The Commons last night passed a budget bill on deadline. However cabinet’s proposal for a GST holiday on Christmas goods faced unexpected protests from Liberal appointees in the Senate: “We definitely recognize we are facing challenges.”
Coleen Volk, the $551,000-a year CEO of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, yesterday said executive bonuses at the federal insurer are secret. Even criteria used to decide who gets how much are confidential and cannot be disclosed to MPs, she said: “We attract the best and the brightest.’
A third of government-sponsored refugees rely on food banks in their first year in Canada, says a Department of Immigration report. And more than half remain on welfare five years after their arrival: “Independent living is not clearly defined.”
The Commons justice committee yesterday recommended cabinet tie federal postsecondary funding to enforcement of hate speech laws on campus. It followed testimony that colleges and universities have become hotbeds of anti-Semitism: “There are so many stories to tell and I hear them every day.”
A public registry of foreign agents in Canada should be in place by June, says the Department of Public Safety. Enforcement would come one year after Parliament passed a registry bill into law: “That’s our internal plan.”
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland yesterday appealed to MPs to stop questioning cabinet’s credibility on debt management. Freeland promised to update budget figures next Monday, a day before Parliament is scheduled to adjourn for a five-week Christmas recess: “It is very important not to cast any doubt on Canada’s financial credibility.”
A GST holiday will cost 80 percent more than claimed by Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, the Budget Office said yesterday. Analysts said Freeland failed to account for mandatory compensation owed provinces that harmonized their own sales tax collections with the GST: “Would you agree with that number?”
MPs yesterday by a 180 to 152 vote rejected a non-confidence motion that quoted New Democrat Jagmeet Singh as calling cabinet weak and selfish. Singh himself voted against it: “What has this administration promised the NDP to get them to vote against their leader’s own words?”
The Green Party yesterday blamed inexperienced staff for illegal campaign spending by MP Mike Morrice (Kitchener Centre, Ont.). The Party won the riding in 2021 after overspending by thousands of dollars, said the Elections Commissioner: “Our first-time official agent made a few small mistakes.”
Deputy Finance Minister Chris Forbes yesterday refused to say who at his department agreed to hire a Brazilian contractor to mismanage a pandemic relief program. Auditors found widespread irregularities including padded timesheets and rates charged at up to $750 per hour: “They really did fail.”
Foreign interference by China is “mostly aimed at improving bilateral relations,” says a Liberal Senate appointee. Senator Yuen Pau Woo (B.C.) in a sworn affidavit said he personally overheard a Chinese diplomat advise a Canadian audience on how to vote, but considered it harmless: “While such actions may offend Canadian sensibilities because of antipathy towards China they do not amount to foreign interference.”
Liberal MP Chandra Arya (Nepean) in an extraordinary protest said a member of his own caucus “threatened that I would be f—d up” over a vote he cast in the House. Arya named the MP: “I should be able to express my opinion.”
A retired federal IT consultant has lost a bid for thousands in damages after spotting a “caution wet floor” sign in a government building. English-only warnings cause him “loss of enjoyment of life,” Michel Thibodeau of Ottawa wrote the Federal Court: “My identity as a francophone was threatened and I felt like a second-class citizen.”
Canada should adopt a code of practice on media disinformation, says a Commons ethics committee report. Liberal MP Iqra Khalid (Mississauga-Erin Mills, Ont.), a committee member, called it among “the biggest issues of our time.”
Vancouver’s port and international airport should be on a critical list of federally regulated public works most susceptible to climate change, says a Senate committee report. Senators noted 2021 rainstorms forced a halt to cargo traffic at the Port of Vancouver, largest in the nation: “It is projected the sea level will rise more than one metre.”
