Canada’s leading proponent of a home equity tax faced an empty Parliament Hill pressroom Friday. No reporters, MPs, senators or political aides attended remarks by Professor Paul Kershaw of the University of British Columbia, a CMHC consultant: “That’s fine.”
Ontario replaces Exit signs in
malls, public places,
for the benefit of newcomers
who can’t read
English.
The new design
shows a little green man
running.
By certain conventions,
this could mean
“Aliens go this way”,
which some newcomers
might consider
offensive.
But that’s the least of their concerns.
As they rush to safety,
they’ll stop in front of a closed door
with a sign that says:
EMERGENCY EXIT ONLY.
SECURITY ALARM WILL SOUND
IF DOOR IS OPENED.
By Shai Ben-Shalom
Cabinet will almost certainly appeal a Federal Court ruling on plastics regulations, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said last evening. The Court upheld a manufacturers’ complaint that blacklisting all plastic manufactured items as toxic was “unreasonable.”
Federal spending on consultants is up 16 percent this year to a record high despite cabinet’s promise to curb the practice, the Parliamentary Budget Office said yesterday. Federal managers earlier paid almost $670,000 to consultants for advice on how to save money on consultants: “Spending on professional services continues to increase.”
The Canada Border Services Agency yesterday acknowledged it recovered a small fraction of stolen vehicles believed to be exported through the Port of Montréal. New figures followed the launch of an investigation by the Commons public safety committee: “Everyone here knows someone whose car was stolen.”
The Canada Revenue Agency yesterday in a tax notice said employers offering private dental insurance must report the fact on their 2023 tax slips. The measure is intended to track companies that drop coverage: “We’re not going to insure our employees anymore for dental care because now it’s being covered by the government.”
Taxpayer grants for children’s postsecondary education do not go to families that need it most, says a federal report. Families that claimed the maximum $500 a year subsidy were typically able to save without assistance, wrote auditors: “Almost all parents care about postsecondary education but many for various reasons have not saved for it.”
Liberal MP Judy Sgro (Humber River-Black Creek, Ont.) yesterday distributed a Commons motion asking that cabinet “work together with Ukrainian fact-checkers” to monitor internet content. It follows a 2019 proposal by the Ukrainian-Canadian Congress to ban “false attacks” on politicians: “Work together with Ukrainian fact-checkers and disinformation specialists on ways of damage control.”
The Parliamentary Budget Office is checking Alberta’s claim to most of the Canada Pension Plan. A report earlier released by Premier Danielle Smith claimed Alberta was entitled to 53 percent of funds worth a third of a trillion: “I am requesting a custom tabulation that includes historical contributions.”
Cabinet in a Ministerial Mandate letter says sports including minor leagues in Canada should cut their greenhouse gas emissions. The directive also suggested athletes become spokespeople for climate change: “Involve our athletes in the conversation.”
The Department of Health yesterday would not comment on its continued concealment of what taxpayers were charged for Pfizer vaccines. An Access To Information copy of the 2020 Pfizer contract obtained by The Canadian Independent redacted the “price and payment” schedule: “When will the department divulge the costs?”
Newly-declassified records show Prime Minister Brian Mulroney complained to his cabinet that unions ran the post office. Ministers in a 1987 strike feared making a “martyr” of Jean-Claude Parrot, then-president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers: “Everyone knew the post office had been run by the unions for a long time.”
Minh Doan, chief federal technology officer, yesterday was threatened with contempt of Parliament over evasive testimony regarding the $54 million ArriveCan app. Doan in two hours of cross-examination at the Commons government operations committee “struggled to give direct answers to simple questions,” said one MP: “Nobody believes you.”
Dozens of whistleblowers cited instances of unethical federal contracting in the past year, Procurement Ombudsman Alexander Jeglic said yesterday. The Ombudsman in his Annual Report to Parliament said complaints of sweetheart contracting were now common: “Questionable federal procurement activities have negatively impacted public trust.”
A little-used federal debt mediation program benefiting a tiny fraction of farmers is costing taxpayers almost $11,000 per application, records show. Auditors questioned the value of the Farm Debt Mediation Service: “The cost of service delivery is increasing.”
