Posting photos of homeless people or street addicts on the internet would be criminalized under a Commons petition sponsored by Deputy Government House Leader Arielle Kayabaga. The petition follows complaints, including from MPs, of public disorder in major cities: "There are needles around on the street. There is excrement on the street."
Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday claimed cabinet will generate billions through foreign management of the nation’s largest airports though all are currently under 60-year leases with local authorities. The Opposition sought details: "We want to see how it is going to save money for Canadians, because if it doesn’t save money, then why do it?"
Newly-declassified records show then-Prime Minister Brian Mulroney cautioned his cabinet that abolition of the Senate was “not an acceptable political option” for Canada. Confidential accounts of the 1992 meeting were disclosed through Access To Information in advance of a first-ever referendum in Alberta to “abolish the unelected federal Senate.”
A Toronto consulting firm in a written mea culpa to a Senate committee says it was wrong when its co-founder testified in 2017 that robots would cost 42 percent of Canadian jobs. “If even a fraction of these projections come true, it’s still a huge number,” Abishur Prakash warned at the time.
Foreign Minister Anita Anand in 2023 had experts with the Canadian Armed Forces train members of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, newly-disclosed Access To Information records show. Internal records indicate staff tried to conceal the fact, but were warned to be truthful if asked: "We know we will be training and we have Minister approval to do so."
Newly-declassified cabinet records yesterday disclosed then-Prime Minister Brian Mulroney was “astonished” by the 1992 failure of the Charlottetown Accord and blamed the Reform Party and media for its defeat. Mulroney in one secret meeting compared himself to a First World War general who would fight on: "The Prime Minister, like Marechal Foch, will be attacking and will be around to lead the next campaign."
Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree cannot be brought into court over a courtesy letter to a member of the public, a federal judge ruled yesterday. Cabinet members and parliamentarians typically receive thousands of letters, cards and emails each year, records show: "Correspondence primarily includes junk emails, newsletters and spam emails."
Federal regulators yesterday froze Employment Insurance premiums for 2027 though the “outlook remains uncertain” due to tariffs, says the Chief Actuary. Premiums remain far below rates charged workers and employers a decade ago: "The rate is expected to generate sufficient premium revenue."
A cabinet proposal to eliminate a backlog of air passenger complaints may cost travelers, says a consumer advocacy group. The amendment to Air Passenger Protection Regulations would see airlines refer complaints to binding arbitration: "What standards will they be held to?"
Twenty-five Canadian diplomats were fired last year and another 11 abruptly quit while under investigation, says the Department of Foreign Affairs. Wrongdoing included security breaches and suspicious activities in an unnamed “country of concern.”
Most Canadians who applied for subsidized dentistry under the federal Dental Care Plan were already regular patients in private care, new data show. Federal agencies to date have not accounted for billions in cost over-runs on the program: "If employers were to start dropping their plans because there is some new federal plan, that is a potential concern."
Canadian corporate media from the outbreak of the pandemic acted as government propagandists, says a former foreign correspondent. Speaking at a public hearing, Rodney Palmer said media dependent on cabinet for licenses or subsidies worked to quash criticism of Covid-era mandates: "I know they shifted their allegiance from the people of Canada."
A federal labour board has ordered the Canada Revenue Agency to pay a total $13,500 in damages to two Christian employees suspended for defying its vaccine mandate. The discipline was discriminatory, an adjudicator ruled: "How does a manager decide?"
Federal researchers will spend three years and $12.6 million attempting to substantiate claimed benefits of a Trudeau-era venture, the $1 billion National School Food Program. “More data are needed,” the Canadian Institutes of Health Research said in an internal memo.
Poet W.N. Branson writes: “When did it all fall apart? A bill given Royal assent? A memo sent on some Friday in November? A million bad decisions?…”
