Liberals, NDP say no plans to merge, despite strong Conservative lead in polls

With the Conservatives poised to make major gains in the next election, don’t expect to see the Liberals and NDP duplicate the 2003 Conservative merger that stopped vote splitting on the right, despite their current close partnership in Parliament.

The Liberal and New Democratic parties may be looking at their current polling numbers with unease, but party insiders and analysts say the two parties believe they would have more to lose if they joined forces and ran on the same ticket.

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Ottawa to accept 1,000 applications from Hamas seeking a way out of Gaza

The federal government says a maximum of 1,000 Palestinian relatives of Canadian citizens will be able to apply to escape the Gaza Strip with Canada’s help.

The special extended family program for people in Gaza is set to launch next week, after Palestinian Canadians pleaded with the government for months to rescue their loved ones as the Israel-Hamas war continues.

The policy details released last week say the program will stop taking applications either after it receives 1,000 requests or after a year has elapsed.

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Canada’s highest-paid CEOs make 246x the average worker, says new report

It was another record-breaking year for Canada’s richest CEOs.

In one work day, and less than a half hour into the new year — 27 minutes to be exact — Canada’s 100 highest-paid CEOs will have already earned the average worker’s annual salary, according to a new study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).

It translates to roughly $60,600 by 9:27 a.m. on Jan. 2, if you include Monday as a paid holiday, according to the report.

When you make that kind of dough you must believe it your duty to betray your fellow citizens in all sorts of scummy ways like mass immigration.

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Amid push for foreign registry, many say other measures needed to fight interference

OTTAWA – For more than a year, Canada has been mulling the creation of a foreign agent registry to fight interference in the country’s democratic processes.

The Liberal government and even some firm supporters of the idea acknowledge such a registry would be just one of several tools to prevent hostile actors from meddling in Canadian affairs.

Others say it doesn’t belong in the toolbox at all.

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Boon To LPC Election Prospects: Size of federal public service predator class swells to record high, according to report

The federal public service reached a record size last year as the amount of jobs filled through non-advertised posts soared to nearly three times the level prior to the election of the Liberal government in 2015.

In addition, more public servants switched jobs, resigned or were investigated than at any time during the Trudeau government’s mandate, new statistics from the Public Service Commission of Canada show.

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Hoping for a raise in 2024? Most Canadian workers aren’t optimistic, poll shows

Whether it’s asking for a raise or switching careers altogether, many Canadians are setting financial goals for the new year. But an increasing number of workers doubt they’ll get paid more in 2024, a new poll has found.

The management services company ADP Canada released its monthly Happiness at Work Index Wednesday, polling 1,200 Canadians in the first week of December. More than half (56 per cent) reported feeling “less optimistic” about getting a salary bump in the coming year.

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John Robson: 5 Key Policy Improvements Ottawa Should Make in 2024

In my last column of the year, I consigned 2023 to the trash can of history with a gloomy declaration that things are bad and getting worse, and a wish for a Happy New Year where Canadians start demanding better policy instead of watching our politicians drift into disaster. And I kick off 2024 by calling my own bluff about admitting we’re in trouble, then making “a New Year’s list of resolutions… that contains five key policy areas and the things you won’t tolerate politicians doing and those you really want them to do,” with my five areas being national defence, finances, the economy, health care, and regulation.

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How tensions between Russia and the West are mounting in the Arctic

Down by the harbour in Longyearbyen, the crew of the Polargirl prepared for the day’s voyage, a round trip across the fjord to the Russian coal-mining settlement of Barentsburg on Norway’s Svalbard archipelago.

One would-be traveller, her suitcase set down in the snow, explained that she planned to spend the night in Barentsburg and return the next day before Masha, the Russian guide, shook her head sadly.

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Lawn signs for Ezra Levant book were illegal election ads, judge rules

Canada’s ban on election advertising by unregistered third parties does not violate the Charter right to free expression, a judge has found.

Federal Court Justice Cecily Strickland ruled against a case brought by Rebel News founder Ezra Levant, who was fined for lawn signs promoting his book, titled The Libranos: What the media won’t tell you about Justin Trudeau’s corruption, during the 2019 federal election. The capital S in Libranos was styled as a dollar sign, and Liberal ministers were shown in a play on the mobster drama The Sopranos. It did not include disclosure of who paid for them, which is legally required for election ads.

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Why more Canadians are delaying parenthood by freezing their eggs

Inside the lab at Olive Fertility Centre in Vancouver, hundreds of unfertilized human eggs are nesting in round tanks full of cold liquid nitrogen.

For some, the frozen eggs could fulfil dreams of parenthood in years to come.

“Honestly, I’m so grateful for science,” said Natalie Grunberg-Ferreira, 47, who conceived two sons from the eggs she froze at the fertility clinic.

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Anyone else take Home-Ec in High School?

30 Fascinating Vintage Photographs of Girls Home Economics Classes From Between the 1920s and 1950s

Loss of cooking skills has hurt our ability to adapt to rising food prices, experts say

Skyrocketing prices have taken a big bite out of what Canadians are able to serve up for dinner but food economists say our ability to cope has been worsened by our collective decline in cooking skills.

“We are less able to cook than we were 30 or 40 years ago, and so it’s much more difficult for us to adapt our diet,” said Mike von Massow, an associate professor at the University of Guelph’s Food, Agricultural & Resource Economics department.

Of course no amount of cooking prowess will help if you can’t afford a basket of groceries. Nearly two million Canadians used a food bank in March, according to an annual report by Food Banks Canada.

I took Home Ec in Grade 9, so did a lot of guys, it was fun, except for the sewing part. I feel sorry for our teacher to this day.

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New study shows few low-income families benefiting from $10 daycare in B.C.

Lengthy waitlists and high costs make daycare unattainable for many British Columbian families.

The province’s 13,000 $10-per-day child-care spaces have changed that for many—but a new study from University of British Columbia researchers suggests very few low-income families have been able to access the program.

“Our initial study intended to only interview low-income women who were single moms accessing those $10-per-day spots,” said Dr. Lea Caragata, director of the school of social work at UBC and co-author of the study. “After six months of intensive recruitment, we could only find 13 across the province.”

13? That’s pathetic but oh so ‘Liberal”.

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Michael Taube: Gazing Into the Crystal Ball for Canada’s Three Major Party Leaders in 2024

It’s almost time to bid farewell to 2023, and ring in 2024. I and my fellow columnists will be sharpening our pencils (or, as we do these days, typing on our computer keys), gazing into imaginary crystal balls, and making New Year’s predictions.

What’s the future for Canada’s three major party leaders in 2024? Let’s gaze into the hazy, misty crystal ball and see!

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