Good morning. This is Hanna Lee.
Did you file a "bare trust" form to the Canada Revenue Agency last year? You may not have had to do that. Ottawa is proposing new changes to the reporting requirements, though some argue they're coming too late. We'll get into that below. |
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Canadians may have needlessly filed bare trust tax forms as feds propose exemptions
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(Sarah Sears/CBC)
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Ottawa is looking at further changes to reporting requirements for "bare trusts" — though they could risk creating another chaotic tax season.
What's happening: A bare trust is when a person holds the title to an asset, like a house or bank account, for a beneficiary. Often, it's almost done accidentally, like when someone is added to their elderly parent's bank account for convenience. When Ottawa introduced new rules to crack down on money laundering, these simple situations were caught in the net, complicating them.
What's next: The government has paused the reporting requirements, and is now proposing to exempt certain bare trusts. But for the more than 44,000 people who filed these forms last year, the fix comes too late. Critics warn the tight timeline to pass these exemptions before the next tax season could lead to further confusion.
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Both reviled and admired, former British PM Tony Blair is poised to play a key role in Gaza
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(Claudia Greco/Reuters)
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Tony Blair is 72 and has been out of elected politics for 18 years. However, despite his mixed record, he appears to still believe he can defy immense odds by bringing peace to one of the world's most protracted conflicts, writes my colleague Chris Brown.
What's happening: Blair's name featured prominently in U.S. President Donald Trump's 20-point plan to end the war in Gaza. Along with Trump, he is to be part of the "board of peace" that would oversee and guide a potential ceasefire. While details of his role are scarce, he has already had extensive immersion in the region's issues.
Looking ahead: Blair has maintained high-level contacts with Arab governments in the Middle East, and has forged new links with people close to the Trump administration, like the U.S. president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. However, for many Palestinians, he may be seen as someone performing the role of a colonial power, said one scholar, while in Israel, his involvement isn't seen as making or breaking any deal.
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Trump suggests using some American cities as military 'training ground'
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(Evan Vucci/The Associated Press)
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U.S. President Donald Trump continued his strategy of threatening to deploy the National Guard to primarily Democrat-run cities, this time targeting Portland. However, for the first time, Trump himself noted that he's going to use U.S. cities as training grounds for the military.
What's happening: His remarks are an extraordinary departure from the norm for a U.S. president, said several Democratic leaders and Canadian political strategists. "When you basically say the words ... 'We want to begin to train our military on our own people, to train them so that they can go afar,' I don't know if there's precedent for that out of the mouth of any American president," said Brad Lavigne, a former campaign director for the NDP.
What's next: Portland leaders have refuted Trump's claims that Oregon is "war-ravaged." However, a political strategist for the Liberals offered one caveat. "Trump talks a lot and says he's going to do a lot of things," said Dan Moulton. "He doesn't always follow through with them."
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IN LIGHTER NEWS
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Ontario teen wins EU contest for robotic turtle that monitors aquatic ecosystems, coral health
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(Submitted by Dalia Esposito)
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Evan Budz, a Grade 10 student from Burlington, Ont., has developed an autonomous bionic sea turtle robot using AI. His invention, which won first place in the European Union Contest for Young Scientists, can detect underwater threats, like coral bleaching or invasive species. He says he designed it to look as similar as possible to a real turtle, so the robot uses its flippers to swim through water.
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