New numbers from the federal

Treasury Board

indicate that annual MP pensions averaged $81,140 last year.

That’s up 11.4 per cent, compounded over the last two years due to inflation indexing, according to

Blacklock’s Reporter

.

The indexation covers retirement allowances, survivor benefits, and disability pensions based on cost-of-living increases.

1,193 MPs, retirees and family members

are enrolled

in the benefits plan. Payments last year included benefits to 192 widows and orphans.

“A plan member’s benefits are based on the number of years of pensionable service at retirement, where that service was accrued, the age at which they start receiving benefits and whether they retire because of a disability,” states the Treasury Board report.

To get a pension, MPs must serve for at least six years.

Six MPs fell short

of that after losing in the recent federal election. That includes ex-Liberals Han Dong (Don Valley North, ON) and Irek Kusmierczyk (Windsor—Tecumseh, ON), and New Democrats Taylor Bachrach (Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC), Laurel Collins (Victoria), Matthew Green (Hamilton Centre, ON) and Lyndsay Mathyssen (London—Fanshawe, ON).

In 2000, parliament mandated

all MPs to enroll in the pension plan

.

Then in 2005, parliament passed An Act To Amend The Parliament Of Canada Act

mandating automatic annual pay hikes for MPs

based on inflation and a labour department index of wage settlements in the unionized private sector.

Cabinet has

waived the automatic April 1 raises only once,

for three years following the 2008 financial panic.

• Here are the 80 MPs set to qualify for a pension with the help of a Liberal rule change
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A B.C. small business owner’s complaint that Canada Post uses illegal “drip pricing” in online shipping services has been certified by the Federal Court as a class-action lawsuit.

The lawsuit seeks compensation from the troubled national postal service for adding a mandatory “fuel surcharge” late in the purchase process, after showing shipping rates. If successful, customers who used Canada Post’s online shipping tools in the last few years could be eligible for reimbursement.

Marci Deane filed a civil lawsuit in Federal Court last year alleging that three of Canada Post’s online shipping services failed to disclose the full price of shipping by adding a required additional charge for fuel after advertising a purchase price, in violation of the Competition Act.

She accused the Crown corporation of using banned “drip pricing” and “double ticketing” in its sales.

The additional charge to the price is significant.

The cost of the fuel surcharge is calculated as a percentage of the price of the shipping job — from a high of 26 per cent to a low of 13.75 per cent in April 2024, depending on service type and destination. Canada Post adjusts it weekly based on the price of fuel

Canada Post denies using “drip pricing” or “double ticketing.” The Crown corporation opposed the certification of Deane’s lawsuit as a class action.

Making it a class-action case means that if the lawsuit is successful, any damages assessed by a judge can apply to a wide group of people who suffered similar losses, rather than just Deane.

In court, Canada Post argued all pricing information is disclosed on a single webpage, during a single stage of the purchasing process. The company said customers are unable to complete their purchase without agreeing to the fuel surcharge, so they can change their mind before paying if they objected. They also argued that when opening an account to use its services, customers agree to terms that would allow fuel surcharges.

Deane complained of three of Canada Post’s online shipping services, called Snap Ship, Ship Online, and Shipping Manager. They allow online users to create, pay, and print shipping labels to send parcels.

Deane, as a small business owner, has been using Canada Post services and programs for businesses for more than 15 years, court heard.

While deciding whether Deane’s lawsuit should be a class-action suit, Justice Jocelyne Gagné was shown screen shots and videos of the Canada Post online purchase process and parsed the experience.

Deane showed the Snap Ship service in action. The video showed that after logging into her account and entering shipping information and destination, Canada Post displays four shipping options with prices, from regular parcel shipping to priority shipping. None of the quoted prices include a fuel surcharge.

Canada Post said that the onscreen box Deane showed was only part of a single, longer page of four successive stages where surcharges are shown in a separate summary box.

The judge found neither of their descriptions to be adequately accurate, noting that each successive box must be closed for the next to open and by the time the destination information is entered in a box, triggering a fuel surcharge being listed in the summary box, that summary is no longer visible onscreen. A user must scroll up to see it.

When the last box is filled out and closed, the page still doesn’t return to the summary page, the judge noted.

That stationary summary box was a change to the site made in July 2023, court heard. Before that, the summary box was dynamic, meaning it moved along with the cascading order process and was always visible.

The mechanics of the three online shipping tools are basically the same, but some have additional business options.

Ship Online is a service anyone can use to create paid shipping labels. Snap Ship is designed for small businesses doing regular low-volume shipping. Shipping Manager is designed for large volume commercial clients.

The Competition Act bans several sales tricks that are considered false or misleading representations in transactions.

“Drip pricing” is when a price is presented that is never attainable because obligatory charges are automatically added later in the purchase process (unless the fee is government mandated, such as a sales tax).

“Double ticketing” is when a product costs more than the lowest of two or more advertised prices, such as the same items having different price tags offered for sale at the same time.

For a claim to be certified as a class action, a court must rule that there is a reasonable cause of action, meaning a sound legal basis for complaining, and there must also be an identifiable group of people suffering the same alleged loss, among other considerations.

The damages claimed by Deane is the cost of the fuel surcharge in all transactions in the time frame, plus the cost of investigating and launching her lawsuit.

If Deane is successful, Canada Post could be forced to reimburse the fuel surcharges.

Certifying a suit as a class action does not assess the merits of it, only that it can appropriately move forward as a court action.

The parties and the judge looked carefully through previous class action competition-related complaints: one against Airbnb over service fees, one against Cineplex over buying online movie tickets, and the third against internet phone service provider Ooma.

Gagné, the judge, questioned how the same shipping transaction could be guilty of both drip pricing and double ticketing.

“One cannot say that Canada Post is, on one hand, adding price elements as the sale process unfolds, and, on the other hand, charging the higher of two or more prices clearly expressed,” Gagné wrote in her ruling, published Thursday.

Gagné rejected Deane’s claim against Canada Post of double ticketing but accepted her claim over drip pricing could proceed as a class action.

She defined the eligible class of claimants as Canadian residents charged fuel surcharges through Canada Post’s online shipping tools Snap Ship, Ship Online, and Shipping Manager after June 23, 2022.

The judge said who was a member of the group and how large it might be should be sorted out at trial. Receipts from customers show a fuel surcharge and Canada Post has online records of some users, she said.

• Email: ahumphreys@postmedia.com | X: AD_Humphreys

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A New Hampshire man is stuck in Canada after the U.S. Customs and Border patrol refused him reentry.

Chris Landry is a legal U.S. resident and a Canadian citizen. He lives in Peterborough, New Hampshire with his partner and five children, and is employed as a manufacturing machine operator.

On Sunday, he was stopped while trying to cross the border in Houlton, Maine. He and his three of his children (two under 18 and one aged 20) were visiting his father, grandmother and extended relatives in New Brunswick. He says this is an annual trip, with returns across the N.B.-Maine border. He was born in Canada and has lived in the “Granite State” since he was 3 years old, when his family moved there. But he never pursued becoming a U.S. citizen.

The CBP pulled him aside and questioned past misdemeanor convictions that date back to 2004 and 2007, he told the

Boston NBC News affiliate

this week. Under the American criminal justice system, a person can be charged with a felony or a misdemeanor, depending on the offence and its severity. Misdemeanors are lesser offence, resulting in lesser penalties.

Landry was charged with marijuana possession and driving with a suspended license. He was given 60-day sentences (both suspended) and fined for both offences, which he paid.

In the past, he said he would cross without issue. Border authorities would scan his green card, ask a few questions and send him on his way, Landry told New Hampshire newspaper,

The Keene Sentinel

.

However, after three hours at the border, the 46-year-old was told by the CBP that he wouldn’t be allowed back into the U.S. Instead, he was instructed to return to Canada and warned if he tried again to reenter the U.S., he would be immediately arrested. The only way for him to get back in would be to go before an immigration judge, Landry told NBC10 Boston from a relative’s home in New Brunswick.

The CBP told NBC Boston that “possessing a green card is a privilege, not a right, and under our nation’s laws, our government has the authority to revoke a green card if our laws are broken and abused. Lawful permanent residents presenting at a U.S. port of entry with previous criminal convictions may be subject to mandatory detention and/or may be asked to provide additional documentation to be set up for an immigration hearing.”

The CBP posted the same statement on its X account on Tuesday.

Attention Green Card Holders: Having a criminal history does not make you an upstanding lawful permanent resident. Possessing a green card is a privilege, not a right. Under our nation’s laws, our government has the authority to revoke your green card if our laws are broken and…

— CBP (@CBP) July 8, 2025

As a Canadian citizen, Landry couldn’t vote for president, but he says he supported Donald Trump. Now he blames the

Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration

for his dilemma.

“A misdemeanor shouldn’t be a deciding factor on the rest of my life,” Landry told the Sentinel. However, multiple convictions can, in some cases, be a reason not to grant a non-citizen entry to the U.S., according to American

federal law

.

After being contacted by Landry, New Hampshire Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan released a statement to the Sentinel: “Helping constituents navigate federal agencies and processes is a core function of Senator Hassan’s office. We can confirm that Mr. Landry reached out to our office and our constituent services team has been in touch with him. We won’t have any additional comment on specific details as is our general policy around ongoing constituent matters.” (The statement was not posted to Senator Hassan’s official website or her X account.)

This is not the first time a New England resident has faced trouble reentering the U.S. from eastern Canada. In April, a New Hampshire real estate attorney said he was returning home when he was

detained at the border

without an explanation.

Bachir Atallah and his wife, Jessica Fakhri, were traveling back from a quick family trip when they say U.S. Customs and Border Protection stopped them while reentering via the Quebec-Vermont border.

They had been visiting Canada for the weekend, but “on the way back, I was treated like a criminal,” Atallah told

NBC Boston

.

Atallah received his legal training in Maine,

founded his own law firm

and speaks English, French, Arabic and Russian. He has been a U.S. citizen for 10 years.

The U.S. Customs and Border Patrol

defended its actions

by calling Atallah’s account “blatantly false and sensationalized.”

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Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.

No Canadian NHL team has won a Stanley Cup in 32 years, meaning no Canadian NHL city has hosted a Stanley Cup parade for its hometown team in more than three decades.

But one Canadian city, too small to host an NHL team, is in early discussions for what could be its remarkable sixth Stanley Cup parade since 2007.

Halifax has produced some of the most exciting — and successful — hockey players of our time. And with them has come a tradition of bringing the Cup to their NHL-less hometown for parades that can draw tens of thousands of people.

Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby brought the coveted National Hockey League trophy back to his hometown of Cole Harbour, a suburb of Halifax, and toured it around the city, in 2009. He then repeated it in 2016, and again in 2017.

“All three of his parades were unbelievable,” Phil Pritchard, the “Keeper of the Cup” and legendary Hockey Hall of Fame curator, said in a recent interview.

“Most guys don’t really have parades and things like that. They have little town celebrations or community things. But Halifax went all-in.”

An estimated 25,000 people attended Crosby’s first hometown parade in 2009, with fans reportedly lining up 10 deep in some places to cheer on their hockey hero.

A similar parade route for Crosby in 2016 drew about 30,000 people. And when Sid the Kid was the marshal for the city’s 2017 Natal Day parade, that number reportedly doubled.

“What I found amazing about it was the people who came out in support, not just to watch the parade, but volunteered, that helped with security, that just helped out,” Pritchard said.

Thousands of people also showed up for Nathan MacKinnon’s 2022 parade in Halifax when he won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche, which Pritchard dubbed “equally as amazing” as the Crosby celebrations.

“Not to take anything away from Sidney or Nathan, but maybe it’s the people of Halifax – they’re hockey crazy,” Pritchard said. “And they’ve got two of the best players in the world playing, so maybe it all falls in together.”

Pritchard’s quick to point out that Joe DiPenta was the first hockey player to bring the Stanley Cup back to his hometown of Cole Harbour in 2007, as a member of the Anaheim Ducks. But his celebrations and parade were “a lot smaller,” Pritchard said.

Official Stanley Cup parades have been going on for more than a century. The first one the Hockey Hall of Fame could confirm marched down Winnipeg’s Main Street after the Winnipeg Victorias won the Cup in 1896, three years after it was first awarded.

For the past 30 years, players on Cup-winning teams each get at least a day with the storied trophy, to do with it as they please.

This year’s Cup champion, the Florida Panthers, has 100 days with the Stanley Cup, from the night they won it, June 17, until the NHL’s opening night in early October.

One of the breakout stars of this year’s Panthers is Halifax’s Brad Marchand. He won the Cup in 2011 with the Boston Bruins, but chose to celebrate with smaller events at Halifax City Hall and a visit to the local children’s hospital.

“He didn’t have a parade,” Pritchard said. “Not a lot of them do actual parades. The community has to get that going and Halifax has been great at it.”

The 37-year-old right winger, who hails from the Halifax suburb of Hammonds Plains, deserves a parade, according to Jason Wilson, who teaches a course about hockey in Canadian history at the University of Guelph.

“Marchand has proven himself to hockey fans everywhere. He has even convinced long-suffering Leafs fans like myself that he’s the real deal,” said Wilson, co-author of Lord Stanley: The Man Behind the Cup.

“His commitment to focusing on the game and shredding — though perhaps not altogether — his sometimes-bizarre non-hockey play on the ice, is a declaration of maturity. When you consider the Four Nations Cup and this past Stanley Cup playoffs, I think there’s an argument to be made that he has to be included among the top five most impactful players of 2025. An impact that surely has the good people of Hammonds Plains, N.S., planning a parade route for their ice warrior.”

Marchand scored six goals in five games for the Panthers during the 2025 Stanley Cup Final, including game-winning goals in both of their road wins, to help Florida take their second straight championship against the Edmonton Oilers.

“Brad doesn’t have a date picked yet” for his personal day with the Stanley Cup, Pritchard said.

That begs the question: should Halifax throw Marchand a parade?

“It takes more than one guy to have the parade,” Pritchard said, “the community’s got to get behind it.”

Halifax Mayor Andy Fillmore sounds keen on hosting a Marchand parade.

“Brad Marchand is a hometown legend and now a two-time Stanley Cup champion and Halifax couldn’t be prouder,” Fillmore said in an email.

“As mayor of Halifax, I’d love to welcome Brad home to celebrate this incredible win, with the Cup, of course. We’re in early discussions at the city about how to help make that happen. It’s entirely up to him, but if he’s game, we’d be thrilled to host him here in Halifax this summer.”

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• Ageless Marchand continues Stanley Cup sizzle

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OTTAWA —

U.S. President Donald Trump’s vow this week that he will impose heavy tariffs on copper imports

on Aug. 1 is of particular cause for concern in Quebec, which harbours Canada’s only copper smelting facility and a major refinery that do significant business across the border.

“There’s an impression of déjà vu,” said Emmanuelle Toussaint, president and CEO of the Quebec Mining Association. “Since the start of the year, there have been on several occasions declarations made about tariffs, and some of them have materialized.”

“Our first reaction is to say that we will follow the situation closely,” she added. “We’re really in a context where we are vigilant and preparing for this possibility.”

Industry players told National Post they are keeping a close eye on when Trump will sign an executive order imposing the tariffs, when they will come into force, whether they’ll be at the 50 per cent rate Trump promised, and how they could potentially affect both countries’ deeply integrated structures.

“Today we are doing copper,” Trump declared to reporters covering his cabinet meeting on Tuesday. “I believe the tariff on copper, we are going to make it 50 per cent.”

In February, the president

launched investigations under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962

into multiple products, including copper and pharmaceuticals, citing national security concerns.

The Commerce Department investigation was originally set to conclude by November 2025.

On Wednesday evening, Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social the tariffs would be effective Aug. 1.

Pierre Gratton, head of the Mining Association of Canada, said those tariffs would not have a great effect on copper mines, many of which are in British Columbia, as they sell to other markets in Europe and Asia. But he said it was concerning for the “midstream” operators in Quebec who refine and smelt copper.

The province is home to the Horne Smelter in Rouyn-Noranda — the only copper smelter in the country — and to the Canadian Copper Refinery (CCR) in Montreal East. Both facilities are owned by the Swiss multinational Glencore, which declined an interview for this article.

“Canada and the United States benefit from a robust and highly integrated copper supply chain — one that Glencore plays an active part in,” said Fabrice de Dongo, spokesperson for Glencore Canada, in a written statement.

“This is an important issue for our business, and we continue to watch developments closely,” he added.

In essence, Horne Smelter processes concentrate and recycled copper from mining operations and third parties, including from the U.S. The material is then shipped to CCR to be transformed into copper cathodes and sold on world markets, according to Glencore.

The U.S. only has a few active smelters in Utah and in Arizona. Sung Choi, metals and mining analyst at BloombergNEF, said it would take two to three years to build up more American smelting capacity.

Jean-Denis Charest, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce in Montreal East, said that CCR creates more than 1,300 direct and indirect jobs and generates around $300 million in economic benefits for the Montreal region alone.

“Of course, this is worrisome, but at the same time, we have to keep a cool head because there are lots of changes and lots of negotiations at play,” he said of the tariffs. “That being said, what happened in the steel and aluminum sectors is making me a bit more worried,” he said referring to

mass layoffs and production cutbacks in those sectors

after Trump raised tariffs to 50 per cent tariffs on Canadian aluminum and steel in June, from 25 per cent in March.

“We find ourselves in a movie in which we have already played but which is very problematic, and which will weaken our copper supply chains in North America,” Charest said.

The federal government has so far refused to comment on the copper threats until Trump has signed an executive order to enforce the tariffs and more details are available.

Toussaint, from the Quebec Mining Association, said it is still too early to speculate on job losses in Quebec should these new tariffs on copper move ahead. But she said prices are sure to jump if the U.S. imposes them and even more if Canada decides to retaliate. Copper prices this week have already hit record highs in the U.S., surging 13 per cent on Tuesday.

That means a spike in prices for electrical wires, telecommunications and electronic devices, but also plumbing, machinery, and construction materials, Toussaint said.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has already said he is prepared to match tariffs on steel and aluminum should Canada and the U.S. not come to a new economic and security agreement by July 21. But Toussaint said Carney should spare copper from any counter tariffs because the two countries’ supply chains are so heavily integrated.

Charles Cooper, head of copper research at Wood Mackenzie, agreed retaliation would be “counterproductive.” “I think once you start going into tit for tat, in that sense, eventually, everybody’s going to lose out,” he said.

Cooper said Carney probably recognizes that the U.S. might receive some weaker economic news over the next month or so, such as higher inflation numbers, which could make it a lot more difficult for Trump to continue hammering more tariffs.

“Once the reality sort of sets in… it’s a bit of a waiting game as well.”

— With additional files from Tracy Moran in Washington.

National Post

calevesque@postmedia.com

• Trump to hit Canadian copper with drastic 50% tariff, clobbering massive export market
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