It’s up to federal departments to decide what text messages they conceal from the public, says the Treasury Board. Electronic records may be destroyed “as appropriate” under a policy drafted 26 years ago: "Isn’t there a risk to destroying text messages? Yes." READ MORE
The Senate human rights committee yesterday spent 1 hour and 27 minutes debating a single executive job cut, eliminating the position of Deputy Chief Human Rights Commissioner left vacant since 2022. The committee was told nobody could remember what the last appointee actually did: "There is nothing spelled out in particular for the Deputy Chief Commissioner to do." READ MORE
New federal proposals to curb lawful strikes followed a direct appeal by shippers, according to Access To Information records detailed yesterday by journalist Peter Nowak. The labour department “acknowledged the group had been lobbying” to designate port and rail workers as essential employees forbidden from striking: "Strikes were costing Canada billions." READ MORE
Hiring practices by select Tim Hortons franchisees saw foreign workers account for 60 to 80 percent of payroll at some restaurants. Figures were disclosed in bankruptcy court filings by one operator who blamed “changes to Temporary Foreign Worker programs” for insolvency: "Recruiting employees is challenging." READ MORE
The RCMP are defending their $934 million-a year Alberta policing contracts, saying one of their constables costs less than a municipal police officer. A costing report followed a provincial vote to make Alberta the third province to manage their own police: "Providing clarity on these factors is not about influencing the decisions of municipalities or the provinces." READ MORE
Misconduct at the Canada Border Services Agency has cost taxpayers millions in legal fees and out-of-court settlements with complainants, new records show. The Agency admitted to 91 settlements since 2020: "There are hundreds of young women currently working as officers at the Agency who are afraid to say something." READ MORE
Cabinet’s bill to regulate legal internet content will attempt to determine “what constitutes legitimate and illegitimate discussion,” says Heritage Minister Marc Miller. The bill was introduced June 10 but has yet to be called up for Second Reading debate in the Commons: "What about Reddit?" READ MORE
We only had the CBC. It was hard to take. That’s all we had. Honest to God, it was deadly. It was also dangerous, absolutely dangerous. You had a situation where the government perpetuated the CBC as a monopoly provider. This was television in Canada. Private TV was not just about making money. It was to liberate the country, to provide new, fresh ideas, to have a new and different perspective on the world. This was like a holy war. They lost.
