Federal consultants warn of a public outcry if Parks Canada tries to privatize canal bridges and dams to save millions in maintenance costs. The cash-strapped agency commissioned the research after complaining of millions in unfunded repairs: “This would likely be met with significant pushback from the public.”
Industry groups yesterday protested a new Canada Food Guide appears vague and arbitrary in attempting to write select supermarket items out of the national diet. Cream, butter, high-fat cheese and fruit juice are cited by Health Canada as foods to avoid: “We don’t want to lose the juice industry.”
Health Canada in a billion-dollar revision to its benchmark Food Guide is writing fruit juice, whole milk, butter and deli meats out of the nation’s recommended diet. Juice makers have warned of lost sales in the $1.6 billion-a year trade: “Water should be the beverage of choice.”
The Privy Council Office says it approved a $10 million “legacy gift” sought by ex-governor general David Johnston before naming him as Canada’s first federal election Debates Commissioner. The funding went to a foundation that runs a Johnston Fund For Canada and accepts donations from corporate CEOs: ‘The purpose is an enduring legacy of the Rt. Honourable David Johnston.’
Cabinet yesterday ridiculed a New Democrat proposal to remove the GST on new construction of public housing. The Liberal Party in 2015 made an identical proposal in its election platform: “The NDP is going to have a policy on housing? Wow, that’s a first.”
The Bank of Canada will not disclose cost savings from the wind-up of the Canada Savings Bond program. The Bank earlier hired a consultant at $33.5 million to end the century-old sale of mom and pop bonds worth as little as $100 apiece: “We don’t have a dollar amount to provide.”
A federal judge has upheld a six-year grievance by a Canadian Armed Forces member seeking compensation for injuries. The ruling follows a 2018 federal survey that faulted the Department of Veterans Affairs for poor treatment of soldiers, sailors and air crew.
“Unreasonable treatment,” Federal Court Justice Richard Southcott ruled in the case of an army volunteer denied disability payments for a back injury. The Court ordered the Veterans Review & Appeal Board to reconsider the case after dismissing the claim in 2018.
Gary Crummey, 52, of East Bay, N.S. applied for benefits after suffering a fractured spine in a fall from a rope bridge while training as a peacekeeper in Egypt in 2008. Crummey served with the military from 1983.
Crummey submitted X-rays and a doctor’s report that his injuries were related to military service and likely aggravated by marches and battle fitness testing that required carrying heavy packs over long distances. The Board dismissed the claim as “very speculative”, ruling it “does not have to accept all evidence presented by an appellant if it finds the evidence is not credible,” according to Court documents.
“If a person has experienced more than one-service related incident, each of which could be the cause of the injury under consideration such that a physician cannot identify which of these incidents is the precise cause, surely this cannot be a basis to find the physician’s opinion is lacking credibility,” wrote Justice Southcott.
Crummey could not be reached for comment. The Court noted under the Veterans Review & Appeal Board Act, members are to “resolve in favour of the appellant any doubt in the weighing of evidence as to whether the appellant has established a case.”
The Department of Veterans Affairs in a 2018 in-house survey of the general public found only 15 percent of respondents considered the department’s work as adequate. “There is a strong sense that Veterans Affairs Canada should be doing more,” said the survey report Canadians’ Awareness Of Veterans Affairs Canada’s Benefits And Services. The department paid $102,513 to Earnscliffe Strategy Group to conduct the poll.
“Opinion remains divided over how well Veterans Affairs Canada serves the needs of veterans,” wrote Earnscliffe. “However, more Canadians offer low performance ratings than high performance ratings.”
Data showed 28 percent of Canadians believe the department treats veterans poorly; 32 percent questioned if the department is honest with ex-military; and 39 percent were convinced veterans with medical needs were not getting they help they needed.
The research was prompted by complaints from veterans who “find it difficult at times to navigate the programs and services offered by Veterans Affairs Canada,” said Awareness. The department has had five different ministers in the past four years.
By Staff 
House of Commons administration is being honoured as one of the country’s best employers despite paying out-of-court settlements in staff harassment claims that cost more than $100,000 last year. Neither the Commons nor managers of the Canada’s Top Employers award would comment: ‘It’s a rich fabric of professionals working together.’
The Department of Industry has reassured corporations of no “repercussions for our relationship” in concealing terms of taxpayers’ loans from MPs, senators and the public. The apologetic reference is detailed in Access To Information records. The department did not comment: ‘We let big corporations decide.’
Any free trade pact with Beijing is off the table after the arrest and detention of Canadians in the People’s Republic, says Ambassador John McCallum. “It is certainly not an issue that we are considering right now,” McCallum told reporters: “The Chinese government arrests people to use as bargaining chips.”
Ontario’s public broadcaster TVO seeks a federal injunction against public appearances by a parody of its children’s program mascot, Polkaroo. The character Tokaroo carries a marijuana joint and has bloodshot eyes: “Tokaroo is already famous.”
The Commons foreign affairs committee by a 5 to 4 vote yesterday rejected public hearings on the arbitrary detention of Canadians in China. The committee’s Liberal majority opted instead for a closed-door hearing for fear that “inadvertently things come out”, said one MP.
Federal tobacco tax revenues fell by $117 million in the past four years even as Parliament hiked taxes more than 30 percent. New data are detailed in Health Canada tables disclosed yesterday by anti-smoking advocates: “Are people dealing in contraband tobacco? Yes they are.”
Access To Information records detail hundreds of complaints of long lineups for security screening at an airport dubbed the slowest in the country, Saskatoon. Complaints to the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority described service as “horrific”, “outrageous”, “ridiculous” and “embarrassing”.
A taxpayer who went years without filing a return has escaped penalties despite getting a call from the Canada Revenue Agency. The Federal Court ruled auditors failed to do their homework under a so-called Voluntary Disclosure Program: “The decision is best described as sparse.”
