Tag: canada

Ottawa politicians put baby showers, golf, bowling and Christmas parties on taxpayers’ tab

Ottawa’s mayor and city councillors charged taxpayers for everything from a baby shower and bowling outings to golf, Christmas parties, glow sticks and a Santa costume during the current term of council.

According to a CTV News Ottawa review of city expense records, Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and 24 councillors spent a combined $28.9 million from their office budgets between November 2022 and May 2026.

Most of that money went toward staff salaries, websites, advertising and other routine office expenses, but the records also show tens of thousands of dollars in hospitality and a long list of smaller discretionary purchases.

The mayor and councillors spent more than $98,000 on hospitality during the period, including lunches, staff gatherings and community events. Another $28,000 went toward coffee, tea, juice, creamers and refreshments.

The taxpayer-funded outings come as Ottawa residents are paying higher property taxes, with council approving a 3.75-per-cent increase for 2026 after raising the overall levy the previous year.

Among the more unusual expenses, Sutcliffe’s office spent $191 on a baby shower for Coun. Wilson Lo in September 2025. His office also expensed $102 for Golden Palace egg rolls sent to Ontario cabinet minister Stan Cho and $25 for donuts for a meeting with Premier Doug Ford.

Coun. Laura Dudas charged $136 for a Santa costume for a holiday skate party, while Coun. Cathy Curry expensed hundreds of dollars for temporary Maple Leaf tattoos and candy for Canada Day events.

Coun. Catherine Kitts used her office budget for several staff outings, including bowling, golf, mini golf and dinners. Coun. Tim Tierney charged $198 for a team-building activity at a paint-your-own pottery studio.

Christmas spending was also substantial.

Sutcliffe’s office expensed more than $31,000 for the Mayor and City Manager’s All City Staff Christmas Reception in 2023 and another $23,000 for the event in 2025.

Councillors also billed taxpayers for tickets to various community and political events, including $1,000 for two tickets to a Gold Plate Dinner and another $1,000 for group tickets to a charity trivia night.

City rules allow councillors broad discretion over their office budgets, including spending to support community events, communicate with residents and represent the city at functions.

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Wiped out: US faces surging toilet paper prices amid trade war with Canada

Using the bathroom or having a cry is about to become more expensive for North Americans as the US and Canada enter a full-fledged trade war that threatens to flush away decades of peaceful trading between the two nations.

After trade negotiations broke down between the two countries last weekend, Mark Carney, the Canadian prime minister, vowed to match US tariffs “dollar for dollar” and unveiled a list of nearly 900 American goods that will face 25% to 50% tariffs starting on 8 September.

Paper products are among the hardest-hit sectors, with Canada threatening to put tariffs of between 25% and 50% on “toilet paper or face tissue stock” from 8 September in retaliation for a 50% hike from Washington DC.

Though American toilet paper and tissues are often made domestically, they heavily rely on lumber-rich Canada for raw materials. Procter & Gamble, the owner of Charmin toilet paper, said last year that it would have to increase prices amid tariffs that were in place at the time.

The US imported $328m worth of toilet paper from Canada in 2024, according to the World Bank, making it by far the largest exporter of the product to the US. Retailers including Costco source much of their paper products from the country.

The US accounts for more than 20% of global tissue consumption despite having only 4% of the world’s population. The average American uses 141 rolls of toilet paper per year, making them No 1 for No 2s globally, just ahead of Germans, each using an average of 134 rolls annually.

It’s not just paper products that could rise in price. The trade war highlights the deep economic ties shared between the two countries as consumers continue to worry about inflation on both sides of the border.

US tariffs are specifically affecting Canadian liquor, including popular whiskey brands Crown Royal and Canadian Club, which are currently under a 50% tariff.

While Canada has not introduced a tariff on American liquor, most Canadian provinces have introduced their own bans on American alcohol, in retaliation for earlier tariffs on Canadian products. Donald Trump used these province-wide bans on American alcohol as part of his legal justification for his new tariffs against Canada.

Carney has asked province leaders to consider putting American liquor back on the shelves, though as the Nova Scotia premier Tim Houston told CBC News: “Whether Nova Scotians or Canadians will actually buy it when it’s back on the shelves, that’s a whole other discussion.”

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Undocumented migrant accused of using 55 fake identities to collect $180K in Quebec welfare

An undocumented migrant from Senegal is accused of defrauding Quebec taxpayers of more than $180,000 by allegedly submitting dozens of social assistance applications using fake identities.

According to the Journal de Montréal, 45-year-old Omar Ndiaye has been detained since his arrest last month and faces fraud, document forgery and use of forged-document charges stemming from an alleged scheme operating between August 2024 and March 2026.

Crown prosecutors allege Ndiaye submitted 55 applications for last-resort financial assistance, mostly online, using fictitious profiles and impersonating different beneficiaries.

Quebec’s Ministry of Employment and Social Solidarity allegedly approved 37 of the applications, resulting in more than $180,000 in public money being paid out.

There was one apparent flaw in the alleged scheme: despite using different identities, photographs bearing a “very strong resemblance” to Ndiaye were allegedly attached to several applications.

Surveillance footage also allegedly captured Ndiaye withdrawing money with bank cards registered to three other people, while police reportedly observed him retrieving mail from several post office boxes registered at addresses other than his own.

According to the report, a former landlord discovered more than 140 letters from the Quebec government, federal government and a bank addressed to various individuals.

Investigators allegedly found another identity during Ndiaye’s arrest: a passport from the Democratic Republic of Congo bearing a different name but his photograph.

Crown prosecutor Julien Beaulieu argued against releasing Ndiaye pending trial.

“Mr. Ndiaye is using multiple different identities, so much so that he constitutes an imminent flight risk,” Beaulieu told the court.

Ndiaye has no legal status in Canada and testified that he works illegally as a dishwasher at a Montreal restaurant. He reportedly lived in Spain between 2005 and 2023.

Seeking release, Ndiaye told the court that “living in Canada is a dream” and insisted he had no intention of fleeing.

Quebec Court Judge Sonia Mastro Matteo wasn’t convinced.

The judge noted that Ndiaye’s place of residence in Canada was difficult to establish and ruled that a proposed $4,000 deposit was insufficient to ensure he would appear in court and comply with release conditions.

His defence, meanwhile, offered an unusual alternative explanation: another person could be responsible for the 55 allegedly fraudulent applications by impersonating Ndiaye himself.

Ndiaye remains behind bars and is scheduled to return to court in October.

According to the Crown, he could face three to five years in prison if convicted.

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Feds keep 860 million pages of historical records inaccessible to Canadians

Nearly 860 million pages of historical records held by Library and Archives Canada remain inaccessible to the public, according to internal federal documents obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter.

An April 21 briefing note, Comprehensive Expenditure Review, revealed an estimated 78% of the federal archives remain closed, leaving only 22% to 25% of records accessible to Canadians either online or in person.

“Seventy-eight percent of records, 860 million pages, are still inaccessible, underscoring the need for continued effort and reform,” said the note, according to Blacklock’s.

Officials blamed the enormous backlog partly on the labour-intensive process of retrieving and digitizing paper records.

“Boxes must be physically retrieved from storage and transported from one building to another,” managers wrote.

Staff must then inspect pages, remove paper clips and staples, determine which scanning equipment to use and review digitized files for legibility. Fragile or mould-damaged documents can require conservation work, while classified records create additional complications.

The problem isn’t new.

A 2021 internal evaluation found Library and Archives Canada’s backlog of private archival material stretched an estimated eight kilometres of cartons, with staff acknowledging the material was unavailable to researchers.

The Auditor General raised similar concerns more than a decade ago.

A 2014 audit found Library and Archives Canada was warehousing boxes without even processing them to determine exactly what they contained or whether the records were historically significant.

“Until the boxes are processed Library and Archives Canada will not know what is in them,” auditors wrote.

Among the warehoused material were 24,000 Department of National Defence records, some dating as far back as the Boer War, along with another 5,200 cartons from the Department of Justice.

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Trump slams Canada as ‘most difficult and unreasonable’ nation as trade talks collapse

Tensions flared between Washington and Ottawa after President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to challenge Canadian leadership. Calling out Ottawa as the “most difficult and unreasonable” government to negotiate with — despite its ongoing reliance on the U.S. defense umbrella — Trump doubled down on his firm stance to hold Canada accountable.

The rhetoric exemplifies an escalation in an intensifying trade conflict, coming directly on the heels of collapsed negotiations and mounting cross-border economic retaliation.

In his social media posts, President Trump called out Canada for its exploitation, spanning decades, arguing that high Canadian tariffs on American agricultural products have damaged U.S. farming operations.

Highlighting long-standing grievances, Trump also cited steep dairy import duties and a ten-year regulatory delay in certifying U.S.-made Gulfstream jets — a move he said was designed to shield Canadian aviation competitors.

Trump asserted that the U.S. has sustained an average annual trade deficit of $60 billion with its northern neighbor, declaring that Washington would no longer tolerate the unfair dynamic.

The president’s public posts follow a sudden breakdown in formal trade talks.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney ordered Ottawa’s negotiating team to return home after Washington introduced terms that Canadian officials deemed “unfair and economically unviable.”

In response to the stalemate, Trump threatened to slap a 50% tariff on all Canadian cars, trucks, automotive components, and steel starting January 1, 2027. The economic threat directly targets one of the most deeply integrated manufacturing supply chains in North America, raising concerns among Canadians about rising consumer costs and disruption to regional assembly lines.

Canada responded by preparing dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs on hundreds of American products. Dominic LeBlanc, the minister responsible for Canada–U.S. trade, stated that while Ottawa had hoped for a mutually beneficial agreement, the government felt that it should act to protect domestic industries from unilateral U.S. penalties.

Trump also further provoked Canadian leadership by declaring on Truth Social that the U.S. might rename Lake Ontario to “Lake America,” referencing how the nation no longer expected to conduct business with the region.

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Ontario Premier Threatens to Cut Electricity to U.S. — Trump Warns Consequences for Canada Will Be ‘Far WORSE’

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is threatening to cut electricity supplies to the U.S. amid the ongoing trade war with President Donald Trump.

Ford said Monday that “everything is on the table” after Washington imposed 50 percent tariffs on roughly $20 billion of Canadian goods.

Ontario currently supplies enough electricity to power approximately 1.5 million American homes and businesses, particularly in neighboring states including Michigan, Minnesota and New York.

“We power 1.5 million homes and businesses,” Ford said. “Everything’s on the table. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

He also threatened to completely halt exports of critical minerals from Ontario.

“I’ll cut them off,” he said. “You won’t get a grain of sand out of Ontario.”

Among the resources flowing south are high-grade nickel and uranium refined in Ontario, materials with significant importance to American manufacturing, energy production and national security.

“What would they do without the high-grade nickel that we ship down to the U.S.?” Ford asked.

Ford suggested Canada could eventually go even further by using its enormous supplies of oil and potash as leverage against Washington.

The threats come after trade negotiations between the two countries collapsed Friday.

Prime Minister Mark Carney walked away from negotiations after deciding that Trump’s demands were unacceptable.

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Toronto homeowner charged after opening fire during potential car theft

The case has raised the issue of how Canadians can protect themselves, their families and their property when faced with a potential break-in or theft.

Earlier this year in Vaughan, a homeowner got his gun out to protect himself and his family during a home invasion. York Regional Police did not press charges in that case.

The Toronto case has also renewed attention on “Castle Law” protections in Canada. The idea has gained support from some Canadians who believe people should be able to defend themselves and their property when police cannot respond immediately.

Police response times can be 10 to 12 minutes, and an armed attacker can do significant harm during that time.

The broader concern raised was that Canadians defending themselves, their families, homes and businesses can face criminal charges while dealing with people who have entered their property.

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Billionaire CEO of Canada’s Shopify demands abolition of right to vote for broad sections of the population

Social media comments by Tobias Lütke, the right-wing CEO of the Canadian online shopping site Shopify, in which the multi-billionaire attacks universal suffrage have been met with outrage in Canada and internationally.

Lütke declared that voting rights should be stripped from those whom he termed “dependents”—based on their payment of income tax. This would disenfranchise wide swathes of workers on low wages, elderly pensioners, the unemployed, students and the infirm. These proposals were met with support from within the Canadian capitalist oligarchy and international financial elite, including from the fascist Elon Musk.

The posts expose the internationally unified class character of the capitalist assault on basic democratic rights, which finds its most concentrated expression in the campaign of the fascist US President Donald Trump to establish a presidential dictatorship. The reaction to Lütke’s comments exposes the political complicity of Canada’s social democratic NDP and pseudo-left, who have falsely claimed that Lütke’s hostility to democracy is merely “un-Canadian.” In fact, attacks on worker rights, including the right to strike, and the promotion of authoritarian forms of rule feature ever more prominently in Canadian political life.

Lütke’s remarks came in a series of replies to an X post by Jordan Grimes, a Democratic Party activist in San Francisco. The Democrat attacked elderly San Francisco residents mobilized at a town hall meeting to oppose a high-rise housing development. Grimes characterized the elderly voters as “the living dead,” complaining that they had outlived their democratic rights, and were a far greater obstacle than capitalism to solving the housing crisis.

To these complaints, Lütke responded with enthusiasm to strip people of their democratic rights. He cynically framed this as an inversion of the “New Deal” social reforms in the US in the 1930s:

“New deal: when you get your pension deal it’s locked in and guaranteed. But now you are a dependent and that means no voting, just like dependents under age. Enjoy the deal, let people with a stake in the future decide.” 

This outrageous proposition drew support from another Canadian, former TD Bank executive Eric Thor: “Interesting… what about weighted voting proportional to the level of income tax you pay? (no income tax paid – 0 vote, $1-100k – 1 vote, $100-200k 2 votes and so on… cap it at 5 votes for $500k+. For those that constantly complain about the wealthy not paying tax/fair share they’d have nothing to worry about right? Why not reward representation of taxation and build a democracy around those that foot the bill?”

Lütke responded enthusiastically that this was a “good system,” and later that “Retired, Unemployed, Unemployable, and useful idiots are the only people who go to these town hall sessions.”

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US Set to Impose 50% Tariffs on $20 billion Worth of Canadian Products

The United States is set to impose 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian products early Saturday after last-ditch negotiations failed to resolve the latest strain in already tense relations between the historic allies.

President Donald Trump’s import taxes will hit about 5% of what Canada ships to the United States every year, including products ranging from hockey sticks to tongue depressors.

“Tonight, Canada declined to finalize the trade deal under the terms agreed earlier this week. Despite the U.S. offer to Canada to receive the best treatment of any major exporter to our market, new demands and walk backs of other commitments by Canada have upended the careful balance reached in the past days,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement read to reporters on a press call shortly before midnight.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney responded, “Last-minute changes in the U.S. proposed terms were unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal.”

Carney said his government would announce additional support for Canadian workers and businesses in the coming days.

Greer said the U.S. offer was “forward-looking” and included “a historic economic and national security partnership.”

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Justice Gillian Roberts cuts violent sex offender’s sentence over looming deportation

An Ontario judge reduced the prison sentence of a permanent resident convicted of a violent sexual assault, ruling that his near-certain deportation would make his punishment more severe.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Gillian Roberts sentenced 31-year-old Sergio Reyes Loor to four years in prison for sexual assault causing bodily harm, despite finding that five years would otherwise have been a fit sentence.

“The conviction will have devastating immigration consequences, making any punishment I impose more severe than it otherwise would be,” Roberts wrote. “As a result, I decrease the sentence to four years.”

Reyes Loor, an Ecuadorian permanent resident who first came to Canada in 2015, was convicted after Roberts found he sexually assaulted a severely intoxicated woman at his Toronto apartment in April 2023.

The woman remembered only fragments of the assault. Roberts found beyond a reasonable doubt that Reyes Loor knew she was too intoxicated to consent.

The injuries were severe.

“She was bruised all over, and the skin of her genitals torn,” Roberts wrote. The judge found Reyes Loor had taken advantage of the woman’s condition to “violently sexually assault her,” adding that he bit her, did not use a condom and caused significant physical and psychological injuries.

The Crown sought five years in prison. According to Roberts, defence counsel also agreed five years would be appropriate based on the facts as she found them, although counsel disputed those findings and launched what Roberts described as a “shockingly sexist and misogynistic attack on the complainant.”

Reyes Loor maintains his innocence and has no previous criminal record.

His lawyer told the court that if the conviction stands, Reyes Loor will lose his permanent resident status and be deported.

Roberts acknowledged that the seriousness of the crime meant a sentence avoiding immigration consequences was out of the question. However, she concluded that deportation itself should still be treated as a collateral consequence when determining a proportionate sentence.

“The circumstances of this case are far too serious to impose a sentence that will not have immigration consequences,” Roberts wrote.

Nonetheless, she reduced the sentence by one year, saying the “near certain immigration consequences” would make Reyes Loor’s punishment harsher than it otherwise would have been.

Under federal immigration law, permanent residents convicted of serious criminality can be found inadmissible to Canada and removed from the country.

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