The nation should avoid a 2026 recession if world events are resolved smoothly, the Bank of Canada said yesterday. “If the situation changes, we may need to change course,” Governor Tiff Macklem told reporters. READ MORE
Gov’t Error No Excuse: Judge
Employment Insurance claimants have no right to keep undeserved benefits even if they were paid through government error, says a federal judge. The ruling came in the case of a jobless claimant told to repay the treasury $1,366: "She did nothing wrong." READ MORE
Debt Interest Hits $59 Billion
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne shaved $11.5 billion off a near-record 2025 deficit due in part to higher tariff revenues, budget documents showed yesterday. However ongoing deficits are projected to push debt servicing costs to an unprecedented $58.7 billion this year: "Risks remain elevated." READ MORE
Promise Air Travel Reforms
Cabinet yesterday said it will strip the Canadian Transportation Agency of its processing of air passenger complaints. The federal Agency ran up a backlog of 92,500 complaints, by official estimate: "Beyond the backlog, the government also intends to develop a simpler and more effective regulatory regime." READ MORE
Migrant Permits Cost Millions
The Department of Employment is not close to recovering costs of processing migrant worker permits, records show. An employer’s fee has not increased in 13 years: "What has been the total annual cost to the federal government?" READ MORE
Clark Outcry Unnerved Dep’t
The purchase of an $8.8 million Manhattan penthouse for New York Consul Tom Clark prompted too much media attention, the Department of Foreign Affairs complained in an Access To Information memo. Lavish spending by diplomats appeared “disconnected from the financial struggles facing everyday Canadians,” it said. READ MORE
Seek Appeal In Broncos’ Case
Cabinet yesterday hinted it is prepared to appeal a Federal Court ruling that temporarily suspended the deportation of a trucker responsible for the 2018 Humboldt Broncos disaster. Victims’ families were not given their say, Conservative MP Warren Steinley (Regina-Lewvan) told the Commons: "Harm to the Humboldt Broncos' victims and their families was not adequately considered." READ MORE
Guest Commentary
I often wonder what became of Dennis. He was known to neighbours in the North Park district of Victoria where I lived in 1997. It was a rough-and-tumble neighbourhood. Dennis had a wife and baby. I had seen them going to the welfare office down the corner. He was violent, and he could get very drunk. I don’t think he ever finished high school. I can’t say if restorative justice would have done Dennis much good. Afterward I wondered, what brought Dennis to the point in his life that he was so hateful, so angry, he would shave his head and wear a “White Power” t-shirt and look for someone to hurt?
