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Canadian Families' Debt Jumped By 64 Per Cent In Just Over A Decade Share The amount owed by indebted Canadians grew by 64 per cent to $60,100 in just over a decade, according to a new Statistics Canada study. The  StatsCan report released Wednesday found that between 1999 and 2012, the median debt held by indebted families increased by $23,000. The number of households with debt — including mortgages, car loans, lines of credit, personal loans and student debt — also rose, from 67 per cent in 1999 to 71 per cent in 2012. The median figure is the middle number separating the top half of families with the most debt from the bottom half. However, the government agency also points out that the value of assets held by Canadians families grew over the same period by an even greater 80 per cent, or $179,800, to $405,200. The value includes both financial assets like investments and pensions, and non- financial assets such as real estate. Both phenomena can parti...

Joe Oliver's Budget Numbers Are Thoroughly Cooked That, or he's been drinking his own Kool-Aid. By  Michael Harris , 24 Apr 2015, iPolitics     Still, no one should be surprised. This misbegotten government's   modus operandi  is about much more than information control. It's about soaring, jet-propelled skullduggery in a never-ending political campaign. It's a power fantasy. It's Steve's way. No wonder they're spending $7.5 million in public money to advertise Joe Oliver's budget. Bernie Madoff couldn't have come up with a sneakier sell than this. Armed with his narrative of convenience, Harper programs the electorate with fictions of prosperity, compassion and prudence. In the real world, he acts quite differently. There, he underfunds Coast Guard stations, veterans' offices, First Nations tribal councils, railway inspections, scientific research and Employment Insurance processing. And don't forget health care -- $...

Watchdog Group Wants Audit of Taxpayer-Funded Ads 'It's false advertising,' says Democracy Watch. By  Jeremy J. Nuttall , Today, TheTyee.ca       There are nearly 10,000 billboards across Canada advertising the government's Economic Action Plan, The group's co-founder, Duff Conacher, said the federal government is spending public money on ads that mislead or advertise for initiatives that don't exist. An independent government watchdog group has called on Canada's auditor general to review taxpayer-funded spending on government advertising. Democracy Watch has also launched a letter-writing campaign through its website, demanding the office look at what it describes as "questionable" ad initiatives in the past. Government ads can be seen on TV, radio, billboards and the Internet and are paid for by taxpayers' dollars. There's currently no oversight to make sure money isn't spent on partisan ads, though in the past, ...

Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images for the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival ook tweet post HAPPY 40TH! 04.25.15 4:05 PM ET John Oliver Hears Monty Python's Many Secrets At a celebration of the 40th anniversary of the release of 'Monty Python and The Holy Grail,' the surviving cast—moderated by HBO's star Brit—gathered to dish war stories, professional and personal. Monty Python ’s first visit to the USA in 1973 did not go well at all. The groundbreaking British comedic troupe appeared on  The Tonight Show  being guest hosted by Joey Bishop. “We looked out and it was like  The Producers  film where the jaws of the whole audience were open,” Eric Idle recalled at a discussion being moderated by fellow British comedian John Oliver following a Tribeca Film Festival 40 th  anniversary screening of their cult film  Monty Python and the Holy Grail  at the Beacon Theater on New York’s Upper West Side. “We did thirty minutes [of material] in fifteen...

Tesco posts record £6.4bn annual loss 25 minutes ago   From the section Business   43 comments Tesco has reported the worst results in its history with a record statutory pre-tax loss of £6.4bn for the year to the end of February. That compares with annual pre-tax profit of £2.26bn a year earlier. It is the biggest loss suffered by a UK retailer and one of the largest in the country's corporate history. Around £4.7bn of the losses were the result of the fall in property value of its UK stores, 43 of which it said would close earlier this month. The decline in the value of its property portfolio comes as a direct result of  falling footfall in many of its out of town superstores. Tesco's  chief executive Dave Lewis admitted it had been "a very difficult year for Tesco". 'Important first step' He added: "The results we have published today reflect a deterioration in the market and, more significantly, an erosion of our competitive...