Contractors don’t have to build affordable apartments to qualify for a GST break because cabinet does “not want to be building cheap homes in a bad part of town,” Housing Minister Sean Fraser said yesterday. The tax break will cost $383 million a year by Budget Office estimate: “It is one of the most important things we could do.”
One of Canada’s biggest discount furniture dealers yesterday agreed to pay a $3.35 million penalty for “false or misleading” advertising. The federal settlement with Dufresne Group Inc. of Winnipeg followed a Competition Bureau investigation dating from 2019: “Tactics that pressure consumers to make a purchase quickly like limited time offers must be truthful.”
Federal inspectors last year imposed a record $1.54 million in fines on employers for breach of migrant labour regulations, the Department of Employment said yesterday. Thousands of inspections were completed after the department failed to do any spot checks as recently as 2017: “The department’s approach to on-site inspections was flawed.”
Anthony Rota yesterday became the first Commons Speaker in 66 years to resign under threat of formal censure. All parties in the House expressed disgust after Rota sponsored a VIP welcome on Parliament Hill for a Waffen SS member: “It was embarrassing.”
Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem and his advisors have “all powers to do anything they want” to fight inflation regardless of consequences, the Senate was told yesterday. Senators took up Second Reading debate on a private bill seeking greater public scrutiny of Macklem: “The Governor and his team could get it wrong and the Bank Of Canada Act is of no assistance.”
CMHC yesterday said it does not know how many new apartments will be built under a $383 million-a year GST holiday. Cabinet’s own estimates range from “thousands” to “millions.”
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne yesterday promised MPs a landmark bill proclaiming Canadians’ “fundamental right to privacy.” However Champagne would not put the proposal in writing, frustrating members of the Commons industry committee: ‘I would like to have it in front of me.’
The post office is expected to become financially self-sufficient but only in the “longer term,” says the Department of Public Works. Canada Post lost more than a half billion last year: “As the business shifts from mail to parcels, pressure on costs continues.”
MPs yesterday questioned how an SS member escaped scrutiny prior to being honoured on Parliament Hill. Cabinet said it played no role in any background check on Yaroslav Hunka, 98, of North Bay, Ont.: “A Nazi was honoured in this place; I cannot believe I am even uttering these words.”
Speaker Anthony Rota yesterday was called an international embarrassment after presenting an SS member to the House of Commons as a “Canadian hero.” MPs expressed astonishment the member of the 14 Waffen Grenadier Division was given VIP treatment on Parliament Hill: “Members of Parliament feel betrayed right now.”
Subsidies will not save money-losing news media, says a Department of Heritage memo. A $595 million bailout fund approved by Parliament in 2019 is up for renewal next March 31: “Supports alone cannot redress the structural decline of the current business model.”
Canadians face the “terrible job” of choosing between higher taxes or fewer services due to mounting federal debt, former Bank of Canada governor David Dodge said yesterday. Testifying at the Commons finance committee, Dodge likened the financial outlook to the 1970s: “Governments cannot borrow their way out of these difficult choices.”
Enacting a GST holiday on new apartment construction is intended to benefit the middle class, Housing Minister Sean Fraser said yesterday. MPs took up Second Reading debate on the tax measure in Bill C-56 An Act To Amend The Excise Tax Act: “It is important that we advance measures that are going to increase the supply for middle class households.”
Members of the Commons environment committee say they must economize on travel to reduce their carbon footprint. One MP said the committee would not follow the lead of Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, his staff and officials who ran up more than $700,000 in travel expenses in the past year: “I am very concerned with the environmental footprint.”
CMHC in eight years confirmed construction of 12 new homes under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s plan to convert surplus Crown property into affordable housing, records show. The Department of Fisheries built one: “We are focused on building more houses.”
