Liberal MPs last night asked that GoFundMe identify how much the Freedom Convoy raised in Russia. It follows a discredited CBC News report that questioned whether the Kremlin financed Parliament Hill protests: “Can you confirm to the committee that no donations were received from China?”
Jody Thomas, national security advisor to the Prime Minister, yesterday pointed to protesters’ tweets in justifying her claim the Freedom Convoy was a “threat to national interest.” Thomas was appointed as $306,000-a year security advisor last January 11 just two weeks before protesters arrived on Parliament Hill: “It is a threat to democracy.”
The Department of Finance had no opinion “one way or another” whether Freedom Convoy protesters were terrorists, Deputy Minister Michael Sabia testified yesterday. “I’m not going to give you a yes or no,” Sabia said under questioning on why cabinet used a 9/11 anti-terror law to freeze millions in accounts held by protest sympathizers: “Who takes responsibility for the fact these accounts were frozen, that people couldn’t pay their rent, that people couldn’t buy their groceries?”
Protests in the 2021 federal campaign did not appear to be aligned with “any specific ideology” or hate group and saw threats against all major party leaders, say RCMP files. Demonstrations against vaccine mandates prompted Parliament to pass a bill threatening 10 years’ imprisonment for protesters at hospitals and clinics: “Threats against protected persons encompass a range of rhetoric including vague adverse comments.”
A federal landlord, the National Capital Commission, yesterday closed the Prime Minister’s official residence for costly repairs expected to take years to complete. The manor house at 24 Sussex Drive was last occupied by the Harpers in 2015: “What is the pegged cost?”
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland told a secret cabinet meeting that Canadians with bank accounts frozen under the Emergencies Act should be denied their money unless they first reported to police. “Banks were pleased,” said confidential minutes.
RCMP in an internal email acknowledged there was “no serious violence in Ottawa” with the Freedom Convoy despite claims by Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino. One police commander said allegations of violence were “the main reason for the Emergencies Act.”
Chinese-Canadians in an internal Privy Council Office poll say cabinet must “stand up” to China’s Communist Party even if it brings worsening relations. “Canada was not currently doing enough to speak out against human rights issues,” citizens of Chinese ethnicity told federal pollsters: “Very few wanted to see the development of stronger ties.”
Mistaken payments of $2,000 monthly pandemic benefit cheques cost at least $5.3 billion, records show. It is the largest sum disclosed to date under the Canada Emergency Response Benefit program: “When creating a program as quickly as we did there is going to be some abuse.”
Complaints of racism in the Department of Immigration yesterday prompted MPs to recommend all interviews with visa applicants be recorded. The Commons immigration committee also sought appointment of an ombudsman to hear complaints of bigotry: “These problems do exist.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau considered the Freedom Convoy an international embarrassment, say secret minutes of a cabinet meeting. One minister called it a “concentrated effort to make this country look bad,” while Ambassador Ralph Goodale complained from Britain there was “disbelief that this is happening in Canada.”
The Public Health Agency spent more than $43 million hiring security guards to make house calls on returning cross-border travelers, records show. Private security firms completed almost 600,000 “door knocks” to enforce quarantine rules: “What recourse is the Agency making available to individuals who are harassed?”
There is no money in local private television says Canada’s largest private television corporation. BCE Inc. in a submission to the Senate communications committee said local stations have been money losers for nine years running: “Local private television has been unprofitable every year since 2013.”
Satellites essential for surveillance of Canada’s Arctic are “nearing their end” by 2026, the Auditor General warned yesterday. Analysts identified what they called significant gaps in federal know-how on who is active in northern waters and why: “This finding matters.”
Ongoing maintenance and refit costs for Canada’s submarine fleet now top $3 billion, according to documents. Most of the fleet spent another year in dry dock in 2022: “The force has been impacted by personnel shortages but remains focused.”
