The federal anti-trust Competition Bureau yesterday promised MPs it was “relentlessly” committed to fighting mergers in the grocery trade. Members of the Commons agriculture committee ridiculed the claim, noting the Bureau approved 30 years’ worth of mergers: “What were you doing in the 1990s, the 2000s?”
Federal marketers will turn seal meat into a seafood delicacy like lobster, Fisheries Minister Diane Lebouthillier said yesterday. “When properly prepared it is delicious,” she said: “Making it a consumer product is a priority.”
Canada Revenue Agency data confirm a “significant drop” in the number of audits targeting wealthy tax filers, Conservative MP Adam Chambers (Simcoe North, Ont.) yesterday told the Commons finance committee. New figures follow longstanding criticism that auditors target small business and other “low hanging fruit.”
A landmark $310,000 award to a federal employee victimized by malicious workplace gossip has been upheld by the Federal Court of Appeal. The employee was subjected to years of “reprehensible, deliberate and shameful” slander, a labour board ruled in the case: ‘It was highly offensive.’
Small business has yet to see billions in promised carbon tax rebates, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said yesterday. The finance department in 2019 said it was “developing the specifics” for payouts: “There is no mechanism in place to return a dime to small business.”
Only a third of Canadians rate news media trustworthy and balanced, says in-house CRTC research. The latest data follow Statistics Canada figures showing reporters are considered less reliable than politicians or lawyers: “Canada is facing not one news crisis but two. One is financial and the other is the crisis of mistrust.”
Fake Indigenous communities have “sprung up almost overnight” by pretenders claiming to have First Nations, Métis or Inuit roots, says a Manitoba Senator. Debate on a proposal to investigate misrepresentation of Indigenous ancestry follows publicized cases like Buffy Sainte-Marie: “It is community theft.”
MPs yesterday gave all-party approval for a committee investigation of cuts to rural postal service. Critics complained of piecemeal reductions in service under a 1994 moratorium limiting outright closure of Canada Post outlets: “I know, it is surprising.”
A federal program to let hundreds of Gazans into Canada has now expanded to thousands, Immigration Minister Marc Miller yesterday told reporters. Miller said he was upset none had been permitted out of the war zone to date: “I am pretty pissed off about it.”
Cabinet admits an Arctic green energy program is running behind schedule but denies millions in cost overruns. Local authorities since 2017 have sought to install a wind turbine on the tundra outside Inuvik: “Delays in projects occur for a variety of reasons.”
A federal climate program to phase out oil furnaces has seen only 80 homeowners convert to greener energy nationwide, records show. Cabinet had pointed to the program as justification for a billion-dollar carbon tax break for Atlantic electors: “It is not slogans, it is solutions.”
Attorney General Arif Virani yesterday apologized under threat of censure after shouting vulgar remarks in the Commons. Virani earlier told reporters he was shocked by crude parliamentary misconduct he deemed unbecoming the legal profession: “F—king tool.”
Cabinet yesterday could not explain how a Waffen SS member received a VIP invitation through the Prime Minister’s Office. Access To Information records obtained by Rebel News Network contradicted claims that officialdom was “caught off guard” by the incident: “It has been deeply embarrassing for Canada.”
Cabinet should suspend the carbon tax on farmers, food processors and retailers, the Commons agriculture committee was told yesterday. Long term impacts of higher fuel charges compared to U.S. competitors are unknown, said the senior director of Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab: “That is why I am recommending a pause on the carbon tax for the entire food industry from farm gate to stores and restaurants.”
Bitcoin traders’ enthusiasm for cryptocurrency is fading, says in-house Canada Revenue Agency research. Pollsters blamed “media portrayals” and wild price fluctuations: “Results suggest media portrayals of cryptocurrencies have led to an erosion of consumer confidence.”
