The National Newspaper Awards committee has dropped a sportswriters’ prize named for a Globe columnist who ridiculed minority athletes as yelping “squaws” and “coloured gals.” Organizers had pledged to be more sensitive to “equity seeking groups.”

Reid Sirrs, the ambassador who fled Kabul leaving 1,250 Canadians trapped under Taliban rule, tonight speaks publicly for the first time. MPs on the Commons Special Committee on Afghanistan summoned Sirrs for questioning on why he closed Canada’s embassy as thousands pleaded for help: “Any hope for a swift but orderly evacuation went out the window effectively leaving thousands behind.”

Federal employers are reviewing their vaccination mandates, says Dr. Theresa Tam. The chief public health officer’s remarks follows suspension without pay of more than a thousand workers who declined Covid shots or refused to disclose their medical status under the Privacy Act: “I encourage Canadians to show each other compassion and respect as we make decisions to protect ourselves.”

Customs officers at major airports will be routinely armed under a Department of Transport proposal. Gun-toting smugglers and gangland criminals are now a “presence,” the department said: “There are incidents of organized crime involvement.”

A promised “world class” federal oil tanker safety system lacked clarity and focus, says a Department of Transport report. The $394.8 million program launched nine years ago became mired in paperwork, wrote auditors: “There was a lack of clarity.”

Panicked credit union depositors withdrew millions after cabinet ordered a freeze on accounts of Freedom Convoy sympathizers, executives yesterday disclosed. “Many Canadians felt surprised the government had that authority,” said Martha Durdin, CEO of the Canadian Credit Union Association: “There was some degree of panic.”

No mysterious foreign millionaires bankrolled the Freedom Convoy, crowdfunding executives yesterday told the Commons finance committee. Evidence disproving cabinet claims of six-figure foreign interference came as one Liberal MP theorized Russia may have secretly funded the protest: “The statistics and numbers we are quoting here are the facts.”

Ineligible seniors who falsely claim benefits must pay the money back, the Federal Court of Appeal has ruled. The landmark decision came in the case of an American woman ordered to repay more than $115,000 in Old Age Security cheques she pocketed over nearly two decades: “The fact the Minister approved an application does not qualify the person for benefits for all time.”

The federal definition of “fully vaccinated” will remain at two Covid shots for now but it “obviously depends on the evolution of possible things,” Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos yesterday told reporters. His remarks came as cabinet lifted a Quarantine Act requirement effective April 1 that fully vaccinated travelers show proof of a negative Covid test at the border: “Will ‘fully vaccinated’ as a definition have to incorporate three shots?”

The Department of Industry yesterday approved a $27.2 million subsidy to build prototypes of small nuclear reactors the size of a shipping container for use in the Arctic. It followed a 2018 report stating Canada must promote nuclear power for the sake of climate change: “First-of-a-kind projects carry more risk and face higher costs.”

Groups including the Ukrainian Canadian Congress are petitioning federal regulators to block Russian websites. The CRTC yesterday imposed a symbolic ban on the Kremlin-controlled Russia Today TV news channel – it had no viewership in Canada – but noted “Canadians will still be able to access the content on other platforms such as the internet should they choose.”

A federal program to compensate families of Canadians who suffer death or injury as a result of Covid vaccination is budgeted to run at least five years, says the Department of Health. The final cost of the $75 million program is unknown: “$75 million in funding has been earmarked for the first five years.”

“Troubling” electric car rebates remain the costliest climate program, an Ottawa think tank said yesterday. Figures confirmed earlier Department of Transport data showing taxpayers’ subsidies are the equivalent of up to $700 or more per tonne of emissions saved: “The subsidy programs are very costly and inefficient.”

The Bank of Canada yesterday admitted its security department is in breach of federal gun laws. Employees were storing firearms technically prohibited under a 2020 cabinet order, it said: “The Bank of Canada requires these firearms for its security personnel in the course of their duties to effectively defend its premises.”