Poet Shai Ben-Shalom writes: "My cat sleeps through the hurricane, undisturbed by 150 miles-per-hour gusts..." READ MORE
Review: For Those In Peril On The Sea
It was a popular quip in the 1980s that West Edmonton Mall’s waterpark had more submarines than the Royal Canadian Navy. The sub service was always the heartbreak branch of the military: underfunded, ill-equipped, with working conditions that would be intolerable in a federal prison. Author Julie Ferguson spent decades researching this affectionate tribute to the nation’s hard-luck submariners. It remains an intriguing and little-known story. It is also a mystery why anyone ever volunteered for submarine duty in the first place. Modern underwater warfare dates from 1863 when the Confederate navy launched a combat submarine in Alabama’s Mobile Bay, the H.L. Hunley: a ten-metre tube with hand-cranked propeller and lighting by candle. The idea was to sneak up on Union warships dragging a canister of gunpowder in tow. Instead the Hunley sank like a stone. Rescuers later recovered corpses of crewmen huddled together clutching candles, their faces frozen in agony: “The spectacle was ghastly.” READ MORE
Solve Housing Crisis By 2055
Housing affordability should be restored by 2055 or so based on current development rates, CMHC said yesterday. Research showed planning and obtaining municipal permits took about twice as long as actual construction of a typical apartment building or townhouse row: "This is far too long." READ MORE
Ask Carney For Explanation
Cabinet supporters are dismissing criticism of Mark Carney over misleading statements he made regarding his involvement in relocating a corporate head office from Toronto to New York. However one minister said Carney should explain himself to Canadians: "You've got to ask Mr. Carney." READ MORE
“Watch Me,” Vows Freeland
Liberal leadership candidate Chrystia Freeland yesterday insisted she can raise military spending 63 percent in two years. “Watch me,” said Freeland after a former cabinet colleague dismissed the claim as implausible: "It can’t be done." READ MORE
Audit Revisits Passport Snarl
A newly-disclosed federal audit yesterday cited “confusion,” “lack of insight” and mismanagement at the passport office that cost taxpayers millions. Liberal leadership candidate Karina Gould was minister responsible at the time: "The entire service delivery model was temporarily disrupted." READ MORE
Report Promotes Older Hires
A labour department report recommends new measures to keep willing, older employees in the workforce. It follows a cabinet suggestion of tax reforms for pension-age Canadians who choose to stay on the job: "This report will guide our next steps." READ MORE
Guest Commentary
I don’t know what we were thinking. You wouldn’t think you’d have to go that far, to ask a Prime Minister to give you a divorce. It was May 1959, our wedding was set. I said to Eric, “There’s only one thing to do: Why don’t you go up to Ottawa and see if they’ll do something for us?” So he drove from Lachine to Ottawa and spoke to some people in the government. He got an appointment with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and Mr. Diefenbaker, and the Prime Minister had the bill put through so our wedding could go on.
