Write-offs under a taxpayer-backed loan program for “future entrepreneurs” have cost over $45 million, says a Department of Industry audit. Best-known borrowers under the Futurpreneur Canada program include Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly’s husband: "She has recused herself from all discussions."
Canada Post’s proposal for the steepest stamp rate hike in its history follows a warning from Public Works Minister Jean-Yves Duclos to cut costs. The 25 percent hike proposed to take effect next January 13 follows a separate eight percent hike just four months ago: "Decrease costs by working with unions."
Winnipeg broadcaster Charles Adler on Saturday came a step closer to taking a $178,100-a year seat in the Senate. Cabinet served the required legal notice that Adler, 70, should represent his province despite describing Indigenous Manitobans as lazy “boneheads.”
More Canadians now play soccer than hockey, says Department of Canadian Heritage research. No reason was given, though the figures follow Commons investigations of recreational hockey as a leading cause of sports-related brain injury: "This is a topic of discussion in almost every community where there are sports played."
Poet W.N. Branson writes: “Churches burn, Communities withdraw into Crenulated realms within and without. Misery deepens, And spills out to the untouched spaces…”
MPs like to quote Churchill. No MP ever quotes Mackenzie King. One Conservative said King was guided by “the cold hand of political expediency” in the Second World War, perhaps forgetting both major parties campaigned against conscription in a 1940 general election for fear of losing seats in Québec.
Historian Jack Granatstein’s Canada At War documents the era in a compelling collection of essays. Consider the 1940 election. At the very moment Britain was rationing butter and evacuating schoolchildren from its cities, when Finland and the USSR were at war, when Japan was waging its brutal campaign of “kill all, loot all, burn all” in northern China, Liberal Party fundraisers were shaking down federal contractors for cash contributions: Canada Packers, Northern Electric, National Steel Car. “Companies were virtually forced to contribute to party coffers out of fear of losing their government contracts,” writes Granatstein.
New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh yesterday said he is “not afraid” to go to the polls. The 44th Parliament faces quick dissolution this fall after Singh formally rejected a pact that promised to keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in power until June 30, 2025: "I am not afraid of causing an election."
Cabinet’s deputy secretary yesterday refused to tell MPs how much was paid to a disgraced Chief Human Rights Commissioner who described Muslim terrorism as a “well-calculated strategy.” Birju Dattani was appointed to the $394,000-a year post but never took office: "I understand in this case the Government of Canada saw fit to offer him a compensation package."
The former chair of a now-disbanded “green slush fund” was selected from some 100 applicants for the job, the Commons public accounts committee was told yesterday. MPs questioned why cabinet chose Annette Verschuren, a Liberal Party donor with a conflict of interest: "It appeared one of the qualifications required to be appointed to this board is that you have a conflict."
Parks Canada will not disclose details of its forest management prior to a July 24 wildfire that burned Jasper, Alta. Managers four years ago warned of “dead trees and the fuel load” at Jasper National Park: "Obviously one of the big concerns is the dead trees."
Canadians fear climate change will lead to food shortages here, says in-house Privy Council research. Figures show Canada has been self-sufficient in food since Confederation and is one of the world’s largest food exporters: "Food is abundant with plenty to spare."
Cabinet is “too weak, too selfish” to deal with, New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh said yesterday in dissolving a vote pact with the Prime Minister. Singh’s formal rejection of the Supply And Confidence Agreement came nine months after cabinet reneged on its terms: "Do you now have to start thinking about maybe calling an election?"
A senior Department of Justice lawyer who compared journalists critical of the Government of Canada to animal urine deleted his remarks on LinkedIn. Senior Counsel Alexander Gay, author of the ‘dog pee’ post, earlier told an interviewer he was fit for appointment as a federal judge: "We are capable."
A former Department of Industry manager has pleaded guilty to breach of trust without jail time, RCMP said yesterday. Evidence in the latest contracting scandal showed Marc Primeau of Long Sault, Ont. paid federal contracts to his own company and pocketed a 39 percent profit: "Is it not true at this very minute there are middle men just soaking Canadian taxpayers?"
Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem yesterday said Canada’s economic future is uncertain and warned there “will always be new shocks.” His remarks followed repeated failed forecasts that downplayed inflation risks: "It's not like we got everything right."
