One in five Canadians do not trust federal departments with their personal information, says in-house research by the Treasury Board. The findings echoed a 2017 study that found a significant minority is wary of surrendering bank account numbers to the government for direct deposit of tax refunds and benefits: “Is it safe?”
Senators yesterday expressed wariness over the appointment of a Canada Revenue Agency manager as the next Parliamentary Budget Officer. The Agency spent five years stonewalling requests for information from the last Officer, senators said: “That is a question I’ve asked myself a lot.”
An Asian ban on Canadian wheat exports should end by August, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency yesterday told the Commons agriculture committee. Japan and South Korea suspended shipments after an unlicensed strain of genetically-modified wheat was found in southern Alberta: “This is new for us.”
The Senate last night by a vote of 52 to 29 passed into law a bill to make Canada only the second country after Uruguay to legalize recreational marijuana. Opponents predicted quick court challenges: “We certainly don’t want to bring confusion to this at all.”
Auditor General Michael Ferguson yesterday described the $1 billion Phoenix Pay System failure as a stain on the federal government. The bungled program illustrates a mania for civil service box-checking instead of problem-solving, Ferguson told the Commons public accounts committee: “What were the root causes?”
A Health Canada spot check of cross-border pharmaceutical shipments identified 25 percent were fake, and another 60 percent were unfit for sale. The findings were based on thousands of shipments intercepted by the Canada Border Services Agency in a single week-long period last September: “This is alarming.”
The Commons health committee yesterday recommended new regulations on the sale of caffeinated alcohol drinks. The proposed reforms follow the death of a Québec schoolgirl: “Ask the producers: What exactly are you trying to do?”
A 19th century law against blasphemous libel is outdated and should be repealed, scholars have told the Senate legal and constitutional affairs committee. The Criminal Code provision was last used to prosecute a film distributor over the 1979 Monty Python production Life Of Brian: “This offence is obsolete.”
The Senate has passed a workplace anti-harassment bill for 895,000 employees in federally-regulated jobsites including Parliament Hill. Third Reading followed secret testimony by Hill employees at a closed-door hearing of the Senate human rights committee: ‘It’s a very important moment in history.’
Public officials have pulled strings to get Peace Tower flags for a governor of New Jersey, the widow of former Toronto mayor Rob Ford, and employees of the Department of Public Works, according to Access To Information records. The official public waiting list for the coveted flags is 74 years’ long.
“At the Minister’s request, flags may be offered to Canadians that are not on the waiting list,” said Michele LaRose, spokesperson for the public works department. “Examples are military personnel or athletes, or for events of an exceptional nature.”
Records indicate officials routinely jumped the queue to award flags in unusual circumstances. Renata Ford, widow of the former Toronto mayor, was given a Peace Tower flag in 2016. Then-New Jersey governor Chris Christie was presented with a specially-boxed flag in 2014 following a private meeting with then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Former defence minister Peter MacKay sought a ministerial exemption to give a flag to a skating rink in his Nova Scotia constituency in 2013.
“As the custodian of the Parliamentary Precinct, the Minister of Public Works is responsible for managing the flags located on Parliament Hill including their distribution to Canadians,” said LaRose. “Canadian flags flown at half-mast from the Peace Tower were traditionally given to families of Canadian dignitaries who died in office. The distribution has since progressed beyond ceremonial events to allow for other recipients.” Deserving recipients included:
However, government files disclose heavy lobbying by legislators and federal employees for flags to be distributed to retiring coworkers, hometown high schools, Legion branches, armouries, Army & Navy clubs and fire departments. One MP requested a Peace Tower flag to be auctioned at a hospital fundraiser in Orangeville, Ont. Another received a flag for the Bognor, Ont. Community Centre Canada Day committee. A staffer in Prime Minister Harper’s office in 2012 gave a flag for former U.S. president Jimmy Carter.
In 2014, then-Public Works Minister Diane Finley gave a flag to an unidentified taxpayer who mailed a $13,000 cheque to reduce the national debt. “Donations help in the reduction of our national debt, thus contributing to the economic prosperity of our country,” wrote Finley. “Your concern for the economic future of Canada is greatly appreciated. Enclosed is an official receipt. Also, in recognition of your generous donation to the Crown, it gives me great pleasure as a proud Canadian to present you with the enclosed Canadian flag which was flown from the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill.”
Liberal MP John McKay (Scarborough-Guildwood, Ont.), chair of the Commons public safety committee, requested a flag for an Afghan War combat veteran in his riding. “These flags are hugely popular and a highly treasured item,” McKay said in an interview. “These should not be awarded for highly partisan purposes.”
“I have not had a huge number of requests in my representative capacity,” said McKay. “To my mind, they should go to people who have made a significant contribution to the nation’s well-being.”
Flags were also awarded to former Clerk of the Privy Council Wayne Wouters, who retired in 2014, and retired Public Works Minister Judy Foote, appointed last March 20 as Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland & Labrador. “I will need that flag,” wrote one Foote staffer.
Other petitioners apologized for jumping the queue. “I understand that I may be circumventing the process for the requesting the flag and that there is an incredible wait list of very deserving people,” wrote a Statistics Canada manager in 2015. “I am fully aware of the long waiting list for these flags,” noted an MP in a 2012 email.
The Peace Tower flag is changed daily. Flags flown at half-mast in observance of notable deaths were typically provided to families including Hockey Hall of Famer Jean Béliveau’s widow in 2014, and the family of former foreign minister Flora Macdonald who died in 2015 at 89.
By Tom Korski 
Transport Canada currently has only 25 inspectors trained to audit railway safety management plans, according to an Inquiry Of Ministry tabled in the Commons. The department had pledged stricter audits following the 2013 Lac-Mégantic disaster: “We have a lot of worries over this.”
The Commons languages committee yesterday demanded millions in immediate federal advertising for beleaguered community papers. The appeal follows a 71 percent decline in government ads placed in minority language weeklies: “The federal government has neglected its responsibilities.”
A Tax Court judge has dismissed a five-figure claim by a wine connoisseur for the value of vintage labels donated to a food bank fundraiser. The true value of wine is no more complex than putting a price on a snowsuit, the Court ruled: “It appears very clear.”
Transport regulators have denied compensation to a Muslim Canadian who cancelled Air Canada flights for fear of being stranded in the U.S. by an Executive Order. Parliament on March 29 passed a bill mandating Canada’s first statutory compensation for air passengers: “We will move quickly.”
The Department of Health has gone on a hiring blitz in anticipation of legal cannabis, according to Access To Information records. The department spent millions on new staff to license and monitor marijuana sales: “This is the tip of the iceberg.”
