Canada

A TABLE OUTLINING AN internal Royal Canadian Air Force 2021 study on the F-35 fighter jet versus Sweden’s Gripen has magically shown up in the press at just the very moment it might most influence the choice about to be made. The confidential internal document lands as Ottawa continues to review its deal of purchasing the full contingent of eighty-eight American-built F-35s following United States president Donald Trump’s threats to Canadian sovereignty—a process now bogged down by concerns inside the RCAF that the purchase is becoming harder to justify.

Using bright colours to drive the message home for the hard of thinking, the table—which was reportedly obtained by Radio-Canada—shows that the F-35 (represented in very nice and inviting green) is head and shoulders above the poor Gripen (represented mostly in a forbidding and dangerous red). Supporters of the F-35 have made much of the table; I mean, how can you argue with actual numbers?

Well, colour me skeptical. The table compares the two aircraft according to broad criteria such as: “Mission Performance,” “Upgradability,” “Sustainment,” and others. But no explanation is provided as to what these categories mean or how the numbers for each aircraft were arrived at. This raises questions.

For example, did the study compare the actual capability of the F-35 as it was in 2021, or the envisaged capability when its latest upgrade (known as “Block 4”) is applied? This is important, because it is the Block 4 F-35 which has the capabilities the RCAF envisages for the airplane it will eventually acquire.

The problem is, the Block 4 upgrade is, according to a September 2025 study by the US government’s General Accounting Office (GAO), more than five years behind schedule and over $6 billion (US) over cost—and counting.

Joshua Wright says a yellow cedar tree he photographed last year was "incredible," the largest he'd ever seen in a decade of hiking around Vancouver Island.

The monumental cedar stood in what was one of the few intact or nearly intact old-growth valleys left on the island, says Wright, an advocate who also recorded the sounds of marbled murrelet birds — a threatened species under federal law — within the same forest.

Wright measured the cedar's diameter at 2.79 metres, a size that should have ensured protection for the tree, along with a one-hectare logging buffer under provincial law.

But when he returned to the area south of Gold River in June, Wright says the tree had been felled as part of a logging operation approved by the province.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/39851400

Mississauga city councillors are questioning the future of the program, citing safety risks, enforcement struggles and the rising cost of managing the devices.

This year, the program recorded 120,112 trips covering 336,313 kilometres — a seven per cent increase from 2024.

Mahoney criticized using taxpayer dollars to support a private program and noted that police lack the capacity to enforce rules on private devices.

Across 100 citywide parking stations — including corral-style, bike rack-style and painted areas — staff observed an 8.3 per cent non-compliance rate. Dasko asked how compliance was measured, noting multiple instances of e-scooters parked in unauthorized locations.

While Coun. Dipika Damerla said she supports the program, she called for stronger agreements with vendors, suggesting fines if shared devices are not collected within 24 hours when parked outside designated areas.

Municipal enforcement staff cannot issue violations for moving vehicles under the Highway Traffic Act, according to city staff.

Staff said they estimate it will cost $150,000 to expand bike parking stations across the city, using money already approved in the bicycle parking program. Locations, staff said, would be chosen based on ridership volume.

Staff also noted that the investment could support a citywide expansion in 2026, but speeding up the rollout to all parts of Mississauga would require more municipal funding.

Coun. John Kovac urged caution in spending on the program, citing concerns that it could be cancelled in the future, similar to the automated speed enforcement cameras, which were also part of a provincial program.

While the provincial pilot program makes e-scooter use legal, Mississauga’s program is intended to be permanent, with an initial vendor contract of three years and the possibility of extending for two more.

"Hidden in the federal government’s 634-page omnibus bill C-15, the Budget Implementation Act, is a measure that has so far escaped scrutiny. Under the pretext of regulatory efficiency, Prime Minister Mark Carney plans to grant cabinet ministers the power to exempt any individual or company from any federal law on the books — except for the Criminal Code — for up to six years."

A federal judge has sided with two First Nations in Manitoba and one in Ontario that sued the Canadian government over its duty to provide them with safe housing and clean drinking water, in separate rulings delivered Friday.

The federal government has had a duty to ensure Shamattawa First Nation, and other First Nations who opt into the northern Manitoba First Nation's class-action, were provided access to drinking water safe for human use over the claim period, Justice Paul Favel said in a decision.

Shamattawa launched the class-action, which was certified in 2023, on behalf of all First Nations members countrywide whose communities were subject to a drinking water advisory in effect on or after June 20, 2020.

Right-wing premiers are using the notwithstanding clause to target trans kids, workers, Muslims, and drug users. Saskatchewan shows how a united front could stop them

Within five years, the construction of new homes in the country’s hottest markets is projected to slow to near-zero. Less construction, fewer homes, and fewer jobs – all at a time when the country needs more housing than ever.

The growing technical complexity of the Income Tax Act, which makes it harder for taxpayers to understand the rules and for the agency to apply them correctly, is likely one reason behind the rise in objections, Mr. O’Riordan said.

But the soaring number of objections could also signal that Ottawa has put increased emphasis on tax compliance in recent years without proportionally increasing resources to help taxpayers comply with the tax code and to review disputes, he said.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/personal-finance/article-canada-revenue-agency-objections-taxpayers/

An Alberta judge says a referendum proposal on Alberta separating from Canada goes against Charter and Treaty rights, in a decision given less than 24 hours after the provincial government introduced legislation that would have ended the court proceeding.

The province's Bill 14, which was introduced Thursday, would end court action on the issue once it came into effect. The proposed bill would allow citizen initiatives to go ahead even if they might violate the Constitution.

Court of King's Bench Justice Colin Feasby, who has listened to several days of arguments about the independence proposal, had sharp words for the government move to change the law.

"Legislating to pre-emptively end this court proceeding disrespects the administration of justice," he said in the Calgary Court of King's Bench on Friday.

It’s been hard to keep track of how many legal challenges and active court proceedings the United Conservative government has tried to quash or pre-emptively block in the last six weeks, but let’s try to tally:

• The notwithstanding clause to thwart separate constitutional challenges by the Canadian Medical Association (1) and 2SLGBTQ+ advocacy groups (2) against Alberta’s ban on some transgender youth health care.
• Notwithstanding clause against those advocacy groups’ challenge against the school pronouns law (3).
• Notwithstanding clause against any potential challenges against the ban on transgender women in women’s sports (4).
• Notwithstanding clause against teachers’ potential challenge to the strike-ending and imposed contract (5).
• Bill 12’s provision to block public sector pensions from suing over the Alberta wealth management fund’s past trading losses (6). And then the measure in this week’s Bill 14 designed to discontinue the court hearing about the constitutionality of a citizen’s initiative petition for Alberta separation from Canada (7).

One could argue there’s an eighth case the UCP government’s legislation would nullify if passed — one filed by the United Conservative Party itself. That would be the governing party’s lawsuit against two of its former MLAs who had applied with Elections Alberta to rebrand the Alberta Party as the Progressive Conservative Party.

Ontario’s Auditor-General says the province isn’t auditing doctors whose billings raise obvious red flags, including 82 doctors who claimed to have worked 24 hours or more in a single day, a diagnostic radiologist who billed for an average of 461 patients daily and an ophthalmologist who billed $6.7-million in one year, more than twice as much as the next highest biller in the specialty.

The same unnamed ophthalmologist has been investigated three times for allegedly charging patients out-of-pocket fees for services that should be free through the Ontario Health Insurance Plan.

The first review found the doctor wrongly charged patients, a second cleared the ophthalmologist, and a third is ongoing.

In an annual report released Tuesday, Ontario Auditor-General Shelley Spence said potential waste in the billing system could be money used to “hire more family physicians.”