The Department of Employment considered introduction of an electronic national ID system for all Canadians but quietly dropped the idea, says a report. Canada has never mandated a national identification card: 'The prospect is police being able to stop people on the street and demand proof of their identity.' READ MORE
A Liberal-appointed senator worked as a federal contractor for the finance department at the same time he voted in the Upper Chamber and drew six-figure directors’ fees from corporations, records show. The business affairs of Senator Sarabjit Marwah (Ont.) did not breach any ethics rules, a spokesperson said: "It’s a shocking thing to me that the conflict of interest guidelines for senators remain so weak." READ MORE
Elections Canada in another sign of an impending campaign has placed rush orders for tens of thousands of candidates’ lists in braille for the blind. And the Green Party yesterday became the first to open a leader’s campaign office: "We already launched." READ MORE
The Department of Foreign Affairs successfully lobbied California legislators to rewrite a climate change bill deemed a threat to Canadian forestry exports. Diplomats feared the California bill if adopted would be taken up by other states and hurt sales: "Canada is concerned." READ MORE
Federal regulators have licensed a commercial drone operator for only the second time in Canada. The one-year conditional license was given to a drone courier at Edmonton International Airport: "Drones are profoundly transforming the transportation sector." READ MORE
David Shoemaker, CEO of the Canadian Olympic Committee, paid a courtesy call on the Chinese Embassy six weeks after MPs censured China for genocide and voted to petition Olympics organizers to relocate the 2022 Winter Games from Beijing. Chinese diplomats “asked to stay in touch." READ MORE
A half-billion newspaper bailout did not create jobs as promised, admits the Department of Canadian Heritage. Staff counted a continued net loss of thousands of jobs though publishers claimed increased readership through the pandemic: "This crowd knows very little about the business of operating a newspaper." READ MORE
When I was finance minister, I came out of one of my early cabinet meetings and they said, “What should we expect in new programs?” I said, “The cupboard is bare. There aren’t going to be new programs. We cannot afford new programs. We have to get this deficit down.” I’d say to caucus, we have to get this under control, and they would nod. People thought there’s just a great big pile of money up in Ottawa; all we have to do is sign on the dotted line. People’s eyes would glaze over. “There goes Mike again, trying to scare us into cutting!”
