Taxpayers should expect a loss in any sale of the Trans Mountain Pipeline despite cabinet assurances, Budget Officer Yves Giroux said yesterday. Giroux recommended MPs audit billions' worth of cost overruns: "That is a very interesting question." READ MORE
A former deputy industry minister yesterday denied any responsibility for rampant conflicts at the disgraced federal agency Sustainable Development Technology Canada. Retiree John Knubley, testifying by videoconference at the Commons public accounts committee, appeared agitated as MPs accused him of a coverup: "I am not a lawyer." READ MORE
The Conservative Party yesterday in its final submission to the China inquiry questioned why Prime Minister Justin Trudeau twice approved a Liberal nomination for MP Han Dong (Don Valley North, Ont.) despite learning he was under security surveillance. Political aides vetoed Dong’s appointment to a committee on China relations but permitted him to attend four years’ worth of secret Liberal caucus meetings: "Liberals knew." READ MORE
New Democrat MP Heather McPherson (Edmonton Strathcona) yesterday was reprimanded by the Commons Speaker for wearing a lapel pin proclaiming support for Palestinians. MPs jeered after McPherson compared her "solidarity" pin to wearing a Remembrance Day poppy: "No!" READ MORE
Addictions Minister Ya’ara Saks yesterday said families across Canada often ask her for parenting advice. Children “are feeling immense anxiety” due to the internet and climate change, she told reporters: "We can’t always protect our kids from the hardships they may face." READ MORE
The Department of Finance will order banks to disclose how much they pocket in non-sufficient funds fees on chequing accounts -- it could be as high as a half billion a year, said the department -- with a new cap on NSF charges. Service fees overall may account for more than a tenth of earnings by Canada’s largest banks, said a federal report: "There is very limited information published by banks." READ MORE
Twenty-five New Democrat MPs oppose any cabinet intervention in rotating postal strikes, says Party leader Jagmeet Singh. The last mail strike six years ago ended with back-to-work legislation after five weeks: "Stay out of this." READ MORE
My dad never owned a credit card. If you didn’t have it, you didn’t spend it. I remember him in his later years going to Eaton’s with my mother to buy a new set of appliances, and taking the money from the bank first and walking in there with over a thousand dollars in cash. Excessive borrowing doesn’t work and excessive debt usually results in people having to suffer. I went throughout the province, up and down every corner, and I listened at people’s kitchen tables, town halls – wherever I was, I found a consistent message: Why can’t government live the way we do? Why can’t they live within their means?
