Blacklock's Reporter

Federal departments and agencies since 2017 have fired three employees as foreign agents, records show. Their identities and the governments they were spying for were not disclosed: ‘It typically follows receipt of new information from the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service.’

The Department of Industry confirms it did approve secret subsidies to Volkswagen to build a battery plant in Ontario. Managers under questioning by Conservative MP Brad Vis (Mission-Matsqui, B.C.) promised to divulge the figure to the Commons industry committee: “The number of $15 billion was being thrown around.”

The Parliamentary Budget Office yesterday confirmed the carbon tax represents a “net loss” for most Canadians even after federal rebates. The report is the second to contradict cabinet claims that taxpayers receive more in rebates called Climate Action Incentive payments than they pay in tax: “Claims that Canadians get more back in rebates for the failed carbon tax have been proven false.”

Federal employees working from home should expect electronic monitoring, the Senate internal economy committee was told yesterday. “Hours of work, all those kinds of things, will be on the table,” said Senator Scott Tannas (Alta.): “The employee needs to understand down the road there may be very sophisticated productivity analytics they may be subject to.”

MPs yesterday recommended cabinet resume official visits to Taiwan for the first time in 25 years. A Commons committee report praised Taiwan as “innovative,” “progressive” and “a vibrant democracy.”

Cabinet is refusing to say how much it lost on a failed $200 million venture to build a vaccine factory in Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos’ Québec City riding. A factory executive earlier told MPs the company “spent all those monies” it received: “Wow. That’s great.”

Drafting a federal ban on replacement workers has been “messy” but will result in a bill to be introduced this fall, Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan said yesterday. The bill is a condition of New Democrat support for cabinet in the minority 44th Parliament: “This is one of the most monumental changes to collective bargaining in Canadian labour history.”

The Privy Council yesterday in breach of federal law imposed an arbitrary 38-year seal on confidential files dating from the Mulroney era. No reason was given. “It’s easier to hide,” Information Commissioner Caroline Maynard earlier told MPs.

The Commons yesterday by a vote of 176 to 145 passed a private bill exempting most farm operations from carbon tax charges. The tax cost farmers $122 million last year, according to the Department of Finance: “The carbon tax is punitive.”

The labour department after years of review will ban the hiring of children for dangerous work in the federally-regulated private sector. Injuries involving child labour in Canada are rare but not unprecedented: “It is vital and it’s more than symbolic.”

Federal debt servicing charges this year are up 80 percent from pre-pandemic levels in 2020, budget documents show. “We are investing,” Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland told the Commons.

Upkeep of the Prime Minister’s 16-room lakeside residence is costing taxpayers almost $20,000 a month, records show. Expenses disclosed by cabinet carry vague budget line items like “snow and ice control” and “pest removal.”

Cabinet proposes to assume regulation of payday loans with a cap on borrowing rates. Parliament in 2007 transferred regulation to provinces where interest charged on two-week loans runs from 200 to 500 percent: “Many lower and modest-income Canadians rely on high interest, short term loans to make ends meet.”

Air passengers face millions in new security fees under cabinet’s 2023 budget. The mandatory Air Travelers Security Charge will increase by a third: “This is a tax on the flying public.”