Alberta’s share of the Canada Pension Plan is only worth a third the amount claimed by the province, says a federal report. The analysis by Canada’s Chief Actuary was commissioned after Premier Danielle Smith released data stating Alberta was owed more than half the fund: 'It is of particular significance.'
Parliament must cut short its five-week Christmas recess to end “total mayhem” in the federal cabinet, says Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre. The appeal followed the loss of more Commons votes that left the two-member Green Party as the only opposition caucus to support Prime Minister Justin Trudeau: "I have never seen anything like it. It is hallucinogenic."
Cabinet has a new housing minister, the fourth in three years, with updated figures showing construction starts are not close to federal targets. “I understand there’s a short runway,” Minister Nathaniel Erskine-Smith told reporters.
Spanking harms children and should be criminalized, says the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime. Benjamin Roebuck in a letter to senators said Parliament must repeal an 1892 clause of the Criminal Code that allows parents to use reasonable force to correct misbehaving children: "I remain deeply concerned about violence experienced by children."
Homeowners in one province, Prince Edward Island, accounted for more than half of successful federal applications for the subsidized purchase of heat pumps, records show. Islanders’ claims numbered in the thousands while only a handful of Prairie homeowners qualified for grants: "How many?"
Poet W.N. Branson writes: “Ancient verdant seats, filled in absentia and used to breathtaking effect; bewildered subjects of His Majesty, flash with a piercing light…”
It was Canada’s longest military deployment. On Sunday March 15, 1964 peacekeepers landed in Cyprus and stayed 29 years. The mission cost some $700 million and saw deployment of the nation’s last aircraft carrier, HMCS Bonaventure.
There is no library of literature on the Cyprus mission. The island itself was a beach resort for English tourists. No Victoria Crosses were awarded, no wounded veterans came home to parades. For all that, Under the Blue Beret should be required reading for anyone who is thinking of joining the military.
In crisp prose author Terry Burke captures the minutiae of army life. It is neither heroic nor desperate. It is nothing like the military caricatured by non-combatants. It is what it is.
The Canadian Coast Guard in an internal report says its fleet is so old it now spends a third of a billion a year on maintenance as “30 percent of vessels have less than five years left.” Defence Minister Bill Blair counts Coast Guard spending in claiming Canada is on a path to meeting minimum NATO requirements for military preparedness: "The age, condition and obsolescence of Coast Guard vessels and their electronics and informatics infrastructure represent a key risk."
Parks Canada yesterday had no comment over a mistaken historical commemoration. The agency honoured a Saskatchewan athlete as the first Canadian woman Olympic gold medalist in track and field. She wasn’t: "Historic designations illustrate the defining moments in the story of Canada."
Immigration Minister Marc Miller is enforcing new regulations to limit in-and-out claims by foreigners gaming immigration rules. Miller's department called the practice “flagpoling.”
Parliament should mandate criminal background checks on all marine port employees, a practice already required at airports, says the Commons public safety committee. MPs blamed organized crime for vehicle thefts worth $1.5 billion last year: "We need to take a hard look at the security of our ports."
Inflation in apartment rents has cooled but with little improvement in affordability, CMHC said yesterday. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation did not measure what if any impact resulted from Parliament’s GST holiday on new apartment buildings enacted a year ago: "There has been no improvement in affordability."
Federal authorities yesterday denied postponing disclosure of financial accounts to avoid embarrassment over growing debt. MPs on the Commons public accounts committee accused the Prime Minister and cabinet of lying to taxpayers: "If the Government of Canada was on the Toronto Stock Exchange we would be de-listed."
The Department of Finance yesterday said it is “trying to figure out as we go” how many jobs would be lost with a threatened 25 percent Trump tariff. Members of the Commons public accounts committee expressed alarm at the lack of preparedness: "I really hope you guys get on that for the sake of this country."
Climate change targets will cost Canadian electrical utilities about two thirds of a trillion dollars, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said yesterday. Guilbeault in a legal notice said the country had no choice but to stop burning fossil fuels for electricity: "Climate change is a growing threat."
