cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/62281451

An interesting bit of history from the This Is Ottawa podcast.

“Police actually received a letter addressed from the Lawrence Bishnoi gang that was sent to a police station,” Const. Kevin St. Louis told the Immigration and Refugee Board.

“This specific letter outlined essentially their criminal organization, where they talked about having upwards of 1,000 individuals that are willing to carry out these shootings as a part of the group,” he said.

“It also alludes to how every business needs to pay their tax, which I think clearly demonstrates the monetary gain that this group is looking to obtain as a result of these extortions.”

They've got moxy.

The people that run CPP are underperforming, and paying themselves handsomely to do so.

First, the underperformance:

While the Fund earned an average of 8.8 per cent annually, [passive investing] earned 10.7 per cent – nearly two full percentage points more, on average, every year. These are staggering numbers. Take that first measure, the annualized 0.5 percentage point gap since 2007. Compounded, it means the contribution of active management has been to reduce the size of the national nest egg by more than $100-billion. Had the Fund stuck to passive management, its portfolio would today stand, not at $793-billion, but somewhere north of $900-billion.

And then there are the employees. The CPP has increased the number of staff more than tenfold:

From around 150 employees in 2006, the CPPIB has ballooned to more than 2,000 today. Personnel costs now total over $1.2-billion... Total costs, ... exceed $5.4-billion. Twenty years ago they were $54-million.

...

The top five most highly compensated managers at the CPPIB make an average of more than $5-million each, including salaries, bonuses and other benefits. Twenty years ago the corresponding figure was less than a sixth of that.

...

The chair of the CPPIB board this year will be paid more than $300,000 – three times what her predecessor was paid in 2006.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-cpp-investment-board-cppib-benchmarks/

The agreement provides a $250 signing bonus to drivers who have completed a minimum of 50 trips since July 1, 2025. Uber drivers are also eligible for quarterly bonuses based on the number of trips they have completed. For example, drivers who have completed more than 750 trips will receive quarterly bonuses of $600. The union also negotiated an annual 5-per-cent increase in wait time and cancellation fees that drivers get if a passenger is late or cancels a trip, and an annual $500 wellness fund for sick time and benefits.

“We heard from drivers that they wanted to tie benefits to the number of drives they do, rather than the distance or time, so we really tried to push for a compensation system that reflected that,” Mr. Godoy said, adding that it was important for the union to ensure that driver ratings determined by customers were not tied to any of the benefits in the collective agreement.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-after-organizing-victorias-uber-drivers-union-officials-hope-to-do-the/

I got a suspicious email etransfer, but it looks legit.

$49 for paying an extra $1.50 every week since 2001. That comes pretty close to covering the $400+ they've gouged me.

Canada’s ineffective anti-corruption efforts have made our country a favoured base for criminals whose activities harm not just us but our peers and allies around the world. We urgently need to fix this problem.

The federal government has the responsibility to take the lead on this issue, yet successive administrations have shown that they prefer to avoid the embarrassment and reputational damage that inevitably results when law enforcement reveals serious wrongdoing. The SNC Lavalin scandal in 2019 is just one example.

Similarly, the RCMP has for decades lacked the skills, resources or political will to tackle such crimes. And successive governments have for decades blocked the protection of the most valuable witnesses to crime – whistleblowers.

...

In 2021, the PSDPA was found by the International Bar Association to be one of the worst whistleblower protection laws in the world. During 19 years of operation, almost 6,800 reports have been received of suspected government wrongdoing, yet few have been properly investigated and only a handful (22) of mostly minor cases found proven, according to an assessment by the Centre for Free Expression.

During this time, more than 700 witnesses (whistleblowers) have formally reported reprisals for speaking up, yet not a single one has received compensation by the tribunal set up solely for this purpose. And for the past 20 years, every effort to improve the PSDPA has been stymied by government action or inaction.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/commentary/article-white-collar-crime-fca-financial-crimes-agency-rcmp/

In its 2025 annual report, CSIS said the People’s Republic of China’s intelligence services, both civilian and military, have shifted tactics. For example, they post fake job advertisements through front companies on mainstream employment websites to recruit Canadians with access to proprietary or classified information. CSIS used the acronym PRCIS to refer to these Chinese intelligence services.

...

CSIS said India has historically cultivated “covert relationships with Canadian politicians, journalists and members of the Indo-Canadian community to exert its influence and advance its interests.”

“This has included transnational repression activities, such as surveillance and other coercive tactics meant to suppress criticism of the government of India and create fear in the community,” CSIS said.

...

Russia has been running what CSIS describes as a combination of espionage, attempted sabotage and disinformation – what the report calls Moscow’s asymmetrical response to Western support for Ukraine.

CSIS said Russian state-linked actors have used proxy networks and AI tools to amplify Kremlin messaging and exploit divisive social topics to erode Canadian public support for Ukraine.

...

In July, 2025, CSIS said an alleged Iranian state group hacked systems of Iran International, a Farsi online news operation based in London and Washington. The hackers obtained information of a Canadian resident and published their driver’s licence, permanent resident card and Iranian passport online.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-china-india-foreign-interference-spying/

Shockingly, Brampton, the city that lent its name to a flavour of mortgage fraud is leading the country in mortgage delinquencies.

What tools would you like to see to keep your kids safe online?

I have a bunch of different apps/services that I need to configure and monitor for my kids. Each has their own controls, terminology, login, etc. It sucks. I'm technically inclined, so I feel like I'm better positioned than most parents to deal with it.

Let's pretend you could mandate standards. What tools would make online safety easier for you to manage?

Starting more than a decade ago, Lithuania faced intense economic coercion from both Russia and China, prompting the U.S.-based Hudson Institute in 2021 to describe the country as the canary in the coal mine of the world order. 

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The result has been one of the most robust, resilient economies in the European Union, with gross domestic product growth of 2.9 per cent last year — almost double the rest of the continent, and more than Canada’s 1.7 per cent.

This isn't just an Ontario story. Rumors are that Yazdani was fired for her reporting. Rogers isn't known for standing with their journalists, so a firing due to political pressure seems possible.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/58729139

Speeding in school zones that used to host speed cameras has shot up since the cameras were turned off, according to new City of Ottawa data.

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In a report to council's public works and infrastructure committee, staff say compliance at those pilot sites fell from 87 per cent to 51 per cent within just three weeks of the cameras' removal.

Three months after removal, compliance had dropped even further, falling to 41 per cent. High-end speeding rose from 0.3 to 4.5 per cent during that period.

Carney and Co are lowering gas/diesel taxes:

The move means that the cost of gas will drop by 10 cents on a litre of gasoline and four cents per litre of diesel starting on Monday and lasting until Labour Day. The fuel tax holiday, which Carney said would also see the four cent per litre excise tax removed on aviation fuel, is expected to cost an estimated $2.4 billion.

One of the aims is to improve the affordability hit we're taking because of the US/Israel war with Iraq.

Does the tax holiday make sense to you? Could it be done better?

Kevin Kielty, was charged with two counts of alleged employment-related offences under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), including employing foreign nationals in a capacity in which the foreign nationals are not authorized, and counselling foreign nationals to work in Canada without authorization.

On March 2, 2026, he pleaded guilty to both counts and was sentenced to two years’ probation, 50 hours of community service and was fined $70,000.

What the actual fuck? We're in the middle of a healthcare crisis. Ottawa has a growing population. Wait times are terrible. And we're cutting staff?

He said the union expects more than 100 front-line staff, mainly nurses and personal support workers, will be affected, based on talks with the hospital.

Gauthier said the hospital should be adding, not reducing staff, and estimates 250 positions would need to be added per year to maintain current service levels.

Bebawi was sentenced in 2020 to eight and a half years in prison for his role in the corruption scheme between the engineering firm and Moammar Gadhafi's Libyan regime. He was released after serving one-sixth of his sentence.

However, as part of his release conditions, he had to repay a fine of approximately $25 million.

To date, he has only repaid around $100,000, citing lack of funds. It's an excuse the judge dismissed out of hand on Tuesday.

"Mr. Bebawi will not be jailed because he is too poor to pay the fine. He will be jailed because he refuses, without reasonable excuse, to pay it," Moore said.

If any of you fightersexuals like reading, here's the link.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/57918488