U.S. President Donald Trump yesterday said Canada will “have to be able to take care of itself economically” without free trade. Trump made the remarks after bantering with visiting Prime Minister Mark Carney about statehood: "That's just the way it is." READ MORE
Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre yesterday said he is “very eager” to return to Parliament. Caucus members expressed no support for selecting a new Conservative leader for the fifth time in 10 years: "If you told me we would get 41 percent of the vote and still not win, I would have said you’re crazy." READ MORE
First Nations utilities are so inadequate more than a third of Indigenous people on-reserve use bottled water to brush their teeth, says a report by Indigenous Services Minister Patricia Hajdu’s department. Cabinet had promised to eliminate all boiled water advisories by 2021: "One in five judge the water to be less safe to drink than it was five years ago." READ MORE
The Department of Canadian Heritage paid $50,000 for a schoolchildren’s video depicting settlement of the Prairies as an exercise in anti-Black bigotry. The point was “educating Canadians about disinformation,” said a project summary released through Access To information: "The Canadian government did not want them." READ MORE
A new federal program promising honesty in contracting will “promote ethical business practices,” says a Department of Public Works briefing note. The initiative followed the ArriveCan scandal that saw two federal managers suspended, a leading contractor raided by police and a $59.5 million charge for taxpayers: "The trail behind you is deleted." READ MORE
Auditors are faulting a $157 million military contractor for poor service. The contractor is a former subsidiary of Brookfield Asset Management previously chaired by Prime Minister Mark Carney: "This had a negative impact on Canadian Armed Forces morale." READ MORE
The Canadian Tourism Commission yesterday said it is hiring U.S. publicists to encourage Americans to vacation here. The Commission made no mention of Justin Trudeau's February 1 appeal for a cross-border travel boycott: "The United States is Canada’s largest source of international tourism." READ MORE
I remember we put up camp, and Dad took off and disappeared, going to the Bank to get some money. I remember he came back with tears in his eyes. He said, ‘We haven’t got any money. The place is broke.’ Mother was in tears. It was a disaster, you know. We heard later that some people committed suicide. Imagine, losing all their life savings. You know how people are. Terrible, sometimes, what happens. Looking back, it may be the best thing for the whole country if the Home Bank did go broke, and brought in all these guarantees of your savings. Don’t you think so?
