Liberal appointees to the Senate transport and communications committee yesterday by a 10 to 4 vote rejected a proposal to narrow regulation of legal internet video content. “It’s time we pass that bill,” said Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez: “The Senate had it for over six months.”
Federal drug policy is headed to “ultimately decriminalization” of illegal narcotics, a Liberal MP yesterday told the Commons health committee. Two cabinet ministers attending the committee did not contradict remarks by MP Dr. Brendan Hanley (Yukon): “How much should we rely on values alone versus evidence in determining drug policy?”
Almost one in five small businesses face permanent closure in Canada, the Senate national finance committee was told yesterday. The figure represents the equivalent of more than 200,000 operators: “The economy has not moved on. We are still way behind.”
Immigration Minister Sean Fraser yesterday claimed Canada is a world leader in protecting refugees. Figures from Fraser’s own department show the refugee quota fell last year and is a fraction of the number accepted by countries like Germany or Turkey: “We are not just a leader, we are the leader.”
Tesla Motors Canada seeks more federal subsidies to promote car sales. The automaker in a petition to Parliament said taxpayers should subsidize the installation of electric chargers at apartment and condo buildings: “This is a Canada-wide challenge and would benefit from federal leadership.”
Then-Alberta Premier Jason Kenney privately called the Freedom Convoy a “magnet for every crazy in the province.” His remarks came in a confidential teleconference with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other premiers on the Emergencies Act: “Folks at the core of this movement are not rational.”
The Department of Finance yesterday declined to spell out $14.2 billion in unidentified spending outlined in its Fall Economic Statement. “$14.2 billion, that’s a big chunk of change,” said Conservative MP Marty Morantz (Charleswood-St. James, Man.): “It’s an awfully large sum of money.”
Green Party leader Elizabeth May privately circulated unsubstantiated media allegations of Kremlin involvement in the Freedom Convoy, records show. “Hair raising,” she wrote in a confidential email to cabinet: “We have to wake up and take on this cancerous growth in our democracy.”
The parent company that runs Global News is lobbying Parliament for direct cash grants to subsidize employees’ pay. The Commons finance committee yesterday released a petition by Corus Entertainment Inc. seeking 25 percent payroll rebates: “It remains unclear why Canadian broadcast journalists should be entitled to any less.”
Air passengers face a two-year wait on service complaints filed with the Canadian Transportation Agency. The federal regulator yesterday acknowledged only 1 in 5,000 Canadians will file a complaint over delayed flights, denial of boarding or damaged luggage: “Our current backlog is 30,000 complaints.”
The Department of Finance privately ridiculed its own inflated claims of economic hardship blamed on the Freedom Convoy, records show. Bloomberg News figures repeatedly cited by Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland were “too cute,” wrote the department’s director general of economic analysis: “Seems large to me?!”
Storage of mobile field hospitals will cost taxpayers more than $135 million this year, records show. “This is something I was completely unaware of,” said Public Works Minister Helena Jaczek. The storage costs follow a sole-sourced $150 million contract to SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. for field hospitals: “That is not exactly directed to preventing or treating Covid.”
Liberal political aides were angry over the number of soldiers, sailors and air crew who sympathized with the Freedom Convoy, records show. The RCMP had so many members support protesters it issued a 35-page guide “regarding the participation of current or prior employees” in street demonstrations: “How the f—k many?”
Credit union depositors who made Freedom Convoy protest signs were reported to police, records show. Desjardins Group, one of the country’s largest credit unions, also reported customers who made “suspicious” purchases of fuel: “We are waiting for more instructions.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s use of the Emergencies Act sets a precedent for future leaders in confronting divisive protests, civil rights advocates warned at the close of the Freedom Convoy inquiry. Trudeau defended his actions on the 43rd day of hearings: ‘This invocation of the Act will then open the floodgates to the Act being used again and again and again.’
