Newly-declassified 2004 cabinet minutes show then-Prime Minister Paul Martin agonized over legalization of same-sex marriage. Martin privately complained provincial courts had forced the government’s hand, according to Access To Information records disclosed yesterday: "Many Canadians are struggling with the idea." READ MORE
The Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations has censored as "confidential" its files on what a Kamloops, B.C. First Nation did with $12.1 million paid to recover alleged graves of Indian Residential School children. The Tk’emlups te Secwepemc First Nation acknowledged February 18 it never exhumed any remains: "The heartbreaking truth about Residential Schools’ unmarked burials continues to be unveiled." READ MORE
Layoffs due to artificial intelligence are already underway, says one of the country’s largest unions. The Canadian Union of Public Employees in a report to senators itemized jobs that have vanished: "CUPE is already seeing job loss." READ MORE
The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has awarded an Alberta truck driver $30,000 in damages for discrimination. The Tribunal was told the driver was harassed at work after suffering an injury on the job: "Damage awards should not be so trivial or insignificant so as to be meaningless." READ MORE
A national radio ombudsman yesterday faulted a Toronto station for celebrating World Series ticket giveaways. Radio CFTR should have specified it had the same ownership as the Blue Jays, Rogers Inc., ruled the Canada Broadcast Standards Council: "The media landscape has changed with corporate groups becoming increasingly involved in many ventures." READ MORE
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Buy Canadian policy doesn’t apply to Crown corporations hiring suppliers outside the country, says a federal memo. The Prime Minister omitted the fact when urging Canadians to support home industries: "Canada is on a mission to build Canada strong." READ MORE
Complaints of misleading “Made in Canada” labeling increased tenfold since tariff troubles erupted with the U.S., says the Food Inspection Agency. Inspectors attributed it to “an increase in awareness.” READ MORE
As kids, we told the legend of Nian, a ferocious beast that came to steal children. We lit firecrackers and hung Chinese red paper couplet decorations to ward off the Nian. That’s how we would bring in the new year with a fresh start. It makes me nostalgic. My parents were born in the mainland province of Guangdong and moved to Hong Kong. I was born in Kowloon in 1965, the youngest of six children. For Chinese, new year is as big as Christmas.
