China represents a last chance for the commercial viability of the Atlantic seal hunt, says a federal memo. China banned sales of Canadian seal oil and other products in 2011: “Industry views access to China as one of its last opportunities for their industry to again become commercially viable.”
As many as half of all federal office buildings are unnecessary and could be sold at a taxpayers’ saving says the Department of Public Works, largest landowner in Canada. The selloff would take about 25 years, it said: “We are not going back to the way things used to be.”
There is no proof retailers profited from inflation, the Bank of Canada said yesterday. New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh disputed the finding, pointing to contrary data from another federal agency: “We know this is a fact.”
Fallout from federal internet regulation is like an Orwell novel, Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre yesterday told reporters. Facebook began suspending links to Canadian news stories in protest over Parliament’s passage of Bill C-18: “I think it is like 1984.”
Taxpayers must apply the “minimal of average intelligence” in filing returns, says a Tax Court judge. The comment came in the case of a tax filer who submitted a false return he claimed he never understood: “He would have discovered such inconvenient truth.”
An Alberta court ruling is a step to remedying the “significant injustice” of pandemic mandates, the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms said yesterday. Lawyers successfully argued then-Premier Jason Kenney overstepped his legal authority in imposing restrictions: “Significant injustice has taken place in the past three years under these Draconian public health measures.”
Chrystia Freeland’s chauffeur billed for 28 days’ worth of meals and other expenses in driving the finance minister, mainly in Toronto, according to records. Freeland yesterday denied using a chauffeured car but did not explain charges by her driver: “I am disappointed to see you peddling blatant misinformation.”
A national shortage of health care workers “is expected to get worse,” says a Department of Health briefing note. The Commons health committee estimates the country will be short more than 100,000 nurses alone by the end of the decade: “The shortage is expected to get worse.”
Cabinet will not meet its targets to increase use of French in Canada despite billions in promotions, says a federal report. “Worrisome demographic trends” see bilingualism rates decline over time, it said: “Immigration is not sufficient to increase the demographic weight of francophones outside Québec.”
Global government debt tops a record US$92 trillion, the Bank of Canada said yesterday. Risks of default worldwide were “challenging” given inflation and rising interest rates, it said: “Against a backdrop of historically high inflation and rising nominal and real interest rates, debt service payments remain challenging.”
Indigenous Canadians have no automatic treaty right to disturb fish habitat, says an Ontario judge. The ruling centred on a long-disputed clause of the Fisheries Act: “To find the existence of a treaty right is to bestow upon a particular activity the highest form of recognition and protection available in Canadian law.”
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland makes frequent use of a government-issue car and chauffeur in Toronto, according to expense accounts. Records contradicted Freeland’s claim Friday that she avoided car travel and attended meetings on foot or by public transit: “I walk, I take the subway.”
A record number of callers have swamped federal 1-800 lines for benefits claims, says the Department of Employment. Managers said there were so many calls its 150 operators could not keep up: “Call volumes have skyrocketed.”
CBC News “crossed the line” in reporting opinion as fact in a tight political race, says the network Ombudsman. The ruling faulted CBC coverage of former Winnipeg mayor Glen Murray’s failed bid to return to municipal office last October 26: ‘It felt like piling on.’
The Department of Transport is reviewing the “need for adjustments” to $5,000 rebates for electric vehicle buyers, says a briefing note. A U.S. program pays nearly twice as much: ‘We will assess the need for adjustments to the program.’
