The political heart of Ottawa spans a ten-square block area of the old city stretching from Wellington to Somerset Streets. Here on Somerset lived Prime Minister John Thompson, a workaholic who wrote Canada’s first Criminal Code, created Labour Day in 1893 and was an early supporter of votes for women: "About all the exercise I can get is the walk from my house up to the Hill and back." READ MORE
Lost to history is the state funeral of Generalissimo Trujillo, strongman of the Dominican Republic, shot by assassins in 1961. Canadian diplomat John Graham attended the mass. “The only people in the entire church without guns were the clergy and the diplomatic corps,” he recalls. Fearful that rebels would seize the corpse for public display, Trujillo’s henchmen hoisted it from the church by helicopter winch. “The Generalissimo’s coffin swinging in the air was a moment of unbearable, transcendent mystery for the dazed and credulous mourners below,” writes Graham. Only later did diplomats learn Trujillo wasn’t in the coffin. They’d stuffed it with an unknown corpse while preserving El Presidente in a freezer for quiet burial. READ MORE
The Department of Environment spent more than 10 years and $1.4 million building a “net zero” garage in Whitehorse that it neither needed nor finished, say auditors. The project was commissioned by then-Environment Minister Catherine McKenna as proof her department could “lead by example.” READ MORE
Illegal immigrants and refugee claimants receive an average $1,363 per year worth of free health care at a total cost of $989 million this year, the Budget Office said yesterday. “Can you understand why Canadians are really frustrated and mad about this program?” Conservative MP Dan Mazier (Riding Mountain, Man.) asked the Commons health committee. READ MORE
Canadians should beware of “illegitimate” media for the sake of social cohesion, Heritage Minister Marc Miller said yesterday. His remarks followed a briefing note stating cabinet is relying on the CBC and its $1.6 billion annual grant to promote “social cohesion.” READ MORE
Muslim observances now outnumber Christian days on the federal calendar, according to an Access To Information memo by the Immigration and Refugee Board. It was due to the inclusion of “diversity, equity and accessibility related dates,” it said. READ MORE
Federal departments and agencies should boycott Twitter, says a Liberal-appointed Alberta Senator. Paula Simons, a former CBC producer and Edmonton Journal columnist, called the social media platform revolting: "Many have quit for reasons of moral revulsion." READ MORE
I will never forget the 1993 campaign. It was electric. There was a cry for change and tempers ran high. I got into a fight with one voter on his own front porch. And I learned never to campaign in bars. Alcohol brings out cynicism in the electorate. When we almost killed the Conservative Party, the hunger for change was genuine. We won 2,559,245 votes from Canadians who sought to reform forever the way Ottawa worked. It’s a shame we failed to do it. There’s a proverb that reform movements are like bees: They sting and then they die.
