Violent crimes targeting Jewish schoolchildren, storekeepers and other citizens totaled 77 last year, B’nai Brith yesterday said in its Annual Audit Of Anti-Semitic Incidents. The Criminal Code complaints were in addition to thousands of other incidents from online slurs to death chants at public rallies: "O Allah destroy the enemies of the people of Gaza."
Room and board for illegal immigrants is costing an average $224 per day, new data show. By comparison the federal minimum wage pays $138 per day, Employment Insurance a maximum $95 per day and Old Age Security $26 daily: "How long do people stay?"
Federal agencies from the Privy Council to the RCMP have used Chinese surveillance cameras banned in the U.S. as a security risk. Widespread purchase of the equipment was uncovered by Bloc Québécois MP René Villemure (Trois-Rivières, Que.): 'We are removing these cameras.'
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau kept Han Dong as the 2019 Liberal candidate in Don Valley North because he feared losing the Toronto riding, according to a China inquiry report. The Prime Minister knew at the time Dong was under surveillance over his contacts with the Chinese Consulate: "This is significant."
Chinese agents were likely to blame for “troubling events” in at least three federal ridings, says the Commission on Foreign Interference. The conclusion in a 194-page Initial Report by Justice Marie-Josée Hogue contradicted two previous findings by Liberal appointees: "People are right to be worried."
Higher stamp prices are inevitable due to another heavy operating loss at Canada Post, says the latest Annual Report from management. Stamp rates are up eight percent effective today to 99¢ for a domestic letter, $1.40 for U.S. mail and $2.92 overseas: "Competition has accelerated at a pace not seen in the company’s history."
New Democrats had no comment after Independent MP Kevin Vuong (Spadina-Fort York, Ont.) said a Party organizer called him a “Zionist whore" on Twitter. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh earlier dropped two nominees over anti-Semitic outbursts, saying he found it a “challenge to vet candidates.”
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom writes: “On the way downtown a busy road alongside a golf course – I saw people swinging their clubs at that early morning hour; could not tell if these were freeloaders…”
Years ago as a documentary producer I learned true insight into public figures is rare and exceptional when the subject is still living. Only death loosens tongues and unlocks secret diary entries. But documenting our times is not all-or-nothing. We cannot wait decades to ask, who was Justin Trudeau?
Justin Trudeau On The Ropes by columnist Paul Wells is the first of many expected profiles. Wells calls it an essay and not an obituary. “Every time he’s in trouble he thinks, I’ve been in trouble before and they were wrong to count me out,” he writes.
“In June he’ll have had this job longer than Louis St. Laurent,” writes Wells. “Nobody can take that away from him. What are his qualities? I’ve spent less time talking to him than I had spent with Harper before he became prime minister, but politics in Canada is a village. Paths cross. I’ve seen him up close.”
Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem yesterday denied any collusion with cabinet in contemplating pre-election interest rate relief. MPs questioned Macklem over remarks he and the Prime Minister made separately Wednesday afternoon regarding a rate cut: "Elections are elections."
A total 179 Gazans have received Canadian visas to date, figures show. Nearly 8,000 have applied, said the Department of Immigration: "This is Canada’s effort to get people out."
National greenhouse gas emissions are up again despite Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault’s repeated claims of reductions, new data showed yesterday. Only two provinces, both opposed to the carbon tax, reported lower emissions year over year: "We knew emissions were going to bounce back."
The Commons human resources committee yesterday by a 10 to 1 vote rejected a Bloc Québécois proposal to speed a ban on replacement workers. A cabinet bill if passed will not take effect until after the next election: "24 months from now it would finally come into force."
Dozens of First Nations communities still boil drinking water despite a $4.4 billion federal program to upgrade utilities, says the Department of Indigenous Services. Cabinet had promised to eliminate all long term tap water advisories three years ago: "This needed to be fixed yesterday."
A modest cut in interest rates “would be a confidence booster,” Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said yesterday. The next announcement on the interbank loan rate, unchanged for nine months, is due June 5: "We know Canadians would like to see lower interest rates."
