Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion yesterday dismissed complaints a senior federal manager intervened to win a promotion for a friend. The Conflict Of Interest Act does not define friendship: “It’s sort of embarrassing.”
The Privy Council Office and Department of Foreign Affairs last night would not comment on claims they undermined a bid for a Geneva appointment by the only Canadian applying for it. “Is it because I am a woman, a racialized woman at that?” asked Senator Salma Ataullahjan (Ont.).
The federal debt will reach an unprecedented $1.45 trillion this year and eclipse $1.6 trillion by 2023, the Parliamentary Budget Office said yesterday. Analysts cautioned the record debt does not include pension liabilities, Crown corporation borrowing or new spending proposed since September 1: “What will the pain for Canadians be after this?”
Canadian banks that benefited from federal aid are not pulling their weight, the Liberal chair of the Commons finance committee said yesterday. MP Wayne Easter (Malpeque, P.E.I.) called for tighter federal scrutiny of mortgage deferrals that saw banks compound interest on borrowers: “Taxpayers have basically backed the big banks.”
The cost of home heating would rise an average sixty percent under new green fuel regulations, says research by an advocacy group. Cabinet has said it will detail its Clean Fuel Standard within weeks: “This is bad policy.”
The Commons yesterday voted 168-148 to censure former Liberal MP Joe Peschisolido for breach of its ethics code. The code carries no formal penalty. Peschisolido was ordered to apologize in writing: “No one is perfect.”
Cabinet yesterday introduced a Commons bill to designate a new federal legal holiday. An identical New Democrat bill lapsed in the last Parliament: “Statutory holidays are not free.”
Cabinet last night narrowly averted a snap vote of the House affairs committee mandating more disclosure of We Charity documents. One Liberal MP accused opposition parties of conspiring to “dig up some dirt”: “You’re going after what you see as some scandal that’s going to make things incredibly bad for the government. I get it.”
More than four in ten employers hiring migrant workers fail surprise inspections, says the labour department. The finding follows a 2017 audit that faulted the department for failing to conduct spot inspections under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program: “Most enforcement activities consisted of reviewing documents.”
Hard times have hit MPs’ free lunches. The House affairs committee yesterday adopted a proposal from Bloc Québécois MP Alain Therrien (La Prairie, Que.) to suspend all expense-paid meal trays at hearings. Therrien called it unseemly when millions are unemployed: “We are lucky to have a job, very lucky.”
Disabled veterans typically wait years for benefits the government claims to process in sixteen weeks, new data confirm. Figures follow an admission by Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay that “we’re behind the eight ball”.
Canadian high schoolers are more likely to try cannabis than smoke cigarettes, says a Public Health Agency study. New data follow health department research that concluded Parliament’s 2018 legalization of marijuana for adults normalized its use among minors: “It seems less harmful.”
Anyone who quits work to claim new pandemic relief cheques will be disqualified from the $2,000-a month Canada Recovery Benefit, says the Department of Employment. Auditors will also hunt for scofflaws who refuse work: “We believe this is sending a pretty strong message.”
Cabinet will pay $1,000 sick leave to any worker regardless of whether they have Covid-19. Terms of a Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit were broadened following negotiations with New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh. Workplace absenteeism rates could triple this winter, according to a federal forecast: “Do I go to work sick?”
Cabinet within weeks will introduce amendments to the Broadcasting Act, the first since 1991. Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault would not say if he will press ahead with unprecedented regulation of internet news media as broadcasters: “Do we try and change everything under the sun?”
