The Department of Industry sped approval of $31.9 million in subsidies and tax credits to a start-up tech firm to “create good middle-class jobs” only weeks before the company laid off employees, Access To Information records show. The deputy minister claimed to take rigorous steps to ensure taxpayers’ money was safe: ‘This will build upon the failures of previous attempts.’
Liberal MPs yesterday met in their first caucus since the Party lost twenty-seven Commons seats and a million votes in the October 21 general election. “Some of our colleagues are not here anymore,” said Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez. “We have to understand why.”
The Senate budget committee yesterday endorsed nearly half-a-million in funding for a new pro-energy industry caucus on predictions the chamber will see more “splintering” of members. There are now four separate caucuses in the Senate: “It’s very early still.”
A Crown bank yesterday said it settled out of court with a client over a US$41 million offshore loan it called a mistake. Terms were not disclosed by Export Development Canada: “We’re not perfect.”
The national archives in an inspection report was found to store historic records in freezers, on loading docks and haphazardly stacked in boxes after it ran out of filing cabinets. Other pieces of Canadiana were damaged by water leaks. The agency has a $127.4 million annual budget: “This is inadequate.”
Conservative leader Andrew Scheer last evening averted a secret leadership vote at a rare seven-hour caucus session on Parliament Hill. The Opposition Leader faces a wider leadership vote by Party members in five months: “We are not destroyed.”
Steep overdraft charges on chequing accounts are prohibited by federal law, the British Columbia Supreme Court has ruled. Ten B.C. credit unions argued the charges, up to $25, were mere service fees intended to recover costs: ‘I would not characterize this as an innocent mistake.’
The Federal Court of Appeal has dismissed a claim that cuts to prison pay breached the Charter Of Rights. The previous Conservative cabinet in 2013 cut prisoners’ wages thirty percent and imposed a 42¢ charge for telephone privileges: “Although not luxurious, the offenders’ needs are met adequately.”
The Privy Council Office feared United We Roll protesters contemplated storming Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office, according to internal emails. Access To Information records detail extraordinary security measures taken under the Emergency Management Act regarding the February 19 protest: “All rooftops, scaffolding, crane and above-ground access is NOT permitted.”
A federal judge has ruled a $100 million class action lawsuit over delayed payment of veterans’ pensions may proceed to trial. Government lawyers had tried to block the litigation: “I am satisfied there exists a reasonable cause of action.”
A British Columbia labour arbitrator has suspended drug testing of a commuter rail employee who lied about marijuana use. “This case raises sensitive and complex issues related to the tension between employee privacy and public safety,” the arbitrator wrote.
The Competition Bureau assigned a single employee to sorting through thousands of consumer complaints received every year, auditors found. The federal anti-trust agency has 360 staff and a $50 million annual budget: “There are no defined criteria for prioritizing complaints.”
Eleven Conservative and Liberal Senate appointees yesterday formed a new independent, bipartisan caucus on a pledge to counter “sales pitch” legislation, said interim leader Senator Scott Tannas (Alta.). “They will know where we stand,” Tannas said in an interview.
The Bank of Canada in a research paper concludes futuristic forecasts of a cashless society are overblown even if banks phase out human tellers. Data show most Canadians still use bills and coins for transactions under $25: “Will teller-less bank branches encourage a cashless society in Canada?”
MP Elizabeth May yesterday resigned as national Green leader with criticism of media over the Party’s failure to win more than three seats in the Commons. “The media of this country have failed abysmally in understanding climate science well enough to talk about it,” May told reporters. “Sorry.”
