Federal agencies earned 61¢ on the dollar in the sale of used vehicles, equipment and other goods last year, the Auditor General reported yesterday. The investigation concluded most agencies it audited did not bother to determine whether it made sense to auction goods: ‘They might not have made the best decision.’
The most generous charitable donors in Canada are older churchgoers, according to Statistics Canada data submitted to a Senate committee. The proportion of givers overall has remained static for a decade, officials said: ‘The biggest donors are older, but also more likely to participate frequently in religious activities.’
Provinces would gain a legal right to ban home cultivation of marijuana under a vote yesterday by the Senate social affairs committee. Two provinces to date – Manitoba and Québec – have already proposed to outlaw homegrown marijuana: “All of a sudden we’re in an awful hurry.”
Members of the Commons finance committee yesterday criticized a federal bank watchdog for timid protection of consumer rights. “You’re not seen as protecting the little guy,” said Liberal MP Wayne Easter, committee chair: “We have a real problem.”
Geological Survey of Canada research links fracking with minor earthquake activity. The findings echo a 2012 report by the British Columbia Oil and Gas Commission: “Is it putting communities at risk?”
Alberta’s highest court has ordered the National Post to pay an uncommonly high $450,000 cost award for publishing a defamatory column a decade ago. The Court of Appeal faulted Post lawyers for failing to promptly disclose evidence involving the article by then-columnist Don Martin.
“The production of records is a key aspect of civil litigation in Alberta,” wrote the Court; “It is no excuse to say this was done to protect a journalist’s source or at the request of the client.”
Courts earlier ordered the publisher to pay $200,000 in damages and $250,000 in costs to Arthur Kent, former foreign correspondent for NBC maligned in a 2008 column. The Court of Appeal increased the cost award to $450,000 after describing the column as a “devastating attack on Mr. Kent” with “scandalous allegations”.
The daily on February 12, 2008 published the article headlined Alberta’s Scud Stud A ‘Dud’ On The Campaign Trail that was critical of Kent’s campaign for a seat in the Alberta legislature. The column referred to Kent as a “problem candidate”, a “campaign bad boy”, “self-absorbed” and a “dud” who once was “television eye-candy for millions of women”: “My how times have changed,” wrote Martin.
The publisher kept the article in its website archives until November 6, 2012, more than four years after Kent sued for defamation.
“Any More Dirt?”
The newspaper failed to speak to the candidate prior to attacking his candidacy, gave Kent only a few hours to respond to a vague email that the article was about to be published – “Could Arthur give me a shout?” wrote Martin – then declined to publish Kent’s rebuttal. Courts ruled the column was based in part on an apparently fabricated quote from an unnamed source, exaggerated negative references, and statements that “do not meet the test for truth or reportage”.
“Mr. Martin was not diligent in trying to verify the allegations contained in the article,” wrote Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Jo’Anne Strekaf in her original 2016 ruling; “The article was negative, sarcastic in tone and lacked balance”.
Evidence showed the column followed confidential emails between Martin and Kristine Robidoux, legal counsel to Kent’s campaign. Robidoux in 2014 was suspended for four months as a “disgrace” to the legal profession by the Law Society of Alberta for betraying her client’s confidences to the newspaper columnist.
Martin in a February 12, 2008 email to Ms. Robidoux wrote: “I see the death spiral for AK continues. Any more dirt? Column runs tomorrow.” Replied Robidoux: “OMG it’s all bad.”
Judges noted National Post lawyers failed to promptly disclose the emails over the course of the litigation as required under Court rules. “The failure of the respondents to disclose these highly relevant emails, compounded by the opaque redaction of the emails when they were finally produced, represented a fundamental breach of the respondents’ obligations,” wrote the Court of Appeal.
Kent, now a Calgary journalist, lost his election bid by 1,012 votes. Martin left the National Post in 2010 and is host of the CTV News Channel program Power Play.
By Staff 
The Canada Border Services Agency yesterday issued a call to contractors to dismantle the M.V. Sun Sea, a cargo vessel seized after landing in British Columbia in 2010 with refugee claimants from Sri Lanka. The incident provoked lengthy Commons debate and a Canadian novel: ‘”The M.V. Sun Sea must be disposed of.”
The Commons transport committee yesterday urged that Parliament pass a bill to protect war graves at sea. MPs counted 19 Canadian warships and merchant vessels sunk in coastal waters and the St. Lawrence River, and at least 50 military wrecks of foreign vessels: ‘There is growing concern about looting and desecration.’
Senators today are expected to rewrite a bill to legalize marijuana. Two Senate committees recommended numerous changes, including a delay in the bill’s passage and a revision allowing provinces to ban home cultivation of cannabis plants: “This is all too fast.”
The Bank of Canada says nearly a third of $100 banknotes have vanished from the regulated economy. The data suggest a thriving black market, said one former banker: “That’s a proxy for the underground economy.”
The Canada Revenue Agency in Access To Information memos says Indigenous people are more likely than others to avoid filing a tax return even if they live off-reserve. Records disclosed federal agencies have spent four years attempting to gauge tax filing by First Nations: “There is a gap.”
Prisoners have lost a Federal Court challenge of bank fees. A judge dismissed one inmate’s complaint he was charged $7 to pay a Court filing fee by money order: “All members of society when seeking bank services must pay,”
Gun clubs are protesting a federal bill that would subject owners to lifetime background checks by police. Further regulation of firearms is unnecessary, advocates told the Commons public security committee: “There’s nothing in this bill that will affect the behaviour of criminals.”
Anti-terror surveillance is so haphazard one Liberal MP yesterday said his fiancé was flagged after wiring funds to India to buy a traditional wedding dress. The Commons finance committee earlier heard testimony from a University of Waterloo researcher that banks have also targeted depositors for wearing hoodies and sunglasses: “Why?”
Parliamentary Budget Officer Jean-Denis Fréchette says he fears fake news peddlers will spoil new legislation permitting first-ever costing of party election platforms. The 2019 campaign will be the first under rules allowing the Office to calculate expenses of campaign promises: “What I am afraid of is third parties, like media.”
