Federal regulators yesterday disclosed the Royal Bank paid $4.25 million in fines for overcharging hundreds of thousands of credit card customers in breach of the Bank Act. It was the largest fine to date against RBC: ‘It reflects significant harm to customers.’
The Department of Foreign Affairs yesterday would not disclose the cost of reopening a consulate in Phoenix that was closed 14 years ago to save taxpayers’ money. The new Arizona office follows an internal audit that complained of costly missions in the United States: “Canada maintains a large mission footprint in the United States requiring considerable effort and expenditures.”
Muttering that you’d like to kill your boss is not an automatic firing offence, a British Columbia labour board has ruled. The decision came in the case of a North Vancouver cleaning lady, 60, fired last Christmas after a bad day at work: “She does not pose a danger.”
Cabinet should adopt as a principle the validity of “Indigenous laws,” says a Canadian Human Rights Commission report. “Indigenous ways of life and Indigenous laws are not seen as valid as Canadian law,” wrote the Commission.
First Nations schools operated by Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty’s department have failed an audit for the second time in five years. Records show the federal system spends 29 percent more per capita than the national average yet has the highest dropout rate in Canada: “There has not been measurable improvement over time.”
Statistics Canada yesterday declined comment regarding profane, anti-Israel Twitter posts by a Vancouver employee. “We do not comment on specific cases including internal investigations,” a spokesperson said.
Courts must make quick use of new penalties against copper thieves who sabotage telecom lines for scrap metal, Attorney General Sean Fraser said yesterday. Utilities lobbied for steeper sanctions for over a decade: “We expect by mid-July these measures will be in force.”
Canada’s FIFA World Cup squad yesterday joined a long list of celebrities, military heroes and everyday Canadians to receive a Peace Tower flag. “These flags are hugely popular,” one former MP earlier explained: “They should go to people who have made a significant contribution to the nation’s well-being.”
Complaints of fraud prompted changes to the multi-million dollar Canada Student Loan program, says an internal federal memo. No schools were named: “There have been growing concerns around certain educational institutions related to fraud, integrity and growing financial risk.”
The Department of Health has a total 67 federal inspectors to monitor diversion of legal marijuana into the black market nationwide, says a report. The disclosure followed allegations that tonnes of cannabis have been diverted since Parliament legalized recreational marijuana eight years ago: “That is illicit cannabis.”
Authorities yesterday confirmed Prime Minister Mark Carney is permanently closing the federal consumer affairs’ office, the last remnant of the old Department of Consumer and Corporate Affairs. One association called it “the death knell for nonprofit consumer protection.”
Millions in funding for the Kids Help Phone counseling service will be cut, the Public Health Agency said yesterday. Then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the funding during Covid lockdowns after telling children on TV: “We’re here for you.”
Canada Post in a report to Parliament says it is compiling data to decide which of 3,361 rural outlets will close due to ongoing losses. Management has denied it is developing an internal list of offices to be shuttered in advance of community surveys: “We have not made any decisions even internally on which post offices we think should stay or go.”
The Public Health Agency erased the term “injury” from the name of a $75 million compensation fund for Canadians injured by Covid shots as part of a rebranding exercise, says an internal memo. Staff were assigned to do a Google search on the most appropriate substitute for the “Vaccine Injury Support Program.”
Federal managers wasted 15 years and a $120 million budget on a plan to digitize meat inspections, says an internal report. The system was so dysfunctional, auditors discovered employees were put to twice the work: “They did not enjoy using the platform.”
