Asks For “Tearful Apology”

Canadians are owed a tearful apology by past Liberal immigration ministers, Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre said yesterday. He identified two by name as responsible for mismanagement Poilievre called “incredible.”

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“New” Projects Already OK’d

Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday named previously-announced ventures as the first “nation building” projects to be fast-tracked by cabinet. The list included a nuclear research program licensed five months ago: "Success means several things."

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Question Impact Of Evictions

Any links between eviction and homelessness are imprecise and affect a small number of tenants who lose their homes, CMHC said yesterday. The latest research followed a recommendation by federal Housing Advocate Marie-Josée Houle that Parliament provide free lawyering for tenants facing eviction: "The state should act as a role model."

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Charter Beats 1947 Rights Bill

The 1982 Charter Of Rights beats all similar provincial bills by placing reasonable limits on Canadians’ freedoms, says the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal. The ruling came in the case of a Saskatoon woman who argued pandemic restrictions violated absolute rights promised by then-Premier Tommy Douglas in 1947: "In a post-Charter world it became unclear."

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Contractors ‘Wanted To Help’

Records show 8,877 of 8,900 new Covid ventilators bought at top dollar under sole-sourced contracts from two preferred suppliers were scrapped as surplus. Then-Industry Minister Navdeep Bains said at the time he was in regular contact with sales representatives “who are telling me they want to help.”

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Diplomat Boasted In Private

Canada’s last ambassador to Afghanistan privately boasted that diplomats' hurried flight from Kabul “set the standard” at the Department of Foreign Affairs. Ambassador Reid Sirrs made the comments at an Afghanistan Evacuation Recognition Ceremony closed to the public: 'A special shout-out goes to the Canadian team.'

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I’ll Spend Less, Vows Carney

Cabinet will cut its half-trillion dollar budget this fall, Prime Minister Mark Carney said yesterday. He did not detail where, or how much: "That fall budget will spend less."

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Say The Internet Is To Blame

The internet is to blame for public cynicism and intemperate language against legislators, said a declaration yesterday signed by Commons Speaker Francis Scarpaleggia. “This behaviour is on the rise and we condemn this troubling trend,” it said.

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Put A Price On Conservation

Canadians will be asked how much they’re willing to pay to save rare fish. The Department of Fisheries yesterday outlined the unusual research project under the Species At Risk Act, a federal law that has been used to curb development in the name of conservation: "This project will collect data to allow the department to estimate Canadians’ non-market values for six species."

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Didn’t Bother To Open Boxes

The Department of Public Works in 2024 approved the sale of up to 19,000 costly new ventilators as scrap metal without ever bothering to remove them from original shipping crates, Access To Information records show. One manager warned of “high reputational risk” if taxpayers found out.

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Joly OK’d Afghan Hero Party

A confidential Department of Foreign Affairs party to self-congratulate employees for bravery in their 2021 flight from Kabul was approved by then-Minister Mélanie Joly, records show. Internal documents described the Afghanistan Evacuation Recognition Ceremony as a “good news” story to boost morale: "Embarrassing."

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Say PM’s Hiding Huge Deficit

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s undisclosed 2025 deficit is likely in the $80 billion range, the Bloc Québécois yesterday estimated based on current and promised spending. The Conservative Party earlier put the shortfall at $80 billion or more, the highest since the pandemic: "This is an historic amount."

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Board Overturns Vax Penalty

A federal labour board has faulted the Department of National Defence for denying a religious exemption from its vaccine mandate. "Sincere religious beliefs" were sufficient to decline a Covid shot, an adjudicator ruled: 'The state is in no position to be the arbiter of religious dogma.'

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Board Confirms Data Breach

Anonymous hackers breached an undisclosed number of email accounts and telephone numbers used by Canadians accessing federal services, the Treasury Board confirmed last evening. The Board has called data breaches a daily occurrence at the Government of Canada: "There is a tremendous amount of information available."

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Could Not Give Them Away

The Department of Health ordered so many surplus ventilators from Baylis Medical Technologies Inc. it couldn't give them away, Access To Information records show. Ex-Liberal MP Frank Baylis (Pierrefonds-Dollard, Que.) credited the sole-sourced $237 million contract with helping rescue his company during the pandemic: "We re-mortgaged all our buildings; we extended our line of credit."

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