Liberal MP George Chahal (Calgary Skyview) last night did not comment after being named by a whistleblower for failing to act on complaints of irregularities at a federal agency. The disclosure came at the Commons public accounts committee: “His subsequent refusal to engage forced us to spend the next five months trying and failing to contact various agencies.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet knowingly misdirected investigations of foreign interference under a “mountain of process,” the Commission on Foreign Interference was told yesterday. “We have become a foreign interference playground,” testified Conservative MP Michael Chong (Wellington-Halton hills, Ont.), a target of Chinese agents.
Cabinet continues to send foreign aid to China, new records show. The Department of Foreign Affairs detailed millions in aid under a Fund intended to promote LGBTQ rights: “I don’t believe Canadian taxpayers should be sending any money to China.”
Cabinet confirms hundreds of church burnings nationwide with a sharp rise in arson attacks following claims that skeletal remains were discovered at an Indian Residential School in Kamloops, B.C. Data were drawn from police reports compiled by Statistics Canada: “This includes incidents that occurred on the surrounding property such as an attached cemetery.”
Canadians want nothing to do with a federal election, Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne yesterday told reporters. Cabinet faces a non-confidence motion next week: “It’s already difficult to be governing.”
Three contractors accused of millions in fraudulent billings are named in a federal document. Cabinet earlier told reporters all three were referred to the RCMP but would not identify the suppliers: “This is the first wave of fraudulent billing cases the department has identified with more expected to be announced in the coming months.”
MPs yesterday took a step to censuring Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault’s business partner for contempt of Parliament. Stephen Anderson, an Edmonton importer, ignored an ethics committee order that he identify a mysterious executive named “Randy.”
A total 344 federal employees have been fired as CERB cheats, the highest figure disclosed to date, cabinet confirmed yesterday. The count is expected to rise with ongoing investigations: “We know in times of crisis the risk of fraud is heightened.”
Radio commentator Charles Adler yesterday took his seat as a Manitoba Senator after refusing comment on past broadcasts in which he called Indigenous constituents lazy “boneheads.” The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs and Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Inc. opposed his appointment: “The vile words and contempt he has spoken are so vicious and racist.”
Cabinet yesterday expressed shock and surprise over the loss of a must-win Liberal byelection in the Prime Minister’s hometown. Justin Trudeau and 15 cabinet ministers personally canvassed in the Montréal riding of LaSalle-Émard-Verdun: “We need people to understand.”
MPs are vulnerable to electronic surveillance by foreign agents, the chair of the Commons national defence committee said yesterday. Testifying at the Commission on Foreign Interference, Liberal MP John McKay (Scarborough-Guildwood, Ont.) said Chinese hacking of his own cellphone may have exposed contacts he built up through nine terms in Parliament: “Maybe I am just being paranoid.”
The Liberal Party last night lost a byelection Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called “an important moment” for Canada. Montréalers voted Bloc Québécois in a once-safe Liberal seat: “I can’t wait for the conversations we’re having in LaSalle-Émard-Verdun.”
Opposition parties seek a wider ethics probe of political appointees to federal boards. Conservative MP Rick Perkins (South Shore-St. Margarets, N.S.) yesterday told the Commons industry committee there was a “culture of conflict” as shown by dozens of breaches of the Conflict Of Interest Act at a single agency: “Expose them and let the public and parliamentarians decide what should happen.”
China inquiry chief Marie-Josée Hogue yesterday said she is restricted by the Inquiries Act from unmasking foreign spies on Parliament Hill. The Commission on Foreign Interference must not “jeopardize any other investigation,” said Hogue: “I am aware of the political climate.”
Subsidized media must scrutinize the Conservative Party, Government House Leader Karina Gould yesterday told reporters. Her remarks followed a colleague’s comment that cabinet was “happy to help” CBC-TV counter Conservative criticism: “Make sure we are holding (Pierre Poilievre) to account.”
