Eleven Eastern Ontario MPPs are questioning whether the province should support the federal megaproject high-speed rail line from Toronto to Quebec City. The province also appears to be reconsidering its support. This comes shortly after the federal government rejected the provincial plan to expand Billy Bishop Airport in Toronto. Federal Transport Minister Steve MacKinnon says the federal government and the province are working well together on the $60 to $90-billion project, along with a number of other important economic initiatives, and that work will continue. Alto says the project is subject to one of the most comprehensive public consultation processes in Canadian history, adding that it remains willing to listen to local concerns and feedback received through those discussions.
A total of 10,006 federal public servants have applied to accept the early retirement packages offered by the federal government. The federal government sent out the early retirement offers in December in an effort to reduce costs and shrink the size of the federal public service. Employees aged 50 and older with at least two years of pensionable service and a minimum of 10 years of employment are eligible to retire early and receive their full pensions without any penalty for early retirement. The Treasury Board has not announced a target number for staff reductions within the federal public service but it confirmed that, to date, 6,855 applicants have met the eligibility requirements for early retirement, while the remaining applications are still undergoing review. The deadline for applications was last Tuesday.
On-line passport renewals for some Canadians have existed since 2024 with a daily cap of 2000 applications. The federal government had announced that now all Canadians over the age of 16 can renew their passports on-line. Canadians will need to be inside Canada when they apply on-line and applicants will still have to submit a professionally taken digital passport photo which meets passport specifications. Passports can be renewed on-line within six months before their expiry date and the standard of service is expected to be 20 days for your passport to be received in the mail. If it is not received within 30 days, your application fee will be refunded.
