Blacklock's Reporter

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s brother has been summoned to testify Wednesday at the Commons ethics committee over his role at the Trudeau Foundation. Alexandre Trudeau was a senior director when the Foundation falsified reports to conceal Chinese donations, says a former CEO. The Income Tax Act requires that all charities truthfully account for donations under threat of 125 percent penalties and loss of charitable status: “A Chinese Association was communicating with employees of the Foundation. They were giving clear direction on what needed to appear on receipts.”

Today marks the last tax deadline that sees the Canada Revenue Agency accept cheques for all payments under a practice dating back 106 years. The Agency said it will detail new rules on electronic transfers for large payments to take effect in 2024: ‘We will communicate details in due course.’

Uncollected customs duties still run to millions despite a 2017 report that recommended an immediate crackdown on tax evasion, says an internal Canada Border Services Agency audit. Inspectors complained of “significant non-compliance” by importers dodging tariffs: “Challenges were encountered.”

Cabinet was warned Canadians were upset with ineffective gun laws just seven weeks before it abandoned plans to restrict hunting rifles. Internal Privy Council polling showed Canadians complained gun crimes went unresolved while cabinet chased pointless legislation: ‘Their impression is crimes involving firearms had largely continued unabated.’

A third of Canadians with high skill jobs have a Grade 12 certificate or are high school dropouts, says federal research. Conversely more than a third of low skill jobs are held by Canadians with a postsecondary education: “The correlation between educational attainment and holding a lower or higher skilled job was not as high as one might expect.”

The Senate last evening by a 52 to 16 vote passed into law first-ever federal regulations of legal internet content in Canada. “I am excited,” Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez told reporters.

Bank scares in the U.S. and Switzerland have prompted cabinet to grant itself unusual powers to stem any financial panic in Canada. “Why is it that government feels those authorities should be granted?” New Democrat MP Daniel Blaikie (Elmwood-Transcona, Man.) yesterday asked the Commons finance committee: “There are some extraordinary powers.”

The CBC is a “pillar of democracy,” Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said yesterday. The network in the past year published 36 corrections: “We have seen some very troubling trends around the attack on the role that media play including the CBC.”

Most Canadians named in the offshore Panama Papers scandal had actually paid their taxes, says the Canada Revenue Agency. Auditors said only two criminal investigations are ongoing following the disclosures seven years ago: “Just because a Canadian individual or company has their name in a leak, it doesn’t necessarily mean they have not met their tax obligations.”

Cabinet in last minute revision to a language bill would mandate “equality of status and use of English and French in Canadian society.” The clause amends a bill that for the first time extends bilingual requirements to the private sector: “We want a modern ambitious law with teeth, a law that will protect and promote French across Canada.”

CBC President Catherine Tait in a private letter dismissed a Conservative Party proposal to cut the network budget as a partisan fundraising ploy. Cutting the CBC’s $1.3 billion annual parliamentary grant would have “implications to this country,” wrote Tait. The CBC disclosed the letter through Access To Information: “Your party continues to run email blasts.”

Canadians are uneasy with letting cabinet decide what qualifies as fake news, says in-house research. Internet users in federal focus groups said they were confident they could spot misinformation online without the government’s help: “Many participants expressed reservations about the Government of Canada telling Canadians what is true or false.”

A federal media bailout has not stemmed the continuous decline of news corporations, says the Department of Canadian Heritage. The department four years ago justified a $595 million bailout as a remedy for an industry “in crisis.”

Cabinet yesterday described 155,000 striking federal employees as unreasonable but stopped short of issuing a final offer to the Public Service Alliance of Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said cabinet was “there to respect collective bargaining” though it used back-to-work legislation twice before: “I don’t have infinite patience.”