Federal privacy investigators were refused access to a program that tracked millions of cellphone users in the name of lockdown compliance. “We offered our expertise,” Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien said yesterday. “It was declined. It is what it is.”
The Department of Environment complains tens of thousands of tonnes of pandemic masks have been thrown away as litter or landfill. Covid underscored the use of disposable plastics in everyday life, it said: “An unprecedented amount of single use personal protective equipment is being used in Canada to prevent transmission of Covid.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau must explain terms of his pledge to cap oil and gas emissions, the Commons natural resources committee was told yesterday. Trudeau made the announcement without explanation at a United Nations conference: “What is the value of additional legislation that creates even more uncertainty?”
Cabinet should revoke scheduled carbon tax hikes and consider energy rebates for home heating, the Commons finance committee was told yesterday. The carbon tax will increase to the equivalent of 12¢ per litre of gasoline effective April 1: “It is well beyond what would otherwise be an inflationary factor.”
Elections Canada delayed shipping mail-in ballot kits to 123,000 voters until less than a week before election day, records show. Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault had boasted his agency was fully prepared to conduct a pandemic election: “Being ready to administer an election is at the core of Election Canada’s mandate.”
Sixth and seventh waves of pandemic infection will occur and “some will actually be quite severe,” says the Public Health Agency. Full vaccination with two Covid shots is insufficient, doctors said: “All policies need to be re-examined over time. This is one of them.”
The nation’s largest daily, the federally-subsidized Toronto Star, seeks millions more in taxpayers’ aid. The publisher petitioned MPs for new concessions including a $5,000 tax credit to train employees in how to use the internet: “The industry needs time.”
Uyghur Muslims have filed a Federal Court challenge of cabinet’s refusal to censure China for genocide. The Court claim was filed as cabinet celebrated Canadian athletes at the Beijing Winter Games: “Cheer on our athletes. Go Canada go!”
Taxpayers have now spent $10 million on a decrepit heritage building that has sat empty for 23 years. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2017 announced with fanfare the Ottawa landmark would become an Indigenous Peoples’ Space: “We have a lot of hard work ahead.”
In the year 2056,
Chapters will announce
a major expansion
to its gift section,
boosting the display of
decorative pillows, scented candles, and
specialty teas.
Books may still be found
on the remaining shelf
near the emergency exit.
Gillette will introduce its new
– and revolutionary –
17-blade razor,
in stores
just in time for Father’s Day.
You wouldn’t believe
the smooth, close shave it delivers.
Nothing like its predecessor, the
16-blade model.
And in the House of Commons,
the Minister of Public Services and Procurement
will announce
that the remaining 6,000 pay issues
will be resolved
by Christmas.
(Editor’s note: poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, writes for Blacklock’s each and every Sunday)
The Freedom Convoy blockade at Parliament yesterday completed its sixth day amid MPs’ claims lawless truckers were attacking passersby on the streets of Ottawa. Preliminary data show police-reported street crime actually fell since the blockade began: “There have been no riots, injuries or deaths.”
The CBC yesterday clarified its claim the Kremlin was behind a Freedom Convoy truckers’ protest at Parliament Hill. The assertion was not factual, the Crown broadcaster said: “There is concern that Russian actors could be continuing to fuel things as this protest grows, or perhaps even instigating it.”
Cabinet yesterday acknowledged widespread opposition to its proposal to censor legal but hurtful internet content. “This is a very important and complex issue,” Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez said in a statement: “I will have more to say on online news and online safety in the coming days and weeks.”
Suspending MPs caught in ethical violations would be effective, Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion said yesterday. Currently the only consequence for breach of the Conflict Of Interest Code For MPs is a public apology: “It never went any greater than that.”
Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos yesterday said protection of privacy was an “absolute priority” in a federal data scoop on cellphone users. Members of the Commons ethics committee said cabinet merely outsourced privacy issues to telecom providers: “The average cellphone user, unless they are informed, basically wouldn’t know.”
