Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem is to testify before MPs after missing another inflation target. Macklem only a week ago predicted a rise in the cost of living would average under six percent. It is now running near seven: ‘What is the Bank going to do to close that credibility gap?’
Foreign labour may cost Canadians jobs and wages in specific trades, the Department of Employment said yesterday. The impact of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program “may be significant” in some markets, said a department report: “Wage suppression might be occurring.”
Longstanding poultry and dairy quotas are to blame in part for spiralling food costs, a candidate for the Conservative Party’s September 10 leadership vote said yesterday. MP Scott Aitchison (Parry Sound-Muskoka, Ont.) called the quotas a “price fixing system” that must be repealed: “What’s the end result? Your food costs more, much more.”
A Liberal donor, Edmonton lawyer Bob Aloneissi, yesterday was named a Court of Queen’s Bench judge. The Department of Justice praised Aloneissi’s “humble roots” without mentioning his contributions to the Party: “His experience of working at his family’s inner city grocery store allowed him to appreciate many different cultures.”
Canada’s second largest airline faces a multi-million dollar lawsuit on allegations it tolerated “frat boy” harassment of women flight attendants by male coworkers. Lawyers for WestJet Airlines Ltd. had for years fought certification of the class action suit: “This litigation has been reasonably hard fought.”
Canada Post earned only “marginal” profits on a cash transfer service introduced two years ago, according to a management report to MPs. The post office has proposed expanding financial services to raise revenue: “We must innovate to find solutions.”
Piecemeal payouts for compensation from the Phoenix Pay System failure continue to cost taxpayers millions. The Treasury Board detailed ongoing damages paid to former federal employees whose paycheques were garbled by computer software: “We have been dealing with the Phoenix system for six years.”
A federal program hailed by Housing Minister Ahmed Hussen as a great success in fact had “areas for improvement,” according to a CMHC report. The $200 million plan to renovate derelict federal buildings into affordable housing fell short of target in its first two years: “This seems to be a bit of a drop in the bucket.”
The Department of Transport commissioned research on whether millions in climate rebates merely reward affluent drivers, records show. The department to date has not released its findings: “Essentially what we’re doing is subsidizing a vehicle that a wealthy person is going to buy.”
Land titles must be signed the old fashioned way by pen and ink, a Saskatchewan judge has ruled. The Court of Queen’s Bench dismissed a challenge by a lawyer who sought to file papers with electronic signatures: “Arguments about the use of electronic signatures raise intriguing possibilities.”
Ottawa’s mayor spoke privately with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau before attempting to block cash donations to the Freedom Convoy, records show. Cabinet aides were “in regular contact” with city officials in the same period Mayor Jim Watson falsely accused protesters of arson: ‘It clearly demonstrates the malicious intent of these protesters.’
Liberal appointee Senator Yuen Pau Woo (B.C.) says he has been physically threatened over his sympathetic views on China. Woo said there was “more than a whiff of McCarthyism in the air” on Chinese issues: ‘I have protections that shield me from the worst abuses including threats of physical harm.’
The Department of Natural Resources will pay lobbyists and corporations including suburban developers to plant two billion trees under a “human wellbeing” program announced three years ago. Forestry companies that already plant more than a half billion trees annually are exempt from the subsidy: “If you harvest a tree you’re legally obligated to plant one.”
One of the country’s largest meatpackers may fire unvaccinated employees even though Covid-19 restrictions are easing, a labour arbitrator has ruled. The decision came in the case of a Maple Leaf Foods Inc. plant where employees protested mandatory shots: “It is very difficult to predict when it is safe and when it is not safe.”
The Department of Immigration yesterday said foreigners who pass all requirements should take their oath of citizenship within 120 days. The department counted a backlog of 60,000 people who paid all fees and passed tests but were forced to wait to swear allegiance to Canada, a legal requirement: “We will make this happen.”
