Parliament Hill police mistakenly feared Freedom Convoy truckers were armed and would try to break into federal buildings. Legislators last night questioned why MPs and senators were permitted to walk freely among protesters if the convoy was considered violent: “I don’t recall every seeing anything come out that would make me fearful.”
An expected October interest rate hike could send average home prices down as much as a fifth this year, the Parliamentary Budget Office said yesterday. “Average income households across the country are stretching their finances,” wrote analysts: “Households that recently purchased a home have become more financially vulnerable.”
Canadians should not blame “this government’s mismanagement” for the rising cost of living, cabinet’s representative in the Senate said yesterday. “The struggles Canadians are experiencing are real,” said Senator Marc Gold (Que.). “They are not the function of this government’s mismanagement.”
The Department of Immigration yesterday said it will investigate whether foreigners were treated unfairly by racist managers. It follows a 2021 report that found executives made crude remarks about lazy Mexicans and immigrants from “dirty” African countries: “Within our department these problems do exist.”
A cabinet bill to permit negotiated sentences for drunk drivers sends a terrible message, say Mothers Against Drunk Driving. The bill would abolish mandatory minimum sentences for dozens of crimes: “We do feel it’s important in terms of denunciation that a message be sent to the public.”
A grocers’ lobbyist yesterday denied allegations of profiteering. Profit margins in the retail food trade average three percent, the Commons finance committee was told: “That is a lower rate than just about any other industry, certainly lower than food manufacturers and big agriculture.”
Homeowners who paid down mortgages and built up equity should “demonstrate allegiance” by paying more tax, says a CMHC consultant. The remark in a confidential email by Professor Paul Kershaw of the University of British Columbia was obtained by homeowners’ advocates through the Freedom Of Information Act: “You must be joking, buddy.”
The Commons yesterday by vote of 245 to 77 rejected a New Democrat bill to permit Grade 10 students to cast ballots in federal elections. Twenty Liberal MPs supported the measure: ‘Should candidates running for office campaign at high schools? Is that something we want?’
MPs yesterday gave Second Reading to a private Liberal bill to restrict junk food advertising to children. The Canadian Association of Advertisers estimated a ban would cost $956 million a year with “significant job losses.”
The Commons yesterday unanimously passed into law a Criminal Code amendment to aid jurors traumatized by graphic testimony in criminal courts. Advocates spent five years lobbying to pass the bill: “Jurors should not be cast aside and ignored.”
Rising interest rates will see a doubling of federal debt charges within four years, Budget Officer Yves Giroux last night warned the Senate banking committee. New figures indicate interest on the federal debt will eclipse the military budget next year and keep on rising: “That is something that will have a major impact on public finances.”
Media subsidies have provoked historic mistrust of reporters, the Commons heritage committee was told yesterday. The best-known federal subsidy, a $595 million payroll rebate and tax credit scheme for cabinet-approved publishers, expires in 2024: “People who today think media are toadying up to the Liberal government will at some point in the future believe they are toadying up to someone else. It doesn’t really matter whether they are or they aren’t. What matters is people won’t believe them.”
The CBC faces mandatory disclosure of top salaries for announcers and executives under Broadcasting Act amendments proposed yesterday by Senator Percy Downe (P.E.I.), a Liberal appointee. It follows disclosures the CBC paid itself $30.4 million in pandemic bonuses while petitioning cabinet for more subsidies: “I do have a concern about transparency.”
The ArriveCan app intended to speed vaccine checks at border crossings instead slowed traffic with a third of travelers unsure of how to comply, the Customs and Immigration Union testified yesterday. Lineups were so long travelers urinated on themselves while waiting to clear Customs, MPs were told: “I think that says it all.”
Commons Speaker Anthony Rota yesterday dismissed a complaint against a reporter for Canadian Bar Association National Magazine who tweeted “shoot them” at Conservative MPs while sitting in the Press Gallery. Rota said his ruling did not excuse abusive comments: “Some comments are extreme and occasionally even violent.”
