Prime Minister Arthur Meighen lived for years on tree-lined Cooper Street in Ottawa. He owned a rambling Georgian Revival-style home. Meighen raised a family, sent his three children to Ottawa public schools and crafted the most momentous legislation of his era. Today the house is gone, replaced with an ugly apartment block. READ MORE
Twenty-six percent of all new federal prisoners have already served time, which begs the question: Whatever happened to the other 74 percent who served time and never returned? On The Outside looks for answers. The result is fresh and compelling research on life after prison. The authors interview longtime inmates including those jailed for serious violent crimes that once earned the death penalty. One hides his past from his children and “aspires to a simple life filled with laughter.” Another complains he must learn how to buy groceries: “People have been cooking my meals for twenty-two years and all of a sudden I gotta cook my breakfast.” A third ex-convict is upset by the loss of civility in polite society: “Personal rudeness in the prison system is not tolerated under any circumstances, at least in the old days when I was there.” On The Outside is no celebration of rehabilitation. Former inmates interviewed by the authors appear broken men, some guilt-ridden, some unapologetic. READ MORE
Canadians are indifferent to claims of labour shortages by businesses that rely on foreign workers, says Department of Immigration research. Even people with mild views on immigration were “unpersuaded” by complaints from employers: 'Some suggested they may depress wages and used foreign workers to drive down costs.' READ MORE
Tax appeals that should take 120 days may take years based on a federal redefinition of time. The disclosure came in a labour board hearing for a Canada Revenue Agency appeals officer demoted for working too slowly: "On occasion it takes years." READ MORE
Canadians traveling to Cuba should expect to be stranded without electricity, food or fresh water, the Department of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. Diplomats updated a federal travel advisory warning conditions were so poor, drivers were fighting in gas station lineups: "Traveling across the island is extremely challenging." READ MORE
Cabinet yesterday said it will spend $248,600 for a study on how much it would take to upgrade Canada’s most northerly deepwater port. The Port of Churchill, Man. has been the subject of numerous postwar studies that questioned its commercial potential: "What is the viability of the Port of Churchill?" READ MORE
Air Canada complains it is being singled out for French fines under draft regulations requiring bilingual service by federally regulated transport employers. Maximum fines are $25,000: "Other air carriers do not have the same obligations as Air Canada." READ MORE
In small-town Saskatchewan in those days if your parents didn’t own a farm or a business where you might work there were few choices, actually. One was to join the RCMP. Another was to join the military. The third option was to get a job in a bank, so that’s what I did. I started off as a ledger keeper and finally got promoted as teller. Banking was very different then. You basically took people’s money, looked after it, and if you did lend it was only to customers with a huge amount of collateral.
