Access To Information records show the transport department arranged a “healing circle” for employees after some questioned whether 215 children were buried at an Indian Residential School in Kamloops, B.C. Comments were “uninformed, wrong and hurtful,” the deputy minister wrote in a staff memo: “I had people come to see me in tears.”
The Supreme Court in a 9-0 decision yesterday reopened an ethics probe into then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s dealings with a federal contractor, We Charity. Judges struck a federal law shielding the federal Ethics Commissioner from a legal challenge of his handling of the case: “You don’t let the Prime Minister off with a ruling that is legally incorrect.”
All federal employees are required to sign a yearly pledge that they are not involved in any conflicts of interest, says a Treasury Board memo. Board president Shafqat Ali earlier told MPs he expected everyone to obey the rules: “Results will be communicated in due course.”
Cabinet’s plan to spend $90 billion on regional high speed rail is opposed even by Canadians able to take the train, says in-house Privy Council research. Federal focus groups in Eastern Ontario and Québec called the venture costly and unnecessary: ‘There were more urgent priorities.’
Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin’s department has cut spending limits on government-issue credit cards by a third as a precaution against fraud, says an internal audit. The initiative follows longstanding complaints of irregularities involving credit card misuse government-wide: “Their use carries a degree of inherent risks such as errors, misuse or fraud.”
Liberal MPs yesterday by a 5 to 4 vote blocked Commons committee hearings into secretly negotiated toll concessions on the Gordie Howe International Bridge at Windsor, Ont. One MP expressed resentment that Canadians would think the Prime Minister lied to taxpayers over terms: “I am a little offended by the insinuations.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday said he decided months ago to repeal production fees on Netflix and other video streaming services though he voted for them in the Commons. Carney denied changing his mind under U.S. pressure: “No, not at all.”
Clearing tent cities violates the Charter Of Rights, argues the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. The group in a submission to MPs recommended that Parliament “recognize residents of unhoused encampments as rights holders.”
Retirees, especially women in British Columbia and Québec, are most concerned about plastic pollution, says in-house demographic research by the Department of Environment. The findings followed psychosocial Statistics Canada data showing urban women over 65 were most upset by climate change: “Women are much more likely than men to feel plastic waste and pollution is an issue.”
Newly-declassified 2001 records show then-Prime Minister Jean Chretien cautioned his cabinet against becoming “actively involved” with floor-crossers. Eight Conservative MPs defected to the Liberal Party in a five-year period: “It was agreed that cabinet ministers should not become actively involved in such activities.”
Newly-declassified records show the federal cabinet months before 9/11 was told Canadian charities were being used for terrorist financing. “Most of the world’s terrorist organizations had supporters in Canada,” read minutes of one confidential meeting: “One Minister commented on the need to closely examine the use of charities.”
Federal forecasters propose to change the way they talk about the weather, says a report. The Meteorological Service of Canada said it will simplify its current list of dozens of hazards, warnings and alerts: “Canada currently issues alerts for around 28 types of hazards.”
A news website Press Progress in business since 2013 faces a “dire financial situation” over a defamation lawsuit, says a staffer. Press Progress is a key defendant in a $7.65 million libel claim that has seen numerous co-defendants settle for six figures: “The consequence is more accurately due to budget pressures.”
Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty’s department in a briefing note says it respects Indigenous “rights and title” to ancestral lands but remains in court over First Nation claims to Parliament Hill. Eastern Ontario Algonquin seek $5 billion in damages: “The intention of the litigation is not to dislodge private landowners.”
Security expenses for the FIFA Men’s World Cup cost taxpayers a quarter billion, records show. “We made history,” Liberal MP Adam van Koeverden (Burlington North-Milton West, Ont.), Secretary of State for Sport, earlier told reporters.
