Roundup: CRA takes exception

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Things with the CRA seem to be taking a turn for the bizarre as they are getting into a fight with well-known charity Oxfam over the charity’s stated goal of trying to prevent poverty around the world. According to the CRA, that’s not an acceptable goal – they should only try to alleviate poverty, as preventing it might benefit people who are not already poor. Yeah, I’m still trying to figure that one out too. According to CRA, the courts haven’t found that that the risk of poverty is the same as actually being in need, so this splitting of hairs means that they can’t put “prevention” in their purpose statement. And it’s not like this is part of the supposed “crackdown” on charities either – this had to do with a regular process of renewing Oxfam’s non-profit status, but it has been noted that Jason Kenney singled them out earlier in the year over their opposition to Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Why the CRA would play petty politics for any minister – especially one that they don’t report to – sounds a little too odd, but this whole situation is just so strange that it will invite conspiracy theory.

Canada levelled new sanctions against Ukrainian rebel leaders and Russian firms yesterday, despite concerns from Bombardier that economic measures could harm their $3.4 billion negotiations to set up a plant in that country. The Ukrainian ambassador is also saying that he’s at the end of his patience with the Canadian government for promising financial aid to his country but not delivering it. Oh, but we’ve delivered leadership, say Conservative talking heads on the political shows. Well in that case…

A luxury turboprop airplane ordered by then-RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli went on the auction block. We paid $8 million for it, and while the bids were supposed to start at $2.5 million, it sounds like the wining bid was a mere $1.3 million. Ouch.

Tomas Miko, a Hungarian who was trafficked to Canada on the promise of well-paying construction jobs, has some satisfaction that his traffickers have been deported. It’s also a tale that reminds us that human trafficking is more than just sex workers as MPs like Joy Smith would have us believe, and that the two are very different things indeed.

Here is a look at the AFN and their exploration of giving regional chiefs more power and autonomy, an important consideration as the federal government is looking to restart talks on education reforms.

James Bowden utterly dismantles Paul Heinbecker’s essay on abolishing the Monarchy in Canada, and drives through in all of the gaping holes in Heinbecker’s logic.

There is talk that Senator Pierre Claude Nolin is going to be the next Speaker of the Senate, and yes, it would be a very good choice. Nolin is currently Speaker Pro Tempore (basically deputy Speaker), and is an extremely knowledgeable parliamentarian and is one who has a long history of working across party lines.

Oh dear – it seems that NDP MP Hoang Mai started dating his constituency staffer, who was transferred to the Montreal “satellite office,” only for the hammer to fall on that shortly thereafter. The party says she has been taking contract positions within the organisation since, but it does start to skirt the lines of propriety.

A member of Diane Ablonczy’s constituency association board is vying for the nomination to replace her in the new riding of Calgary Rocky Ridge.

Brent Rathgeber adds his voice to the calls to use the Temporary Foreign Workers programme as a pathway to citizenship, especially in places where there are tight labour markets like Alberta, where even if you offer higher wages you end up depriving someone else of employment elsewhere in the region.

Here is another interview with retiring Senator Catherine Callbeck, who looks back fondly on her time in the Senate and talks about its value as an institution. Callbeck is hoping that her seat will be filled quickly, given that PEI only has four seats, and one of them – Mike Duffy’s – is pretty much vacant.

Mark Kennedy has a look at the NDP’s evolving position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Across the pond, the retiring Clerk of the Commons in Westminster (only the 49th since 1363!) is concerned that the Speaker should remain neutral and above the fray, and there’s some interesting discussion about the state of the Commons in Westminster.

And the Queen photobombed a selfie taken by a couple of athletes at the Commonwealth games. And the best part? Her mischievous grin.