Dec 11 2018 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — The Canada Border Services Agency is looking at getting back into the reality TV show game, just two years after the federal privacy commissioner said the agency’s show Border Security: Canada’s Front Line broke the law. The National Geographic Channel series showed audiences unscripted encounters between border officers and the public. A normal episode would […]
Nov 25 2018 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — RCMP officers were given permission to break the law 73 times on the job last year — the highest number on record — according to a new report. Police officers are not immune from criminal liability while doing their jobs, but a decade-old tweak to the Criminal Code allows for a temporary dispensation during investigations. […]
Nov 20 2018 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — The Royal Canadian Mounted Police need more money to help cover a historic class-action lawsuit after more women than expected came forward with stories of harassment and sexual abuse. The “need to seek additional funds” was flagged in a briefing note from RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki to Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale, obtained by CBC […]
Oct 30 2018 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — A parliamentary committee is looking into whether the RCMP should be found in contempt of Parliament for posting potentially misleading advice to firearm and gun shop owners regarding the Liberals’ gun legislation. At the centre of the dispute is the question of whether the Canadian firearms program’s website anticipated a decision of Parliament by leading […]
Oct 20 2018 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — Members of the incoming Mexican government’s cabinet are heading to Ottawa early next week, as Canada tries to move the bilateral relationship “beyond the NAFTA talks,” says Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland. Ministers with the National Regeneration Movement, or Morena, will be visiting Ottawa on Monday. The party, led by Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, will […]
Oct 20 2018 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — Intergovernmental and Northern Affairs Minister Minister Dominic LeBlanc is promising changes to the federal government’s northern food security subsidy program in the coming weeks, acknowledging that Nutrition North has “lost its way.” Nutrition North, launched in 2011, provides subsidies on shipping to retailers on a list of products the government deems to be nutritious or […]
Oct 16 2018 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — It’ll take tens of millions of dollars over the next decade to restore and maintain Canada’s official residences — including the “fire hazard” that is 24 Sussex Drive — due to chronic underfunding, according to a new report by the National Capital Commission. The report, based on a 2017 in-depth assessment of the NCC’s portfolio, […]
Oct 14 2018 — Catharine Tunney — In the fall of 2008, former prime minister Brian Mulroney was feeling slighted. After reading an article in the Ottawa Citizen newspaper about a project Library and Achieves Canada helped to fund involving former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin, Mulroney wrote to Canada’s chief librarian and archivist to ask for similar compensation.
Oct 12 2018 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — The Liberal Party’s former treasurer is vowing to use his own money to fight the government’s new drug-impaired driving laws. Chuck Rifici now runs Nesta Holding Co., a private equity firm that invests in the cannabis industry. He’s committing $25,000 of his own funds to back a legal challenge of Canada’s updated impaired driving laws. […]
Sep 17 2018 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — With NAFTA negotiations in a standoff and the Canada-U.S. relationship seemingly on the rocks, the Liberal government is using the return of Parliament to talk about a different kind of trade deal. One of the first things members of Parliament will debate when they return to their seats today is Bill C-79, the legislation to […]
Sep 16 2018 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — Veterans Affairs plans to launch a new ad ahead of Remembrance Day 2018, but it has struggled to craft a campaign that doesn’t make people “feel guilty” or come off as a recruitment pitch, according to the in-house testing results. The department hired Sage Research Corporation for $62,969 to run ad campaign concepts past some […]
Sep 3 2018 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — A controversial reality television show that was cancelled for privacy reasons continues to be a key source of information for Canadians on the border, according to a recent report put together for the Canada Border Services Agency. The CBSA asked the research firm EKOS to asses Canadians’ views on its services and border management in […]
Aug 30 2018 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — The Trans Mountain pipeline’s uncertain future in Canada will not impact intensified North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said as her team continues to hammer out a revised deal in Washington. “Absolutely not,” said Freeland when asked if a Federal Court of Appeal decision adds pressure to her work at […]
Aug 20 2018 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government is dropping its controversial lottery system for reuniting immigrant families and reverting back to a first-come, first-served system following backlash from frustrated sponsors. On Monday, the federal government announced it will admit up to 20,500 parents and grandparents under its reunification program in 2019, and 21,000 in 2020. To reach those […]
Aug 18 2018 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — A recent spate of shootings is driving a swelling chorus of calls for a handgun ban — but the nation’s top Mountie says she isn’t convinced it’s the answer. On Monday, Montreal’s city council will debate whether to push for a federal ban on handguns. The motion before council calls on Montreal to demand the […]