💰MPs, Senators get a salary boost, Carney will now earn $419,600, Scheer $308,800, and Blanchet $261,500

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🇺🇸 Canada-U.S. travel drops for 4th straight month, new data suggests

Return trips by Canadians from the U.S. declined for a fourth consecutive month compared with the year prior, data released by Statistics Canada shows, while travel by Americans coming to Canada is also on the decline.

The number of Canadians who had returned from the U.S. in April by vehicle totalled 1.2 million, a 35.2 per cent decline from what was seen the same month last year.
#US
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❌💰CBC to stop paying individual bonuses after controversy

The CBC’s board of directors says the Crown corporation will no longer pay individual bonuses to employees.

The board says in a statement it will discontinue what CBC refers to as “performance pay” and adjust salaries of affected staff to compensate them.

The move comes after the public broadcaster was criticized for paying out millions in bonuses after eliminating hundreds of jobs.

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Carney delays Canada Budget, plans to cut income tax by July

Canada will cut the lowest personal income tax rate to 14% from 15% on July 1, but Prime Minister Mark Carney’s new government won’t release a budget before the summer months.

The tax cut is expected to cost $27 billion over five years, according to a document released by the government.

We are setting the stage for economic growth by helping hard-working Canadians keep more of their paychecks to spend on the priorities that matter most to them.

Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said in a news release.

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Eby says B.C. will be ‘engine of new Canada’ by increasing trading with Asia

B.C. Premier David Eby says the province will send envoys to Asia to establish new trade agreements with international buyers amid the trade war with the U.S.

Eby says he, Minister of Agriculture Lana Popham, and Parliamentary Secretary Paul Choi will visit Japan, South Korea and Malaysia.

We’re under attack by the president of our largest trading partner, our relationship with overseas markets, the opportunity to expand those markets and diversify markets away from the United States is more important than ever, and that’s what we’re going to do.

#BritishColumbia #US
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💰Ontario's 2025 budget unveiled with $14.6 billion deficit

Ontario's 2025 budget projects a $14.6 billion deficit, driven by slower economic growth and U.S. tariff impacts.

Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy announced a $232.5 billion spending plan, including $5 billion for businesses affected by tariffs and $5 billion for infrastructure. The province aims for a small surplus by 2027-28, with economic growth slowing to 0.8% and unemployment rising to 7.6%.
#Ontario
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Opposition slams Liberals for having no plans to table budget soon

Opposition parties attacked Prime Minister Mark Carney for being vague about his plans after his government said it would not table a federal budget before the House of Commons rises for the summer.

Following the first Liberal cabinet meeting after the swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said instead of a spring budget, the government will put forward an economic statement in the fall.

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Taxpayers group calls on PM Carney to table 2025 budget

Franco Terrazzano, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, says the Liberal government’s decision to not table a 2025 federal budget is a bottom-line bad idea.

Failing to even present a budget is a huge crack in Prime Minister Mark Carney’s credibility. You can’t be credible with the finances if you can’t even bother to put together a budget.

#Carney
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🪖Canada's military plans to be in the Arctic 'on a near permanent basis,' says commander

Canada intends to expand its military training regime in the Arctic, deploying a variety of forces in the region for up to 10 months a year, starting this year, the military's operations commander says.

Lt.-Gen. Steve Boivin says the military's signature Far North exercise — Operation Nanook — will see additional elements created, resulting in a greater, consistent presence in a region that is increasingly the focus of geopolitical rivalry.
#Arctic
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🇺🇸💊U.S. DEA threat assessment points to fentanyl ‘super laboratories’ in Canada

The United States Drug Enforcement Administration’s latest threat assessment says fentanyl “super laboratories” in Canada are a growing source of concern - after U.S. President Donald Trump used cross-border traffic in the deadly drug to justify hitting imports of Canadian goods with tariffs.

The annual report released this week says that while the estimated volume of fentanyl coming from Canada is substantially lower than the amount entering the U.S. from Mexico, “these operations have the potential to expand and fill any supply void created by disruptions to Mexico-sourced fentanyl production and trafficking.”

The DEA pointed out that the RCMP dismantled a sophisticated drug lab in British Columbia last October.
#US #border #BritishColumbia
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🪖 Canadian military faces recruitment and retention challenges

A leaked internal report highlights significant challenges within the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), particularly in recruitment and retention.

The report reveals high attrition rates among new recruits, with 9.4% leaving in the 2023-24 fiscal year, more than double the overall average. This is attributed to delays in specialized training, inadequate facilities, and insufficient trainers, leading to frustration and underemployment among recruits.

The CAF also faces a shortage of up to 14,000 qualified personnel, while the defunding of the Retention Program Office has been criticized as a misalignment of priorities.

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🏥 Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announces major cabinet shuffle and health care overhaul

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith unveiled a significant cabinet shuffle on Friday, restructured the province’s health care system into four distinct pillars: Mental Health and Addictions, Acute Care, Primary Care, and Continuing Care.

Each area will now be overseen by a separate minister as part of the ongoing overhaul of Alberta Health Services (AHS).

Key appointments include Adriana LaGrange, Matt Jones, Rick Wilson, and Jason Nixon, while Rajan Sawhney and Myles McDougall take on new roles.
#Alberta #healthcare
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🚨🔫 Harjeet Dhadda killed in targeted Mississauga shooting

Harjeet Dhadda, a 51-year-old resident of Brampton, was killed in a targeted shooting in a Mississauga parking lot on Wednesday.

The attack occurred despite his family reporting repeated threats and extortion attempts to the police.
#Ontario
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🔥 British Columbia sends firefighters to Ontario and Manitoba

British Columbia is deploying nearly 100 wildland firefighters to Ontario to assist with ongoing wildfires near the Manitoba border.

This follows a previous deployment of 42 firefighters to Manitoba, where a wildfire in the Rural Municipality of Lac du Bonnet destroyed 28 homes and claimed two lives.

The decision was made possible by cooler temperatures and rain in British Columbia, which have kept local fire risks manageable.
#BritishColumbia #Ontario #Manitoba #wildfires
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📜 Amazon faces labour tribunal over Quebec warehouse closures

A Quebec labour tribunal has begun hearings over Amazon’s closure of seven warehouses in January 2025, resulting in the loss of 1,700 jobs.

The closures came months after workers at the Montreal-area Laval facility unionized with the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN), which accuses Amazon of retaliation.

The CSN seeks to overturn the closures and demands one year’s salary compensation for affected workers. Amazon argues the shutdowns were driven by operational efficiency and cost-cutting, not union activity.
#Quebec
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🎓McGill University announces layoffs amid Quebec tuition policy dispute

McGill University, located in Montreal, has laid off nearly 100 employees due to a projected $45 million budget shortfall for the 2025-26 fiscal year.

The cuts, announced by senior administration including President Deep Saini, are linked to Quebec government policies that increased tuition fees for out-of-province students and imposed stricter language requirements.
#Quebec
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🚨 Kingston police deploy drones to monitor distracted driving

Kingston Police have used drones to monitor distracted driving at three busy intersections, issuing 20 tickets on May 7, 2025.

The drones, operated by the Traffic Safety Unit, aim to enhance road safety by identifying drivers using phones at red lights. This marks one of the first uses of drone technology for traffic enforcement in the area.

However, the initiative has sparked controversy, with the Canadian Constitution Foundation threatening legal action over privacy concerns, arguing it violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

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📣 Quebec to impose French-language quotas on streaming giants

Quebec Culture Minister Mathieu Lacombe tabled a bill today that would force streaming giants to add French-language content and make it more easily accessible to users.

Bill 109, noscriptd An Act to affirm the cultural sovereignty of Quebec and to enact the Act respecting the discoverability of French-language cultural content in the digital environment, has been in the works for over a year.

It marks the first time that Quebec would set a "visibility quota" for French-language content on major streaming platforms such as Netflix, Disney and Spotify.
#Quebec
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🇺🇸 Trump administration blames Canada, specifically Vancouver, for role in U.S. drug crisis

Officials in United States President Donald Trump’s cabinet continue to blame the northern border, and specifically Vancouver, for fentanyl entering the U.S.

Director of the FBI, Kash Patel, appeared on Fox News on Sunday saying that despite Trump sealing the border, fentanyl is still coming into the U.S.

Where are all the narco traffickers going to keep bringing this stuff into the country? The northern border. Our adversaries have partnered up with the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) and others, Russia, Iran, on a variety of different criminal enterprises, and they’re going and they are sailing around Vancouver and coming in by air.

#US #BritishColumbia
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🌍 G7 Finance Ministers meet in Banff amid trade tensions and global challenges

Top finance officials from the G7 nations gathered in Banff, Alberta, led by Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne and Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem, to address pressing global issues.

Key topics included the war in Ukraine, artificial intelligence, and economic growth challenges. A major point of contention was U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policies, which have strained relations with allies like Canada and Mexico. Canadian officials warned these measures could disrupt global markets and pandemic recovery.
#Alberta #US #Mexico
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🏠 Ontario struggles to meet housing targets

Ontario is facing significant challenges in meeting its goal of building 1.5 million new homes by 2031.

The latest budget projects housing starts of 71,800 in 2025, 74,800 in 2026, and 82,500 in 2027—levels that are far below the required pace. Only 260,000 homes have been started since the target was set, necessitating a doubling of construction, which experts view as unrealistic.

Critics argue that the budget's measures are insufficient to address the crisis, and skepticism about the government's commitment is growing.
#Ontario #housing

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