Legislators yesterday for the first time rejected cabinet’s demand for quick passage of a pandemic relief bill into law. The protest followed complaints billions have been borrowed without full scrutiny: "The money has to be paid back." READ MORE
Threatened By Green Protests
The Treasury Board in an internal report lists environmental protestors as federal security threats. The Board yesterday did not comment on the document that listed peaceful demonstrations alongside a 2014 gun attack on Parliament as proof the country is “not immune to security threats”. READ MORE
Recruits Had Crime Records
RCMP recruitment is so sloppy managers accepted cadets with criminal records, says an internal audit. A report said the Mounties appeared to stress “the quantity of applicants with less focus on the quality.” READ MORE
‘Friend’ Complaint Dismissed
Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion yesterday dismissed complaints a senior federal manager intervened to win a promotion for a friend. The Conflict Of Interest Act does not define friendship: "It’s sort of embarrassing." READ MORE
‘Is It Because I’m A Woman?’
The Privy Council Office and Department of Foreign Affairs last night would not comment on claims they undermined a bid for a Geneva appointment by the only Canadian applying for it. “Is it because I am a woman, a racialized woman at that?” asked Senator Salma Ataullahjan (Ont.). READ MORE
Fed Debt Now $1.45 Trillion
The federal debt will reach an unprecedented $1.45 trillion this year and eclipse $1.6 trillion by 2023, the Parliamentary Budget Office said yesterday. Analysts cautioned the record debt does not include pension liabilities, Crown corporation borrowing or new spending proposed since September 1: "What will the pain for Canadians be after this?" READ MORE
Bankers Not Much Help: MP
Canadian banks that benefited from federal aid are not pulling their weight, the Liberal chair of the Commons finance committee said yesterday. MP Wayne Easter (Malpeque, P.E.I.) called for tighter federal scrutiny of mortgage deferrals that saw banks compound interest on borrowers: "Taxpayers have basically backed the big banks." READ MORE
Guest Commentary
It was a terrible time. Unemployment was 10 percent. We were darn near starving in Western Canada in terms of economic activity. It was a bad slump. And in the middle of this, we had this elitist group spending this kind of money on a piece of abstract art that nobody wanted. Some people said, “Oh, Holtmann is a pig farmer, what does he know?” What’s wrong with being a pig farmer?
