The Senate banking committee yesterday rated earthquakes a systemic risk to the nation’s financial sector. The Department of Finance is conducting an ongoing review of the impact of a catastrophic quake on insurers and banks: ‘I gather the plan is to hope the government will bail it out.’
The Commons agriculture committee yesterday opened hearings on criticism of farmers by media and animal welfare groups. One Liberal complained of social pressure: ‘These advocates are outside what one would consider as normal.’
A federal agency yesterday commissioned research on the impact of climate change on Ottawa. The city is the coldest G7 capital with an average annual temperature of 6.6°, according to Environment Canada: “Ottawa’s climate is predicted to continue to become warmer.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Finance Minister Bill Morneau and nine other officials sought to quash a criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. to save Liberal seats in Québec, MP Jody Wilson-Raybould yesterday told the Commons justice committee. “I am an MP in Québec,” the former attorney general quoted Trudeau as stating in a private meeting: “Political issues came up like the election in Québec.”
Public Works Minister Carla Qualtrough yesterday told the Commons government operations committee she could not name a single federal contractor other than SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. to be offered a waiver from blacklisting. Cabinet approved the deal in 2015 even after a former company executive pleaded guilty to bribery in a Swiss court: “It’s a relatively rare process.”
Illegal immigrants now spend an average two years in Canada waiting to determine if they’ll be deported, a Department of Immigration official told the Senate national finance committee. The department complained of a severe backlog of cases: “Their cases last much longer.”
It may be unsafe for the Senate energy committee to conduct cross-country hearings on an oil and gas bill, says the chair. The Senator yesterday complained of “increasingly hostile” protests to the bill: “I’m deeply concerned for the security of senators.”
It takes an average three years to hire and train a federal Customs officer, says a Canada Border Services Agency internal audit. The Agency disclosed each year it spends $40 million to hire 258 new officers, the equivalent of $155,000 for every successful recruit: “It is taking too long.”
The Commons justice committee has approved a private Conservative bill to aid jurors traumatized by testimony at gruesome trials. A former jury foreman told MPs he suffered nightmares and anxiety attacks long after serving at a murder trial: “I left the courthouse stunned.”
MPs on the Commons ethics committee yesterday questioned the trustworthiness of a cabinet appointee, Privy Council Clerk Michael Wernick, on an election security task force. Wernick earlier criticized a Conservative senator for “unacceptable” comments, and said he feared anti-Liberal assassination plots: “I’m not sure that trust exists right now.”
Federal collectors see trouble with nearly a quarter-million student loans, the Department of Employment yesterday told the Senate national finance committee. Write-offs of just 30,000 accounts cost $163.5 million this year: “Should we expect write-offs will be higher?”
Former governor general David Johnston says he had “a real concern” about the Senate while in office. Johnston, 77, retired two years ago. His remarks came in wide-ranging testimony at a Senate committee hearing in which Johnston lamented the U.K. Brexit referendum, and pondered peacetime conscription: “During my early years as governor general, I had real concern.”
Only 11 percent of federally-inspected hydroponic retailers supplying the cannabis trade are in compliance with pesticide regulations, says a Health Canada report. The department yesterday did not comment: “It is a relatively new and rapidly growing industry.”
Employers are legally entitled to refuse to hire cannabis users in safety-sensitive work, the Newfoundland & Labrador Supreme Court has ruled. The decision came in the case of a St. John’s labourer denied a job for smoking marijuana off duty: “Impairment of course is a relative term.”
A cabinet bill to appoint an ombudsman for cross-border travelers’ complaints is still being drafted, says Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale. Cabinet buried an identical bill that passed the Senate three years ago: “Goodale has been telling us over and over that it’s coming.”
