The Department of Canadian Heritage has spent three years devising a program to promote the arts at foreign embassies, according to a briefing note. Expenses to date were not detailed. It follows a fly-a-chef program by the Department of Foreign Affairs that cost $1.75 million a year: "People begin to gain a better appreciation of other perspectives."
Local bans on home cultivation of legalized marijuana are constitutional, the Québec Court of Appeal has ruled. A similar challenge of a Manitoba ban is pending: "Do I understand the Government of Canada would leave it totally to the courts?"
Historian Jack Granatstein decades ago crisscrossed the country interviewing the last surviving senior Canadian officers to serve in the Second World War. Once newsreel heroes, they were now old men, in their 80s and 90s, forgotten by the public – bitterly so, in some cases. Luckily for readers, Granatstein saved his notes.
“Some of what I recorded was indiscreet, self-serving and gossipy, no doubt, but almost all of it seemed to me to be the truth,” writes Granatstein; “During the war, several of the officers whom I interviewed had refused to be disparaging about the abilities of their leaders, despite probing questioning. They had no such qualms in disparaging politicians, but the passage of decades and the gaining of perspective relaxed such instinctive attitudes in many interviewees’ remarks on their comrades.”
Internal emails show federal employees had to script a town hall appearance by Prosperity Minister Mona Fortier that included written questions submitted in advance. The Department of Finance yesterday did not comment: "We’re really looking forward to some of those answers."
An emergency fund for poor and homeless veterans has been oversubscribed by 35 percent, according to a Department of Veterans Affairs report. Auditors quoted one employee as stating the program was saving lives of desperate ex-military left on the streets: "Demand for the Fund has exceeded the funding."
The Liberal Party yesterday did not comment after an Atlantic candidate was quoted as warning cabinet “unfortunately” will have to tax home equity. Jason Hickey, Liberal candidate in New Brunswick Southwest, made his remarks in a video recording distributed by the Conservative Party: "It’s what we have to do."
New data by Statistics Canada yesterday confirmed most pandemic victims were over 85. The figures mirror research by other groups indicating a majority of deaths occurred among octogenarians: "The Covid-19 mortality rate for the 85 and older age group outpaced the overall increase in the mortality rate."
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland yesterday appealed to Québecers to “make the right choice” after Premier François Legault publicly opposed the Liberals’ re-election. The Party won 35 of 78 seats in Québec in the last campaign: "It's a tough situation."
The Conservative Party yesterday said if elected it expects ongoing deficits to be about thirteen percent below the Liberal cabinet’s own forecasts over the next three years. Leader Erin O’Toole has said he would not advocate deeper cuts to federal spending: "That is our plan."
The Federal Court for the second time in two years has struck down a media blacklist by the Leaders’ Debates Commission. The Commission had attempted to block Rebel News Network Ltd. from attending tonight’s English-language telecast: 'It is is attempting to regulate the media.'
Billionaire Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors Canada Inc. received more than $125 million in federal subsidies in the past two years, accounts show. The California carmaker was the largest beneficiary of $5,000 federal rebates for electric car buyers: "Tesla has received the most."
Operators of Canada’s oldest nuclear reactor knew of contaminated water leaks for decades before a 2009 accident forced a costly shutdown. Management of the Chalk River, Ont. plant by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited is detailed in Court records in an insurance dispute: "This was monitored over a 35-year period."
Cabinet quietly petitioned the United Nations to water down a pledge for climate change aid to poor countries, according to documents. “Must assist” was changed to “should assist” only weeks after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau publicly promised billions in funding at a G7 summit: "Urgent action is needed."
Any re-elected Liberal cabinet will never tax Canadians' home equity, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau yesterday told reporters. Trudeau said he recognized ownership represented lifetime savings by homeowners to finance their retirement: "We want to protect people who have equity in their house."
The Department of Public Works in internal emails acknowledged a mistake in shipping $655,501 worth of Covid shelters to a Manitoba hamlet that never asked for them, but said the community “can keep the tents.” Public Works Minister Anita Anand had said she was shocked to learn of a contractor’s conflict of interest in the case: "How is it your office was not aware?"
