Mark Carney is on holidays. The government won't say where
However, politicians weren't always so cagey. The Canadian Press reported than when Brian Mulroney was prime minister, he routinely informed reporters where he was vacationing. Former prime minister Jean Chrétien broke from the practice, causing what the media described as a 'furor' in 1993 when his office refused to follow protocol and disclose his week-long holiday at Florida's PGA National Golf Resort and Spa.
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Yet, holidays have long caused controversy: Free vacations at the hands of the wealthy Irving family caused a major problem in 2003 for Chrétien, who said politicians had every right to accept freebie holidays.
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'You know, we have the right to accept hospitality. I do accept hospitality once in a while. I visit my son-in-law, who has a lake, and I fish with him and I'm there with my grandson. Perhaps I should confess that,' Chrétien said at the time. (His son-in-law is billionaire Andre Desmarais.)
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It's not just Liberals, either.
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Prime minister Stephen Harper's Labour Day visit to New York in 2011 — he saw a New York Yankees game and a Broadway show with his family — cost taxpayers some $45,000 and Peter MacKay, then the defence minister, had a military helicopter pick him and his buddies up during a fishing trip in July 2010.
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Vancouver Sun
2 hours ago
- Vancouver Sun
'They're increasingly skeptical': Canadians say EV sales mandate 'unrealistic,' survey suggests
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Calgary Herald
2 hours ago
- Calgary Herald
'They're increasingly skeptical': Canadians say EV sales mandate 'unrealistic,' survey suggests
Article content Looking at the data, he said it is clear the government faces 'a really significant uphill battle to convince Canadians that this policy is a good policy to pursue.' Article content Under the Liberals' mandate, all new vehicle sales in Canada would have to be zero-emission by 2035, beginning with a sales target of 20 per cent by 2026, before increasing to 30 per cent by 2030. Article content Besides the ongoing trade war with U.S. President Donald Trump, who has targeted the automotive sector with tariffs, declining sales have been the other big concern automakers cite when they say the government's 2026 target is unachievable and that the policy should be shelved. Article content Leger's survey asked respondents why they believe electric vehicle sales have fallen as drastically as they have in the past year. Article content Statistics Canada reported that in the first quarter of this year, sales of zero-emission vehicles represented 8.7 per cent of new vehicle registrations, down from 23 per cent in the previous year. Article content Article content According to the survey, 48 per cent of respondents said that even with government subsidies, they believe the price of these vehicles to be too expensive. Article content Another 39 per cent cited the lack of charging infrastructure, while 37 per cent of respondents said EVs 'were not suitable to people's needs,' and 32 per cent pointed to the lack of confidence in the vehicles themselves. Article content 'The Canadians who have really lost confidence in this mandate — females, individuals 35 and older,' Enns said. Article content He said, given such data and intensifying calls from automakers asking the Liberal government to scrap the mandate, Carney may pivot. Article content 'This is a government that hasn't been shy to reverse course on what has been sort of, I would argue, some pretty bedrock policies of the previous government.' Article content Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin, whose portfolio includes setting the targets for the mandate, has said the government will keep talking to industry to explore 'flexibility.'
Edmonton Journal
2 hours ago
- Edmonton Journal
'They're increasingly skeptical': Canadians say EV sales mandate 'unrealistic,' survey suggests
Article content Looking at the data, he said it is clear the government faces 'a really significant uphill battle to convince Canadians that this policy is a good policy to pursue.' Article content Under the Liberals' mandate, all new vehicle sales in Canada would have to be zero-emission by 2035, beginning with a sales target of 20 per cent by 2026, before increasing to 30 per cent by 2030. Article content Besides the ongoing trade war with U.S. President Donald Trump, who has targeted the automotive sector with tariffs, declining sales have been the other big concern automakers cite when they say the government's 2026 target is unachievable and that the policy should be shelved. Article content Leger's survey asked respondents why they believe electric vehicle sales have fallen as drastically as they have in the past year. Article content Statistics Canada reported that in the first quarter of this year, sales of zero-emission vehicles represented 8.7 per cent of new vehicle registrations, down from 23 per cent in the previous year. Article content Article content According to the survey, 48 per cent of respondents said that even with government subsidies, they believe the price of these vehicles to be too expensive. Article content Another 39 per cent cited the lack of charging infrastructure, while 37 per cent of respondents said EVs 'were not suitable to people's needs,' and 32 per cent pointed to the lack of confidence in the vehicles themselves. Article content 'The Canadians who have really lost confidence in this mandate — females, individuals 35 and older,' Enns said. Article content He said, given such data and intensifying calls from automakers asking the Liberal government to scrap the mandate, Carney may pivot. Article content 'This is a government that hasn't been shy to reverse course on what has been sort of, I would argue, some pretty bedrock policies of the previous government.' Article content Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin, whose portfolio includes setting the targets for the mandate, has said the government will keep talking to industry to explore 'flexibility.'
