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CRA claws back $458 million in pandemic-era wage subsidies after partial audit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:52 GMT

OTTAWA — The Canada Revenue Agency has denied or adjusted $458 million in funds disbursed to employers through a pandemic-era wage subsidy program as a result of a partially completed auditing process.The agency is releasing a report Monday that offers detailed findings of its audits of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy Program. The bulk of the findings cover the period ending March 31, but the report also offers more up-to-date figures as of Sept. 29.The CEWS program subsidized businesses’ staff wages by 75 per cent in hopes of encouraging companies to hold on to their employees during the COVID-19 pandemic, as governments enacted shutdowns. Overall, the program disbursed about $100 billion in wage subsidies.A report from auditor general Karen Hogan last year warned that thousands of businesses that received wage subsidies may not have been eligible for the program, after finding their GST and HST filings didn’t show a sufficient drop in revenue to qualify.Monday’...

No word on status of 135 Canadians cleared to leave Gaza Strip over weekend

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:52 GMT

OTTAWA — Canadians with loved ones trapped in the embattled Gaza Strip are still waiting to learn whether the 135 people cleared to leave the territory on Sunday were able to make the journey.A daily list from Gaza’s General Authority for Crossings and Borders, which contains the names of foreign passport holders cleared to cross into Egypt via the Rafah land crossing, expanded to include 135 people with ties to Canada on Sunday.But Global Affairs Canada did not provide any details on Sunday as to how many of those people were able to leave the war-torn enclave.The agency’s last update, provided on Friday, said 376 Canadians, permanent residents and their relatives have been able to leave the Palestinian territory through the Rafah crossing. The latest list provided by Gaza’s border authorities did not contain any Canadians.The current conflict began on Oct. 7 when Hamas militants killed an estimated 1,200 Israelis in brutal surprise attacks, taking another 240 peo...

Questions swirl as Liberals prepare to table fall fiscal update

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:52 GMT

OTTAWA — Questions are swirling on Parliament Hill ahead of a fiscal update that’s widely expected to focus on addressing Canada’s housing crisis and cost-of-living concerns. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is set to table the fall economic statement on Tuesday, and she has already signalled that both issues will be front and centre. On housing, Freeland has previously indicated the government is looking at making more public land available and trying to address the strain short-term rentals are putting on supply. But she’s remained relatively tight-lipped on other specifics expected in the update, and has indicated the government “won’t be able to do everything” due to limited funds. Opposition leaders have already shared their wish lists for the coming update, with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre calling on the Liberals to scrap carbon pricing, balance the budget and tie access to federal dollars to municipal housing results. NDP Leader ...

Daily horoscope for November 20, 2023

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:52 GMT

Moon Alert: Avoid shopping or making important decisions from 5:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. EST today (2:30 a.m. to 7 a.m. PST). After that, the Moon moves from Aquarius into Pisces.Happy Birthday for Monday, Nov. 20, 2023:You are forceful, dynamic and energetic, but also modest. You like luxurious comforts. This is a year to rest for you; it’s your chance to rejuvenate. You will also focus on business and personal close relationships and partnerships. Concentrate on your needs and what brings you happiness.ARIES(March 21-April 19) ★★★Today you might want to hide. Something might happen that makes you feel unloved, a bit lonely or cut off from others. This is just a fleeting moment in your reality. Relax. Meanwhile, you might have excellent ideas about dealing with shared property, taxes, debt and inheritances. Tonight: Happy solitude.TAURUS(April 20-May 20) ★★★You might feel discouraged by something that a friend or someone older says to you today. If not a friend, this person could b...

Commission welcomes political agreement on protecting the environment through criminal law

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:52 GMT

The European Commission welcomes the provisional agreement reached today between the European Parliament and the Council on the protection of the environment through criminal law. As proposed by the Commission in December 2021, the new directive will improve the effectiveness of criminal law enforcement and help achieve European Green Deal objectives by fighting against the most serious environmental offences which can have devastating effects on both the environment and human health.  Once the new directive has entered into force, member states will have to include in their criminal laws greater precision on the definition of environmental offence categories, as well as effective dissuasive sanctions for offenders. The new legal framework will help to ensure that serious environmental offences do not go unpunished. This will deter pollution and environmental degradation and contribute to preserving our nature for future generations.  More information is in the press release.  

Harriette Cole: I’m on the road to burnout and I can’t see a solution

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:52 GMT

DEAR HARRIETTE: I have a very busy couple of weeks coming up. I have my last round of midterms, Thanksgiving break, finals, moving back home, Christmas, visiting family, then New Year’s.Related ArticlesAdvice | Harriette Cole: I felt like a loser so I quit my job after a week. Now things are even worse. Advice | Harriette Cole: My mom is putting up a huge fight about my college decision, but it’s my life Advice | Harriette Cole: I’m a college student now, so I can’t relate to my family Advice | Harriette Cole: I’m arguing more and more, and I need a strategy Advice | Harriette Cole: How can I break the hold of wine and binge-watching? I am looking forward to getting to see family and friends and going back home for a while, but I started thinking about how much work and travel I am going to be doing until January, and it completely stressed me out.I do not want to cut anythi...

Miss Manners: We had to give up our season tickets because of the hooters

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:52 GMT

DEAR MISS MANNERS: When did it become common for people to obnoxiously hoot and holler to show their appreciation for the performance of an artist on stage?Related ArticlesAdvice | Miss Manners: Unless her house is on fire, I find the host’s behavior reprehensible Advice | Miss Manners: So now moms expect their own gifts at kids’ birthday parties? Advice | Miss Manners: Why I would never get rid of this useless item I keep tripping over Advice | Miss Manners: Was my gift to her tacky? Or was her response tacky? Advice | Miss Manners: Her husband got whiny, and suddenly I was on the hook for $100 I always applaud after a musical number and at the end of the production, and join in the standing ovation for a spectacular performance. I don’t expect silence; shouts of “bravo!” are to be expected.But my husband and I had to give up our long-held season tickets to see traveling Br...

Pop star Shakira reaches a deal with Spanish prosecutors on 1st day of tax fraud trial

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:52 GMT

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Pop star Shakira has agreed to a deal with Spanish authorities on the first day of a tax fraud trial in Barcelona on Monday.Shakira told the presiding judge that she accepted the agreement reached with prosecutors.The Colombian singer faced six counts of failing to pay the Spanish government 14.5 million euros (about $15.8 million) in taxes between 2012 and 2014.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Global pop star Shakira arrived at a Barcelona courthouse Monday to attend the first day of her trial for allegedly defrauding Spanish tax officials of millions of euros.Shakira, 46, faces six counts of failing to pay the Spanish government 14.5 million euros (about $15.8 million) in taxes between 2012 and 2014. The multiple Grammy and Latin Grammy winner has denied any wrongdoing and said she had paid everything she owed.The case hinges on where Shakira lived during that period. Prosecutors in Barcelona have alle...

Pop star Shakira tells Spanish judge she agrees to deal with prosecutors, avoiding a full-fledged tax fraud trial

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:52 GMT

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Pop star Shakira tells Spanish judge she agrees to deal with prosecutors, avoiding a full-fledged tax fraud trial.Source

Holiday tradition of ‘A Christmas Carol’ returns to Ford’s Theatre in time for Thanksgiving, Christmas

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:52 GMT

An annual holiday tradition returns to the nation’s capital just in time for Thanksgiving and Christmas if you have family in town.Actor Craig Wallace returns for his seventh time as Ebenezer Scrooge in Ford’s Theatre’s annual production of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” running now through Dec. 31.“Even since the pandemic, people are coming to see this show — this is the show they have to see, they have to bring their families to see, they have to bring their kids to see,” Wallace told WTOP. “People have come up to me on the street saying, ‘Are you doing it? Because we wanna see it.’ It’s a reason to return to this show year after year after year.”Based on the 1843 novella, the play follows London miser Ebenezer Scrooge, who’s visited by the ghost of his late business partner Jacob Marley, the Ghost of Christmas Past, Ghost of Christmas Present and Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, transforming...