The Canadian Human Rights Commission will formally intervene in a complaint over curbs to paid Covid furloughs for federal employees, the largest public service union said yesterday. Cabinet last November 9 restricted payments to employees who were neither sick nor working from home after costs reached $1.1 billion: “It is largely being used only when necessary.”
The federal per capita debt jumped by a third last year to the highest rate in the nation’s history, says Statistics Canada. Each Canadians’ share of the net federal debt is expected to pass $23,000 this year: “There will be a day of reckoning.”
Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault’s bill to regulate YouTube is stalled under Opposition filibuster as one Liberal MP acknowledged “not all Liberals are the same” on the legislation. The current bill would subject YouTube videos uploaded for private viewing to the same Codes Of Conduct as TV and radio shows: “Content individuals post on social media should not be regulated.”
A bill banning organ transplant tourism has passed the Senate. The bill’s sponsor called it the “culmination of over twelve years of parliamentary work” to outlaw organ trafficking: “It is a violation of the principles of equity, justice and respect for human dignity.”
Federal returning officers say they will accept mailed ballots a day after polls close in an expected 2021 election, the Commons was told. Opposition MPs oppose terms of a cabinet bill that would permit the practice in a pandemic vote: “We do not want to do anything to open the door to even perceived influence in our elections.”
The Senate has passed a bill to appoint a part-time, $20,000-a year parliamentary artist laureate. “Some people don’t have much use for art,” complained one senator: “Many see it as mere decoration or curiosity. Worse, some see it as an escape from reality.”
Broadcast Hall of Famer Senator Pamela Wallin (Sask.) yesterday said cabinet must seek wide public input on its bill to regulate YouTube. Proposed federal controls on the internet were so far-reaching they “morphed into the possibility of censoring online content,” said Wallin: “Even musing about any such censorship is anti-democratic.”
Canadians are skeptical of cabinet’s climate change program and fear higher costs for fuel, food and utilities, says in-house research by the Department of Natural Resources. Asked, “What would you say is the single biggest issue Canada faces when it comes to our natural resources?” the most popular response was: “Making sure we have enough.”
A senior Liberal MP yesterday was cited for breach of the Canada Elections Act in the 2019 campaign. “Honest to God it was a silly mistake,” said MP Kevin Lamoureux (Winnipeg North), parliamentary secretary to the Government House Leader: “It was just an honest mistake.”
Rogers Bank yesterday was cited for breach of Negative Option Billing Regulations after sending tens of thousands of credit cards to Canadians who never asked for them. The online Bank is a division of the former Rogers Cablesystems Ltd. that sparked a 1994 outcry on Parliament Hill with a similar practice targeting TV subscribers: “Many of us remember the consumer revolt.”
The Department of Transport yesterday said it is still working on regulatory reforms from the 2013 Lac-Mégantic train wreck that killed scores of people. Members of the Commons transport committee expressed astonishment at delays: “If a house caught on fire would you put it out a month from now after consultation?”
The Supreme Court yesterday dismissed an appeal by a restaurant owner who accused revenue agents of a malicious audit. Parliament five years ago rejected a motion to “establish an enforceable duty of care” at the Canada Revenue Agency: “It is important that tax authorities be held accountable.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau yesterday dismissed criticism of first-ever federal internet regulation as the work of conspiracy theorists. “Tinfoil hats,” he said.
Access To Information records show Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s office was unaware of millions in pandemic loans paid to businesses that never qualified in the first place. Staff in internal emails expressed puzzlement over payment of interest-free loans in breach of the rules: “Can I get concrete examples?”
Schoolchildren as young as 12 are using cannabis with frequent users of high school age now vaping daily, says Department of Health research. Data follow warnings that Parliament normalized cannabis use when it legalized it in 2018: “Many youth and young adults report they usually vape cannabis with friends or at parties.”
