An Ottawa lawyer was paid nearly a quarter million dollars for seven months’ work at the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Redacted billings are detailed in Access To Information records from the Privy Council Office: “Can anything be done more efficiently?”
A Montréal think tank yesterday warned of “significant economic consequences” if Parliament repeals a 12¢-a litre carbon tax on gasoline. The Ecofiscal Commission did not disclose its ties to Environment Minister Catherine McKenna’s office, and did not take questions: “It’s lose-lose.”
A federal anti-trust probe of Canada’s second-busiest airport yesterday collapsed after a five-year investigation. The Competition Tribunal ruled there was no evidence the Vancouver Airport Authority breached the Competition Act in its handling of in-flight catering contracts: “What happened? Who did what? How was it done? Why?”
Human rights tribunals cannot police the press, an Ontario adjudicator has ruled. The decision came in the case of a man who complained of discrimination after media published his mug shot: “It is plain and obvious.”
The Department of Public Works in Access To Information records details thousands of pages of construction defects in the costly refit of Parliament Hill, from doors that wouldn’t open to window blinds that didn’t close. Renovations have cost taxpayers $3.04 billion to date with billions more in unknown costs: “I can foresee an outraged Canadian public looking at the total bill for this.”
Environment Minister Catherine McKenna yesterday distributed new campaign signs deleting all mention of “Team Trudeau”, and said Liberals could lose the October 21 election. McKenna’s campaign said the remarks were prompted by late polling: “I do think it is a ploy.”
A non-union contractor blacklisted from municipal works for breach of a Fair Wage Policy has successfully challenged the sanction in Ontario Superior Court. Cabinet proposed similar blacklisting of federal contractors but shelved the idea in July: “A decision that was arrived at unfairly cannot be upheld.”
The Conservative Party yesterday proposed a forty-fold increase in fines on public office holders found in breach of the Conflict Of Interest Act. Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion earlier advocated a similar rewrite of the Act with “serious consequences” for scofflaws: “This would help to build trust with the Canadian public.”
The Department of Public Works says it can find few legitimate incidents of cronyism is federal contracting, just eight cases in two years. Cabinet earlier rejected a Commons committee proposal to grant whistleblower protection to contractors who report wrongdoing: “It’s deny, delay and eventual destruction of the whistleblower, and I’ve lived it.”
Elections Canada last night said nearly five million ballots were cast in advanced polls Thanksgiving weekend, the highest number in Canadian history. Turnout increased but was below percentage gains seen in 2011 and 2015: “This is the way of the future.”
The Privy Council Office considered asking half-a-million federal employees to wear pedometers at work to stay fit, according to an Access To Information memo. The scheme was abandoned following in-house research: ‘It could offer an exciting opportunity.’
The Parliamentary Budget Office yesterday completed its costing of major election platforms. Only one of six parties in the Commons did not propose a penny in new taxes: “It is a reasonable and committed plan.”
Canada’s last federally-owned marine service has survived another Court challenge. The Federal Court of Appeal dismissed petitions by a private sector competitor that complained of unfairly low freight rates charged at taxpayers’ expense: “There was no legal requirement.”
The Liberal Party will not disclose details of a private mid-campaign fundraiser attended by unnamed donors in New York City. The Canadian Consul General in New York, a former Liberal contributor, did not take Blacklock’s questions: ‘It was at a Canadian citizen’s home.’
The CBC in a legal first sued the Conservative Party over use of bootlegged news video because it feared viewers would have “the impression that CBC is biased”, lawyers wrote the Federal Court. Copyrighted video was used without payment or permission in “sensational and one-sided” attack ads, said the Crown corporation: ‘This is particularly damaging to CBC’s reputation as a trusted source.’
