Cabinet will take majority control of all 26 Commons committees and no longer “play silly partisan games,” Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon said yesterday. The move effectively quashes all ethics investigations, subpoenas and questioning of reluctant witnesses: "That’s settled." READ MORE
Free health care for illegal immigrants and rejected refugee claimants cost more than $43 million last year including free prescriptions and transportation to a doctor’s office, the Department of Immigration disclosed yesterday. Figures were made public at the request of Conservative MP Burton Bailey (Red Deer, Alta.) who said foreigners with no legal right to be in Canada received better care than many taxpayers: 'People on bogus asylum claims are receiving health care many Canadians do not even receive.' READ MORE
The Commons yesterday by a 291 to 28 vote gave Second Reading to a private bill to regulate advertising of sports betting. Bill S-211 An Act Respecting A National Framework On Sports Betting Advertising passed the Senate last October 21: "We know there is the potential, as with many other addictive activities, to destroy." READ MORE
Protestors convicted of attempting to intimidate Canadians under hate crime amendments to the Criminal Code should pay the cost of prosecution, the Senate was told yesterday. The proposal follows complaints that one of Canada’s largest Orthodox synagogues now spends a million a year on security: "Where hatred is the animating force behind a serious crime, requiring an offender to bear some of those costs is a signal that a community’s safety should not be taken for granted." READ MORE
Cable TV subscribers face another rate hike, the second in two weeks, after the CRTC yesterday increased mandatory monthly fees to rescue a money-losing channel. It follows a Department of Canadian Heritage report warning the future of television in Canada is “uncertain.” READ MORE
Chinese police are a law enforcement “partner” just like the FBI, the Mounties said yesterday. However details of a confidential partnership agreement with Beijing cannot be disclosed “without their permission,” said a Deputy Commissioner. READ MORE
The operators of Canada’s largest private TV news network yesterday said losses are running at $40 million a year. “There is fear,” said an executive with Bell Media Inc. READ MORE
All families have skeletons. Ours is illegal betting. My grandfather’s incarceration was an embarrassment for my mother. He served his time at Burch Industrial Farm near Brantford, Ont. Over the years I have spoken to people who knew of these events, but none really told me anything. Parliament wrote an epilogue to my grandfather’s story. Now if someone in Canada wants to bet on a boxing match or hockey game, it’s as simple as downloading an app.
