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CBC News journalist Janice Johnston dies at 62
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Janice Johnston, a CBC journalist whose decades-long career shaped justice and crime reporting in Edmonton and Alberta, died Friday. She was 62.
Johnston, who was born in London, Ont., on March 2, 1960, died of cancer after a brief illness.
Johnston covered Alberta courts and crime for more than three decades and her dedication to the beat was unmatched.
She is survived by her husband Scott Johnston, her daughter Samantha Milles, son-in-law Demetri Milles and her granddaughter Calliope (Cali).
In an interview Friday, Samantha Milles said her mother excelled as a journalist right from the start, and always had an “electric spark” that drove her work.
“She was covering stories just a few months ago that she still had so much passion to talk about and cared so deeply about. It was her calling, I truly feel, to do the job that she did,” Milles said.
A storied career
Johnston found meaning in telling the stories of justice delivered.
She pursued her stories with determination, said Stephanie Coombs, CBC Edmonton’s director of journalism and programming.
“Janice was the kind of journalist who lived and breathed the news,” Coombs said.
“She strongly believed in her role as a crime reporter to tell the public about what went on in the criminal justice system, both in the courts and behind the scenes. If something was secret and in the public interest, Janice wanted to dig into it and bring it into the light.”
Coombs recalled working closely with Johnston on a 2021 investigative series in which a whistleblower police officer leaked unprecedented information to Johnston.
“It was a testament to her reputation as a journalist in Edmonton that she got the story and was able to share it with the public,” she said.
Johnston was no stranger to the legislature or city hall, but the courthouse was her calling.
Edmonton criminal lawyer Brian Beresh said Johnston leaves a legacy as a deeply trusted reporter who doggedly chased the truth.
“She was the ultimate court reporter,” Beresh said. “She had that great sense to be able to capture the story objectively. And what really struck me about her was her compassion … she was fierce but she was fair.”
Johnston brought the details of significant cases to Edmontonians over the decades: the disappearance of St. Albert seniors Lyle and Marie McCann and the case of the so-called “Dexter killer” Mark Twitchell.
She travelled to North Carolina for a case involving an Alberta man who admitted to killing his wife.
Johnston spent years covering dangerous offender Leo Teskey’s progress through the justice system. After her reports, the provincial government made it illegal for dangerous and long-term offenders to change their names.
In 2016, she won a national Radio Television Digital News Association award for her coverage of the trial of a 13-year-old Alberta boy who was acquitted of killing his abusive father.
She was dogged in holding the justice system accountable through her coverage of Alberta police agencies withholding the names of homicide victims. She broke the story of a sexual assault victim who was jailed while testifying against her attacker.
She was the ultimate court reporter.– Brian Beresh
Albertans have lost a valuable and trusted voice, said Court of King’s Bench Chief Justice Mary Moreau.
“Janice Johnston was deeply knowledgeable, thoughtful and thorough, and always brought these qualities to her reporting,” Moreau said in a statement.
“Her seniority among Alberta reporters, and the respect she earned from her colleagues and from members of the judiciary, also made her an effective advocate for media access to the courts.”
Johnston was generous with her extensive knowledge, working as a mentor to countless young journalists.
A former colleague, CBC correspondent Briar Stewart, said she will always remember Johnston’s confidence in the courtroom, when she would stand up to argue before judges that media outlets should have access to court records or other legal documents.
“She was a force, and always so generous sharing her expertise. I know I learned a great deal from her,” Stewart said.
Meghan Grant, who covers courts and crime for CBC Calgary, met Johnston while they were covering a parole hearing in 2016. They became friends and made a point of catching up whenever they were in each other’s city.
“Most recently, my son and I had lunch with Janice on a sunny Edmonton patio in August which included glasses of rosé,” Grant said Friday.
“She insisted on paying. She also gave me a pillow she’d made. Janice was incredibly generous, thoughtful and crafty in every sense of that word.”
Radio Active3:20Remembering Janice Johnston part 1
CBC Crime and Court reporter Janice Johnston has brought Edmontonians stories from across the province for over three decades. First at CTV, when it was known as CFRN-Eyewitness news, and then here at CBC Edmonton. Sadly, on Jan. 13, Janice passed away after a very brief, but courageous battle with Cancer. Janice was an impassioned journalist, a consumate professional, a loving wife to Scott, and recently a doting grandmother to Cali, and loving mother to Sam. It’s hard to put into words, but know everyone at CBC and the many others who working with her, or crossed her path on the job will miss her dearly. Despite being a serious crime reporter, Janice passionately enjoyed sewing and from the CBC Edmonton archives, we have a clip of her telling us all about it.
Johnston studied radio and television arts at then-Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University), and got her first job working in Wingham, Ont.
She moved to Edmonton in the 1980s, first working at radio station CISN as a reporter and later as a news director. She moved on to work at CFRN-TV as a reporter. She started at CBC in the early 2000s.
‘A best friend in your partner’
Johnston and her husband Scott, a fellow journalist, were together for 36 years and marked their 20th anniversary by renewing their vows on a Caribbean beach. Scott Johnston now works with the Alberta government.
Johnston recently wrote on social media that she was lucky she and her partner still looked at each other like they did when they first fell in love.
Milles said her parents’ relationship was an inspiration to her.
“I think it’s so cool that they both got to do the same job together and we would sit down at the dinner table and hear about their days,” she said. “They taught me such a great example of how to have a best friend in your partner.”
The newsroom’s fashionista
Despite the serious nature of Johnston’s work, she loved to have fun. She had many passions and hobbies that kept her busy and spent lots of quality time with her family.
“She would cover courts and crime during the day, then we would watch The Bachelor and drink wine and go out for lunch every weekend and catch up. And she was just so loving and caring in that way too,” Milles said.
Her mother was an Earth, Wind and Fire superfan who also loved Bruno Mars. If there was music on at a party, Johnston was dancing.
She was also the CBC newsroom fashionista, known for her impressive collection of designer shoes.
Johnston was adept with a needle and thread as she was with her pen.
When she wasn’t covering crime from the Edmonton law courts, she used crafting — and sometimes canning — to help her unwind.
She took great pride in her creations — crocheted pillows, brightly-coloured quilts and tiny onesies and Halloween costumes carefully crafted for her beloved granddaughter.
Becoming a Gigi was a point of pride for Johnston and hugs from granddaughter Cali were the highlight of any family gathering.
In 2020, hours before her 60th birthday, Johnston wrote on Facebook about what she had learned from her life.
She spoke of her affection for her late mother, the love she shared with her husband, and the pride she had in her family and her career.
“I’m grateful I have a career I love [and] the ability to tell people’s stories.”
More money will land in the pockets of Canadian families on Friday for the latest Canada Child Benefit (CCB) installment.
The federal government program helps low and middle-income families struggling with the soaring cost of raising a child.
Canadian citizens, permanent residents, or refugees who are the primary caregivers for children under 18 years old are eligible for the program, introduced in 2016.
The non-taxable monthly payments are based on a family’s net income and how many children they have. Families that have an adjusted net income under $34,863 will receive the maximum amount per child.
For a child under six years old, an applicant can annually receive up to $7,437 per child, and up to $6,275 per child for kids between the ages of six through 17.
That translates to up to $619.75 per month for the younger cohort and $522.91 per month for the older group.
The benefit is recalculated every July and most recently increased 6.3 per cent in order to adjust to the rate of inflation, and cost of living.
To apply, an applicant can submit through a child’s birth registration, complete an online form or mail in an application to a tax centre.
The next payment date will take place on May 17.
News
Capital gains tax change draws ire from some Canadian entrepreneurs worried it will worsen brain drain – CBC.ca
A chorus of Canadian entrepreneurs and investors is blasting the federal government’s budget for expanding a tax on the rich. They say it will lead to brain drain and further degrade Canada’s already poor productivity.
In the 2024 budget unveiled Tuesday, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said the government would increase the inclusion rate of the capital gains tax from 50 per cent to 67 per cent for businesses and trusts, generating an estimated $19 billion in new revenue.
Capital gains are the profits that individuals or businesses make from selling an asset — like a stock or a second home. Individuals are subject to the new changes on any profits over $250,000.
The government estimates that the changes would impact 40,000 individuals (or 0.13 per cent of Canadians in any given year) and 307,000 companies in Canada.
However, some members of the business community say that expanding the taxable amount will devastate productivity, investment and entrepreneurship in Canada, and might even compel some of the country’s talent and startups to take their business elsewhere.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland unveiled the government’s 2024 federal budget, with spending targeted at young voters and a plan to raise capital gains taxes for some of the wealthiest Canadians.
Benjamin Bergen, president of the Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI), said the capital gains tax has overshadowed parts of the federal budget that the business community would otherwise be excited about.
“There were definitely some other stars in the budget that were interesting,” he said. “However, the … capital gains piece really is the sun, and it’s daylight. So this is really the only thing that innovators can see.”
The CCI has written and is circulating an open letter signed by more than 1,000 people in the Canadian business community to Trudeau’s government asking it to scrap the tax change.
Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke and president Harley Finkelstein also weighed in on the proposed hike on X, formerly known as Twitter.
We need to be doing everything we can to turn Canada into the best place for entrepreneurs to build 🇨🇦<br><br>What’s proposed in the federal budget will do the complete opposite. Innovators and entrepreneurs will suffer and their success will be penalized — this is not a wealth tax,…
—@harleyf
Former finance minister Bill Morneau said his successor’s budget disincentivizes businesses from investing in the country’s innovation sector: “It’s probably very troubling for many investors.”
Canada’s productivity — a measure that compares economic output to hours worked — has been relatively poor for decades. It underperforms against the OECD average and against several other G7 countries, including the U.S., Germany, U.K. and Japan, on the measure.
Bank of Canada senior deputy governor Carolyn Rogers sounded the alarm on Canada’s lagging productivity in a speech last month, saying the country’s need to increase the rate had reached emergency levels, following one of the weakest years for the economy in recent memory.
The government said it was proposing the tax change to make life more affordable for younger generations and fund efforts to boost housing supply — and that it would support productivity growth.
A challenge for investors, founders and workers
The change could have a chilling effect for several reasons, with companies already struggling to access funding in a high interest rate environment, said Bergen.
He questioned whether investors will want to fund Canadian companies if the government’s taxation policies make it difficult for those firms to grow — and whether founders might just pack up.
The expanded inclusion rate “is just one of the other potential concerns that firms are going to have as they’re looking to grow their companies.”
He said the rejigged tax is also an affront to high-skilled workers from low-innovation sectors who might have taken the risk of joining a startup for the opportunity, even taking a lower wage on the chance that a firm’s stock options grow in value.
But Lindsay Tedds, an associate economics professor at the University of Calgary, said the tax change is one of the most misunderstood parts of the federal budget — and that its impact on the country’s talent has been overstated.
“This is not a major innovation-biting tax change treatment,” Tedds said. “In fact, when you talk to real grassroots entrepreneurs that are setting up businesses, tax rates do not come into their decision.”
As for productivity, Tedds said Canadians might see improvements in the long run “to the degree that some of our productivity problems are driven by stresses like housing affordability, access to child care, things like that.”
‘One foot on the gas, one foot on the brake’
Some say the government is sending mixed messages to entrepreneurs by touting tailored tax breaks — like the Canada Entrepreneurs’ Incentive, which reduces the capital gains inclusion rate to 33 per cent on a lifetime maximum of $2 million — while introducing measures they say would dampen investment and innovation.
“They seem to have one foot on the gas, one foot on the brake on the very same file,” said Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
Some business groups are worried that new capital gains tax changes could hurt economic growth. But according to Small Business Minister Rechie Valdez, most Canadians won’t be impacted by that change — and it’s a move to create fairness.
A founder may be able to sell their successful company with a lower capital gains treatment than otherwise possible, he said.
“At the same time, though, big chunks of it may be subject to a higher rate of capital gains inclusion.”
Selling a company can fund an individual’s retirement, he said, which is why it’s one of the first things founders consider when they think about capital gains.
Mainstreet NS7:03Ottawa is proposing a hike to capital gains tax. What does that mean?
Tuesday’s federal budget includes nearly $53 billion in new spending over the next five years with a clear focus on affordability and housing. To help pay for some of that new spending, Ottawa is proposing a hike to the capital gains tax. Moshe Lander, an economics lecturer at Concordia University, joins host Jeff Douglas to explain.
Dennis Darby, president and CEO of Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, says he was disappointed by the change — and that it sends the wrong message to Canadian industries like his own.
He wants to see the government commit to more tax credit proposals like the Canada Carbon Rebate for Small Businesses, which he said would incentivize business owners to stay and help make Canada competitive with the U.S.
“We’ve had a lot of difficulties attracting investment over the years. I don’t think this will make it any better.”
Tech titan says change will only impact richest of the rich
Toronto tech entrepreneur Ali Asaria will be one of those subject to the expanded capital gains inclusion rate — but he says it’s only fair.
“It’s going to really affect the richest of the rich people,” Asaria, CEO of open source platform Transformer Lab and founder of well.ca, told CBC News.
“The capital gains exemption is probably the largest tax break that I’ve ever received in my life,” he said. “So I know a lot about what that benefit can look like, but I’ve also always felt like it was probably one of the most unfair parts of the tax code today.”
While Asaria said Canada needs to continue encouraging talent to take risks and build companies in the country, taxation policies aren’t the most major problem.
“I think that the biggest central issue to the reason why people will leave Canada is bigger issues, like housing,” he said.
“How do we make it easier to live in Canada so that we can all invest in ourselves and invest in our companies? That’s a more important question than, ‘How do we help the top 0.13 per cent of Canadians make more money?'”
More money will land in the pockets of Canadian families on Friday for the latest Canada Child Benefit (CCB) installment.
The federal government program helps low and middle-income families struggling with the soaring cost of raising a child.
Canadian citizens, permanent residents, or refugees who are the primary caregivers for children under 18 years old are eligible for the program, introduced in 2016.
The non-taxable monthly payments are based on a family’s net income and how many children they have. Families that have an adjusted net income under $34,863 will receive the maximum amount per child.
For a child under six years old, an applicant can annually receive up to $7,437 per child, and up to $6,275 per child for kids between the ages of six through 17.
That translates to up to $619.75 per month for the younger cohort and $522.91 per month for the older group.
The benefit is recalculated every July and most recently increased 6.3 per cent in order to adjust to the rate of inflation, and cost of living.
To apply, an applicant can submit through a child’s birth registration, complete an online form or mail in an application to a tax centre.
The next payment date will take place on May 17.
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