A police blacklist of bank account holders named as Freedom Convoy sympathizers was emailed to lobbyists, records disclose. The RCMP distributed names, birth dates, phone numbers and other personal information by unencrypted email, contradicting public claims by cabinet: “Haphazard would be an understatement.”
Nearly $3 billion in pandemic relief was paid to undeserving claimants, records show. Less than a billion has been recovered to date, cabinet disclosed in an Inquiry Of Ministry tabled in the Commons: “The intended total recovery amount cannot be predicted with accuracy.”
The passport office took more than two years to restore in-person staffing levels despite warnings of increased demand for travel documents. Newly-disclosed records also confirmed as late as this past summer more than a tenth of staff continued to work from home: “We are doing everything we can.”
Criminal law should not punish misguided drug dealers who just want to “put bread on the table,” Attorney General David Lametti said yesterday. Lametti made the comment in defending a cabinet bill to repeal mandatory minimum sentences for cocaine traffickers: “Did you talk to victims’ groups?”
French is a fifth or sixth language in provinces west of Québec, says new Census data. Figures show in the largest English-speaking cities francophones are outnumbered by residents who speak Russian or Hindi: “We know French is on the decline across Canada.”
Inflation and interest rates will remain above pre-pandemic rates for about two years, a deputy governor of the Bank of Canada said yesterday. Paul Beaudry told University of Waterloo students it was “too early” to say if interest rate hikes will choke the economy into recession: “You get worried.”
Fighting inflation is “so important,” Government House Leader Mark Holland said yesterday. His remarks followed new figures showing grocery prices year over year are up nine percent for vegetables and 15 percent for bread: “Action against inflation, it’s so important.”
Pandemic restrictions on the size of outdoor gatherings were justified, Saskatchewan Court of King’s Bench ruled yesterday. The decision came in the case of protesters fined $2,800 apiece for breaching a public health order limiting outdoor gatherings to ten people: “We can all see things which we would wish had been done differently or not at all.”
Electricity ratepayers or taxpayers or both must pay for greening of the power grid, a utilities’ lobbyist yesterday testified at the Commons environment committee. “There is no third pocket,” MPs were told: “It’s the ratepayer, the taxpayer, who’s paying for it. It’s not clear where all of these costs are ultimately going to fall.”
A free children’s dental care program for uninsured households earning less than $70,000 will cost almost a billion a year, cabinet said yesterday. Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said grants will be paid on the honour system subject to audit: “It is not a national dental program.”
Cabinet commissioned confidential research on federal rent controls, records show. In-house polling by the Privy Council Office found most Canadians said Parliament must do something on housing affordability: “No participants were of the opinion that housing and rental prices should be solely left up to the free market.”
Aides to Governor General Mary Simon face questioning on their return from the Queen’s funeral. The Commons government operations committee on Thursday will cross-examine witnesses over exorbitant catering bills at Rideau Hall: “The question is who’s responsible for this?”
The typical small business operator trusts the private sector over government while 25 percent prize “individualism” and “work ethic,” according to behavioural research by the Canada Revenue Agency. Management divided business owners into six personality profiles in a bid to boost tax compliance: “Tax administrations around the world have started using behavioural insights.”
Say “Canada” and people in Vietnam think of maple trees and cold weather, says federal research. Questionnaires by the Department of Agriculture follow a series of studies on what foreigners think of Canadians: “When you think of Canada what is the first thing that comes to mind?”
A privacy investigation has ended without conclusion in the case of a Covid patient whose medical history was leaked to a Prince Edward Island blogger. The case is currently before the Island’s Supreme Court: “A privacy breach cannot be undone.”
