Cabinet 35 years ago called VIA Rail an “exorbitant” expense for taxpayers that should be privatized, according to newly-declassified 1989 documents. Members of then-Prime Minister Brian Mulroney’s cabinet rated the Crown railway unaffordable: “All privatization proposals will be considered.”
MP Han Dong (Don Valley North, Ont.) was blacklisted from any cabinet appointment after coming under security surveillance, the Commission on Foreign Interference disclosed yesterday. Cabinet aides confirmed Dong was deemed unfit for promotion yet twice ran for office as a member of the Liberal caucus until media divulged his China contacts in 2023: “Don Valley North comes to mind.”
Conservatives yesterday demanded Prime Minister Justin Trudeau name names after he said he had “explosive” top secret evidence Opposition members were acting for foreign agents. “Release the names,” said Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre: “Share it with the public.”
Gazan refugees who arrive in Canada will receive free health care, language training, free work and study permits and other unspecified “financial assistance,” the Department of Immigration said yesterday. It would not disclose the cost: ‘This will help Gazans as they arrive across Canada.’
Newly-declassified 1989 records show then-Finance Minister Michael Wilson assured cabinet “there was no revolt” by taxpayers over his introduction of the GST. A groundswell of opposition subsequently reduced Wilson’s Progressive Conservative Party to two seats in Parliament: “There was no ‘revolt’ building against the GST.”
Computer algorithms are bypassing a costly national rail safety measure mandated by Parliament, the Transportation Safety Board disclosed yesterday. Crash investigators cited three incidents including near misses in which key information was lost: “In all three of these occurrences the trains were operating near the border with the United States.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office had enough “concerns” about one Liberal MP it vetoed his appointment to a Commons committee, the Commission on Foreign Interference disclosed yesterday. Cabinet has yet to explain why MP Han Dong (Don Valley North, Ont.) remained a Liberal candidate through two elections: “Un-endorsing Mr. Dong would have direct electoral consequences.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau receives three memos a day, a political aide testified yesterday. The Commission on Foreign Interference is attempting to determine why Trudeau failed to act on repeated warnings of alleged illegal activity by foreign agents: “Would you agree with me the Prime Minister of Canada should not have any problem reading?”
There are no traitors in Parliament, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc yesterday testified at the Commission on Foreign Interference. LeBlanc said while some legislators “may have lacked judgment” none have betrayed Canada: “It is a gross partisan exaggeration.”
The Privy Council is concealing hourly rates charged by lawyers at the 2022 Freedom Convoy inquiry, Access To Information records show. Law firms pocketed six figure payments: “Agreements were governed by a maximum number of hours, not a maximum dollar amount.”
Young Canadians have never heard of the Tyco Magic-8 Ball, says a federal report. The novelty paperweight rated one of the greatest toys of all time drew a blank from respondents in Department of Industry focus groups: “Cheesy.”
Defence Minister Bill Blair says he cannot explain why his office waited nearly two months to approve a security warrant placing Liberal Party organizers under surveillance over suspicious contacts with members of the Chinese Communist Party. “I agree I was at all times responsible,” Blair testified at the Commission on Foreign Interference: “Was this a politically sensitive warrant?”
About 100 Canadians are being held in Chinese prisons, says the Department of Foreign Affairs. The latest figures follow an appeal from the Chinese Embassy that Canadian visitors should not fear arbitrary arrest: “If you walk on the Chinese streets, it’s quite safe.”
Hiring of Black, Indigenous and LGBTQ students is a “national priority” under next year’s Canada Summer Jobs program, says the Department of Employment. Program managers said preference will also be given to “jobs that support climate change mitigation.”
Animal rights protesters use terror tactics, says a member of the Senate agriculture committee. Senator David Richards (N.B.) told a hearing that protesters seek to “destroy the very industry they are protesting” at livestock and poultry barns: “It’s a terror tactic.”
