Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland yesterday would not say if she will use statutory powers to direct the Financial Consumer Agency to investigate public complaints. Access To Information records show the federal Agency did not contact any of 27,323 bank customers who wrote to complain of breaches of the Bank Act: “It is window dressing.”
A confidential 1986 cabinet memo proposed massive job and service cuts at the post office as the only way to eliminate recurring deficits, Access To Information records show. Then-Prime Minister Brian Mulroney dropped the plan as “too Draconian,” he said: “Measures would be unpopular with the public and the probability of labour unrest could not be discounted.”
A secret 1986 federal task force proposed cabinet consider selling the Royal Canadian Mint. Access To Information records released yesterday indicate the proposal was reviewed by cabinet as part of a privatization drive: “The strategy is for the government to divest itself of those assets which are no longer fulfilling public policy objectives.”
The Bank of Canada says it is worried by rising gas prices and will hike interest rates again this fall “if needed.” The Bank yesterday held its prime rate on interbank loans at five percent, the highest in 22 years: “With the recent increase in gasoline prices, inflation is expected to be higher in the near term.”
The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada did not follow up any of more than 27,000 consumer complaints it received against banks in the past five years, Access To Information records show. Parliament created the Agency to “protect the rights” of bank customers. Judith Robertson, cabinet’s $285,000-a year Commissioner responsible for the Agency, refused an interview: “Thank you and have a nice day.”
Food costs continue to rise faster than the headline inflation rate, Statistics Canada figures showed yesterday. Prices of the most basic family staples were running at 10 to 18 percent more year over year ahead of today’s Bank of Canada interest rate announcement: “We have been surprised.”
The CRTC yesterday rejected a 12 percent increase in rates for “skinny basic” cable and satellite TV. Data show more than a million Canadians subscribe to $25 monthly packages introduced in 2015: “I can’t remember the last time I’ve had a $25 bill for television.”
A ban on clown pants for police on duty has been struck down by a Québec judge. Wearing irregular clothing to illustrate labour grievances is a constitutionally protected act of free expression, ruled Québec Superior Court: “It protects not only accepted opinions but also those which disturb, even those which shock.”
Canadians most likely to save for their children’s education don’t need subsidies to do it, new data show. Parliament has paid out grants to savers for nearly two decades: ‘Families more likely to save for postsecondary education had higher incomes and owned a home.’
The Department of Health warns taxpayers are “sensitive to cost considerations” of pharmacare, citing a Fraser Institute poll indicating Canadians won’t pay more taxes for universal public drug insurance. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to pass a pharmacare bill by year’s end under a vote deal with New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh: “Support fell by almost half to 40 percent if the program was to be financed by an increase in the GST.”
An internal federal memo admits mismanagement was to blame for extraordinary delays at the passport office. Half of employees were sent to work from home and 20 percent quit during the worst of the backlog last year, said the memo: “There needs to be a crack of the whip, big time.”
Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge in a regulatory surprise says enforcement of the Online News Act will begin by year’s end, scrubbing months of public consultation. St-Onge in a legal notice Saturday acknowledged the timing was “aggressive” and “accelerated.”
Young Canadians, women and British Columbians and Ontarians are the biggest climate change worriers, says in-house research by the Department of Environment. The findings follow an earlier federal report that most young people feel frightened, sad and helpless about global warming: ‘How worried are you?’
Canadian banks use “customer stickiness” techniques to prevent clients from comparison shopping, says a Competition Bureau report. The practice makes it difficult for any new rival to challenge the nation’s Big Five banks, it said: “There are frequently direct costs associated with customer switching.”
Blacklock’s Reporter pauses today for the 129th observance of Labour Day in tribute to Canadian workers nationwide. We will be back tomorrow — The Editor
