Retail startups in Canada are down by more than a fifth since the pandemic, says new Department of Industry research. It followed a 12 percent rise in bankruptcies last year to near levels not seen since the 2008 financial panic: "This report is one of the first to examine the impact of Covid-19 on entrepreneurship."
A four-day strike by Air Canada flight attendants ended this morning after management came to terms, says the Canadian Union of Public Employees. The tentative agreement at 4:23 am Eastern came a day after strike leaders defied a picket ban imposed by the federal cabinet: "We will not turn our back on these workers."
Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre last night reclaimed a Commons seat. “I will never give up,” he said after winning a byelection in Battle River-Crowfoot, Alta. with 80.4 percent support: "The road to success is never a straight line."
Parks Canada yesterday hurriedly issued a public designation of Brian Mulroney as a national historic person. It followed disclosures the agency's Historic Sites and Monuments Board voted in secret session to delay for 25 years a public honour for the late Prime Minister that was previously awarded promptly to his Liberal predecessors: "We will continue to monitor this situation."
The nation is too reliant on the Canadian Armed Forces for firefighting, Emergency Management Minister Eleanor Olszewski said yesterday. Cabinet for years has proposed to federalize wildfire response by creating a Canadian version of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency: "You know, this is not their primary responsibility."
A labour board has overturned the 2021 firing of a Toronto schoolteacher for wearing an awkward Halloween costume. The appearance of blackface was inadvertent and unintentional, an arbitrator ruled: "He was asked if he was aware of the controversy over Justin Trudeau appearing as Aladdin in blackface."
Labour Minister Patty Hajdu yesterday would not substantiate her claim a legal strike by 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants threatened deliveries of life-saving medicine and organ tissue. Hajdu was previously cited for fabricating stories to justify strike bans "This is simply unacceptable."
Tax filers face $50 a day fines and mandatory oaths under threat of perjury for failing to cooperate with the Canada Revenue Agency. Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne outlined the proposals Friday in draft amendments to the Income Tax Act: "These proposed amendments are intended to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of tax audits."
Department of Immigration employees are invited to workday festivities marking “public service pride week” at an undisclosed cost, according to an internal staff notice. Events include a workday bingo game Thursday with a “sexy drag rock star.”
Climate change is causing “ecological grief” in First Nations, says a federal report. The Department of Indigenous Services said more funds are required for climate counseling under a “wellness program” already budgeted at nearly $1.6 billion: 'Wildfires can create ecological grief.'
Public Works Minister Joel Lightbound will not comment on his department's attempt to fast-track a review of proposed Canada Post service cuts. The department in the past has discussed elimination of daily mail delivery at a saving of more than $70 million a year: "Most Canadians are willing to accept changes in the delivery of mail once they were made aware of some of Canada Post’s financial challenges."
Poet W.N. Branson writes: “Neither drowning nor staying afloat. The polls Indicate what the elect need…”
If the government can’t run a passport office, it can’t regulate the subtleties of parenting. Still they try. For twenty years advocates have sought repeal of section 43 of the Criminal Code that sanctions “reasonable” spanking to correct youngsters’ behaviour. It was written in 1892 by a Catholic justice minister with nine children, and survived numerous court challenges and parliamentary hearings.
Québec author Marie-Aimée Cliche examines the practice: “Once it was accepted that the aim of parenting was to bring children up in the way they should, without spoiling or terrorizing them, what was the appropriate method to achieve this objective?”
Abuse or Punishment? is a lively investigation of spanking rooted in Biblical law and family culture. Cliche examines corporal punishment in Old Québec dating from the 19th century, but the research would interest any parent anywhere. This, from the first-ever Canadian parenting guide published in 1851: “Have you ever seen the little boy who can never be satisfied, who asks for bread and jam but throws it on the floor after a single bite?”
The Privy Council yesterday would not comment on recommendations of two parliamentary committees that it renew Yves Giroux’s term as $255,000-a year Budget Officer. Giroux, a frequent critic of the Liberal cabinet, is out of office September 2: "I work for the benefit of taxpayers and Canadians. I don’t have a vested interest."
A federal agency secretly changed its rules on historical designations rather than honour Brian Mulroney as a “national historic person,” according to Access To Information records. Members of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board “held a lively debate” four months after Mulroney’s death on whether to grant him the same tribute given his predecessors: "Once time has passed it will be possible to better understand his impact."
