The Commons government operations committee has ordered a ten-year audit of all federal payments to a contractor implicated in ArriveCan irregularities. Investigators found GC Strategies Inc. of Woodlawn, Ont. won millions without having to bid: “If there is something crooked – if, if, because we are not a court of law – but if something is not right, we have to identify it.”
Cabinet yesterday budgeted more than $11 million for its judicial inquiry into election meddling by Chinese agents. Fifty-three lawyers are attending the Commission on Foreign Interference: “I will make every effort to get to the bottom of things.”
MPs must not call senators “lazy,” “arrogant” or “dismal,” the Commons ruled yesterday. The order came after one MP denounced senators with numerous adjectives including “unreasonable, undemocratic and unwise.”
Financial information on 48,000 Canadians was hacked by identity thieves attempting to defraud pandemic relief programs, Privacy Commissioner Philippe Dufresne confirmed yesterday. The Canada Revenue Agency at one point locked 800,000 online accounts it suspected were breached: ‘There were numerous cases of fraud.’
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland yesterday awarded a $2.1 billion tax break to electric auto battery manufacturers already receiving billions in subsidies. Only the companies were told of the 10-year tax holiday: “There are no other stakeholders to consult.”
Federal departments have suspended all work with an Ontario contractor implicated in ArriveCan irregularities, the Government Leader in the Senate said yesterday. Senator Marc Gold (Que.) disclosed the action as MPs questioned whether crimes had occurred: “None of this was necessary, none of this was normal.”
MPs yesterday by a 208 to 115 vote gave Second Reading to a children’s rights bill that would ban spanking in the home. Critics opposed the New Democrat measure as federal intrusion into family life: “Are there parents in the House?”
Media need more “public funding mechanisms” to cover the news, says the Canadian Media Guild. The submission to the Commons heritage committee was contradicted by one MP who warned Canadians have lost all trust in subsidized media: “I don’t know if it will ever come back.”
The Commons by a 210 to 115 vote yesterday passed into law a bill to appoint a part-time parliamentary artist laureate at $20,000 a year. The bill was acknowledgment that painters, sculptors and other creators face a hardscrabble existence, said one MP: “It can be a tough world.”
The Privy Council in a confidential report complains Canadians have little trust in cabinet’s climate leadership. The report did not mention Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault by name but found “few Canadians” think cabinet is fair, transparent or competent on climate issues: “Most respondents indicated they had little trust.”
Canada Border Services Agency President Erin O’Gorman yesterday could not account for the disappearance of federal documents used in sweetheart contracting under the $59.5 million ArriveCan program. “If there is wrongdoing it needs to be found out,” O’Gorman told the Commons public accounts committee: “We have received allegations that emails were deleted.”
The Ukrainian Canadian Congress sponsored VIP treatment for an ex-Waffen SS soldier, the House affairs committee was told yesterday. “The past history of this gentleman was unknown to us all,” testified Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon.
Budget Officer Yves Giroux yesterday cautioned taxpayers to beware of cynical or manipulative “Musical Ride” cuts to this year’s half-trillion federal budget. Giroux invoked the RCMP’s threat to cancel Musical Ride performances 30 years ago when confronted with a demand to cut waste: “That’s a well-known phenomenon within the public service, offering the Musical Ride.”
All Canadians share a “moral failure” for homelessness, Housing Minister Sean Fraser said yesterday. Fraser promised a response to a federal report recommending a ban on policing of tent cities with free food, utilities and medical care for residents: “What kind of country do we want to live in?”
MPs will issue subpoenas compelling committee testimony from reluctant ArriveCan witnesses, the chair of the Commons government operations committee said yesterday. The committee “will call every witness and compel every document,” warned Conservative MP Kelly McCauley (Edmonton West).
