Information Commissioner Caroline Maynard is citing the RCMP for improperly concealing records from the public. Maynard has proposed to launch 2019 audits of federal agencies that misuse the Access To Information Act to hide files: “The RCMP initially refused.”
An Alberta Court has dismissed a discrimination claim on the basis of a Newfoundland accent. More Newfoundlanders and Labradorians move to Alberta than any other province, according to Statistics Canada: ‘She believes she speaks with a Newfoundland accent, although I did not detect one.’
Federal managers are drafting a questionnaire to gauge employees’ self-esteem and “positive outlook”. A 2018 Treasury Board report found 4 in 10 government staff rated their workplace psychologically distressing: “By distress, we mean having difficulty dealing with stress.”
The Department of Social Development in an internal audit admits a severe backlog in processing benefits claims by the poorest seniors. New funding should reduce seven-month wait times by 2020, wrote staff: “A service standard is a public commitment.”
A Globe & Mail columnist in a submission to the House heritage committee acknowledges third-party dealings with federal agencies, software investors and unnamed organizations, but denied any conflict of interest. The newspaper’s Editorial Code Of Conduct restricts columnists from “outside involvement with a group or association being covered”. Globe management did not comment.
“I have never advised the Department of Justice on copyright litigation,” columnist Michael Geist wrote MPs. “I have advised them on issues that may have created a solicitor-client relationship.” The committee released Geist’s written statement January 3.
Geist is a $209,000-a year professor at the University of Ottawa and frequent Globe contributor writing on legal and IT issues. The columns identify Geist only as Canada Research Chair in internet and e-commerce law at the University.
In his submission to the committee, Geist said he accepted Google Corp. sponsorship for a book launch, acts as a legal advisor to groups he did not identify, and arranged a private meeting with Department of Industry regulators on behalf of a private software company.
Access To Information files show Geist also had personal email correspondence with Industry Canada managers – he signed emails “MG” – and was offered grant money to pay visiting speakers to meet with federal staff.
The Globe did not respond to questions. The newspaper’s 22-page Code Of Conduct states columnists should tell readers of third-party dealings even with charities “in columns touching on the interests of the organization”.
“At a minimum, writers must inform their editors and seek guidance when they have significant personal interests in matters they may have occasion to write about,” the Code states: “As a general rule, reporters and columnists should avoid taking part in coverage of matters in which they have or may be perceived to have significant personal interest.”
“In this context, personal interest means a financial stake in a manner being covered, a close friendship, romantic attachment or near-family relationship to someone whose career or other interests may be affected, or any other arrangement that could lead to less than even-handed treatment,” the Code continues.
“No Lobbying”
Geist did not detail his solicitor-client dealings with the Department of Justice. “I am an independent academic,” he wrote MPs.
“I have provided some non-advocacy related legal advice to some organizations on copyright-related matters,” said Geist. He provided no details.
Geist said he did not take any direct payments from Google Corp., adding: “Google sponsored a book launch that I held in 2013”; “The sponsorship covered the cost of a reception,” he said. The cost of the October 4, 2013 publicity event for The Copyright Pentalogy was not disclosed.
Newly-released department records show Industry Canada in 2013 offered Geist $5,000 to pay expenses for visiting speakers to meet with department staff. “We’re planning to run the delayed copyright event this fall,” Geist wrote the department. “It is currently scheduled for October 4. There are a number of speakers coming from out of town that could use financial support via the travel letters that we discussed.”
The department said it didn’t considered the funding request extraordinary. “The department sometimes supports the sharing of knowledge produced by academics,” wrote staff.
Geist also arranged a meeting with Industry Canada regulators on behalf of SurfEasy Inc., a Toronto software firm. The company appointed Geist to its advisory board on June 19, 2013. “There was no lobbying and no compensation for the email,” Geist wrote MPs.
On October 15, 2013 Geist emailed now-Assistant Deputy Industry Minister Paul Halucha: “Hope you are well. I sit on the advisory board of (SurfEasy)…The company has some questions about the potential applicability of the notice-and-notice provisions to its operations. It was hoping for a chance to discuss those with you…Best, MG.”
The meeting was scheduled a week later. Halucha did not comment. The department said it could not find details of the SurfEasy meeting.
“As a general rule, in fulfilling the department’s mandate and serving Canadians, department officials regularly meet with stakeholders including private companies, and sometimes on short notice when a department official is available,” said Bernard Beckhoff, spokesperson for Industry Canada. “Free and open access to government is a matter of public interest. Lobbying is a legitimate activity that must be done transparently.”
By Staff 
Cabinet was aware marijuana inventories from licensed growers were just one quarter the anticipated national demand when it legalized recreational cannabis, data show. The Department of Justice in a confidential 2017 memo feared drug dealers would meet demand for years to come: “It will take time for the new, legal cannabis industry to grow full scale.”
Most Canadians have never heard of cabinet’s signature environmental protection program though it was launched three years ago, says Transport Canada research. Even people living in coastal areas told pollsters they were unaware of the Oceans Protection Plan: ‘Relatively few Canadians have heard of it.’
Secret Cold War files newly released by the national archives indicate Canada required hours to notify local authorities of any Soviet missile attack. Officials blamed the phone companies: “Personnel were frequently late in receiving such information as ‘take cover’.”
First meeting
of Canada’s National Security and Intelligence
Committee.
“Time for a health break,”
declares the chairperson.
“Coffee and tea are in the lobby.
The washrooms are down the hallway.”
“When texting,
avoid details
of our discussions.”
“For sexting,
or nude selfies,
use my office on the 2nd floor.”
“Uh, Tony, come see
what I found on Instagram.”
(Editor’s note: poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, examines current events in the Blacklock’s tradition each and every Sunday)
The Department of Finance says it’s unaware of a single Canadian company to land work as a result of a half-billion dollars in federal spending with a Chinese investment bank. Cabinet approved the spending in 2017 on a promise of “thousands upon thousands of Canadian jobs”.
Tax Court has detailed a case in which a taxpayer mailed, faxed and phoned the Canada Revenue Agency six separate times, only to miss a 90-day deadline for filing an appeal. It was a “distressing result”, said a federal judge: ‘He sent documents only to have them returned.’
The Department of Fisheries has quietly killed a staff proposal to have a private consultant teach employees how to write memos, according to Access To Information records. The department yesterday did not comment on the sole-sourced contract: ‘Could other suppliers have been invited?’
A labour board has overturned the firing of a federal employee diagnosed with mental illness. Management complained it “did everything it could” to accommodate a Parole Board analyst who drove co-workers to tears: “He was suffering.”
Canadians will lie about voting, says in-house research by Elections Canada. Interviews with residents in one 2018 byelection riding saw more people claim to vote than actually did: “This is not at all uncommon.”
Homeowners will require some 300 years’ worth of energy savings to recover the upfront cost of proposed climate change amendments to the National Building Code, according to an Environment Canada report. Costs are estimated at $30,000 per household with savings averaging $114 a year: “I don’t have a lot of detail on that.”
