champoux (Drummond, Que.) earlier expressed outrage after the Department of Agriculture awarded a multi-million dollar subsidy to a halal butcher in Prince Edward Island: "It is not the government's job."
The Department of Transport last year disciplined 58 employees for workplace misconduct. Violations covered “a wide range” of wrongdoing from rudeness to theft, said managers: "Even a single instance is unacceptable."
Parliament should compel the Canada Revenue Agency to annually report on offshore tax evaders including successful prosecutions, says a labour submission to the Commons finance committee. The Commons seven years ago defeated a similar private bill: "Transparency is essential."
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s claim of “fast tracking a trillion dollars of investment” is grossly inflated and drawn mainly from reannouncements of old spending, according to Budget Office figure released yesterday. Carney repeated the claim Tuesday in a speech to the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos: "We are going to put more than $3,000 in the pocket of every Canadian."
Authorities yesterday confirmed Housing Advocate Marie-Josée Houle spent two weeks holidaying in Egypt after booking a $13,684 business class junket to Cairo for meetings. A spokesperson denied Houle timed her vacation to subsidize her flights: "The Advocate extended her stay for personal reasons."
