Treasury Board President Shafqat Ali yesterday said he could not publicly detail federal job cuts to spare employees’ feelings. Cabinet has said it will cut a tenth of the payroll: “This is a real issue that impacts those public service employees and not only on them, their families.”
MPs are demanding the Department of Veterans Affairs account for millions in unpaid benefits for Métis veterans of the Second World War. A $30 million fund approved by Parliament paid only a fraction to old soldiers, sailors and air crew: ‘Detail the number of veterans who have received a payment.’
Commons Speaker Francis Scarpaleggia yesterday banned MPs from Question Period enquiries concerning alleged corruption in the provincial Liberal Party in Québec. MPs questioned whether a former federal cabinet minister’s campaign paid $100 for Party votes: “I did not allow the question.”
Federally regulated transport employers must conduct business in French as well as English under threat of $25,000 fines, Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault said yesterday. Penalties will be initially enforced on three corporations and major airports nationwide: “French and English, anywhere, anytime.”
The Federal Court in a landmark judgment has ordered Canadian National Railway to pay a customer more than $24 million in damages including lost profits due to poor service. The order followed 11 years of litigation and four trials stemming from the near-collapse of grain deliveries in the winter of 2014: “There is little precedent to guide this Court about how to assess damages.”
Industry Minister Mélanie Joly, 46, yesterday said she had no interest in any patronage appointment abroad. Joly is one of three veteran Liberal MPs marking their 11th year in cabinet: “Absolutely not.”
Canada’s longest-serving MP yesterday lamented 41 years of red tape but thanked constituents for the memories. “I owe them everything,” said Bloc Québécois MP Louis Plamondon (Bécancour-Nicolet, Que.), 82: “Thanks to the people.”
Industry Minister Mélanie Joly never read a Stellantis contract that awarded the automaker $15 billion in subsidies, her deputy yesterday disclosed. Joly had defended the agreement following the company’s October 14 announcement of 3,000 job cuts: “Who is the boss?”
Cabinet may rely on a “rounding difference” to meet its NATO commitments this winter, the Budget Office said yesterday. Prime Minister Mark Carney had promised to spend the equivalent of two percent of GDP on military preparedness by December 31: “It’s going to be close for this year.”
Conservative MP Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan, Alta.) yesterday accused cabinet of taking steps to pad job creation figures under the Canada Summer Jobs program. Genuis pointed to a federal guide that recommended employers keep postsecondary students on the payroll for as little as eight weeks: “You’re trying to artificially show a high number of jobs created.”
The Department of Housing admits it faked a construction site as backdrop for Prime Minister Mark Carney’s promise of “faster, smarter” home construction. The department billed taxpayers $32,707 to have contractors install a temporary structure for television cameras: “The homes have since been disassembled.”
The Department of Health yesterday commissioned research on the impact of outdoor play on children’s mental well-being. It followed warnings of the long-term effect of pandemic lockdowns and remote learning: ‘It will inform planning for future pandemics.’
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Brookfield Corporation associates own some 2,000 businesses, a company executive yesterday told the Commons ethics committee. MPs said Carney’s personal fortune was so reliant on Brookfield returns that conflicts were obvious: “He knows his fortune is increasing.”
More volunteers are quitting the Canadian Armed Forces due to inadequate housing and health care, says an internal report. It follows a federal audit that concluded the Department of National Defence manufactured its own housing crisis: “Lack of military housing, loss of spousal employment, shortages in primary health care providers and limited daycare spaces can lead to financial and personal hardships.”
Israel’s Ambassador to Canada last night said he was unnerved by rising anti-Semitism here. “Some of the things I’ve witnessed here to me are mind-boggling,” Ambassador Iddo Moed testified at the Senate human rights committee: “When it comes to attacking Jews here, that’s very troubling.”
