A federal inventory of vacant Crown-owned property lists fewer than 400 nationwide including many unsuitable for housing like cattle barns and boat sheds, records show. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau yesterday repeated his claim that unused federal property will create thousands of new homes: “Anyone who says we don’t need to put everything on the table right now is not listening.”
New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh yesterday said he did not want a 2024 election though the Prime Minister reneged on terms of his Supply And Confidence Agreement. A quarter of Singh’s caucus is not seeking re-election: “I want to hear from Justin Trudeau.”
Canadian shippers yesterday cheered another delay in what one called the “big bang” launch of a new digital Customs collection scheme criticized as onerous and costly. The Canada Border Services Agency program mandated to launch May 13 has been postponed until October: ‘Every single stakeholder has said it won’t work.’
More than a tenth of pensioners in their 60s remain in the workforce by necessity, Statistics Canada said yesterday. New data follow a recommendation that cabinet rewrite Income Tax Act credits to recognize hundreds of thousands of Canadians who work past 65: “Those working by necessity represented 351,000 individuals.”
Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan yesterday said he will introduce a bill by year’s end to detect and block imports of slave-made goods into Canada. Cabinet has long promised legislation to ban the trade: “This year we will introduce legislation.”
Federal managers paid out more than $500,000 in settlements to employees suspended under vax mandates, records show. The payments were disclosed at the request of Conservative MP Ted Falk (Provencher, Man.) who opposed mandatory vaccination as a breach of Charter rights: “That is what happened.”
The Canada Revenue Agency should tighten ethics training, say auditors. The recommendation comes after Revenue Commissioner Bob Hamilton misled MPs over the fact 232 employees were fired for defrauding pandemic relief programs: “I don’t have the numbers right in front of me; not very many, obviously.”
The Budget Office is calculating the cost of failed asylum claims by illegal immigrants. It seeks to update 2018 figures that put expenses at up to $33,700 per person depending on lengthy appeals: “They are staggering.”
Elections Canada yesterday began preparation for printing ballots in anticipation of a general campaign. The agency in a notice to contractors ordered the printing of special ballots for electors with disabilities from August 1: “Be ready.”
Federal airport screeners predict millions more Canadians will fly over the next year but are making no promises on reducing wait times. The forecast follows a 33 percent increase in mandatory fees paid by travelers to cover security costs: “Canadian travelers already pay one of the highest aviation security fees in the world.”
Cabinet’s decriminalization of cocaine in British Columbia sets possession limits “too low” and doesn’t allow addicts to buy in bulk, says a federal report. Researchers advocated more generous possession limits from the current 2.5 grams: “Buying in bulk may be more economical particularly for people who use drugs.”
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland yesterday said it “would be just wrong for me to comment” on a Parliament Hill protest celebrating the October 7 killing and kidnapping of Jews in Israel including eight Canadians. A police investigation of the demonstration is underway: “Is that hate speech?”
Cabinet’s decision to defer a steep increase in capital gains taxes for two months was “surprising to say the least,” says Budget Officer Yves Giroux. MPs called the deferral a ploy for pre-election boosts in tax revenues: “If that’s not the reason that certainly will be the effect.”
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault has postponed until after the next election the mandatory registration of $34 billion a year worth of plastic goods made in Canada from takeaway cups to fishing gear. Guilbeault’s lawyers are currently appealing a 2023 Federal Court decision that struck a “toxic” blacklisting of plastics: “Not every plastic manufactured item has the potential to create a reasonable apprehension of harm.”
A federal ban on false environmental claims should be widened to include all misleading “green” advertising, say environmental groups. A cabinet bill would outlaw fake claims that certain products are environmentally friendly but not broader misleading statements that companies are “net zero.”
