Blacklock's Reporter

Federal managers hid an ongoing police investigation from auditors reviewing the ArriveCan app, Auditor General Karen Hogan yesterday told the Commons public accounts committee. MPs ordered the audit a year ago and were never told of the RCMP probe: “There are allegations regarding identity theft, fraudulent forged résumés, contractual theft, fraudulent billing, price fixing, collusion, all with senior bureaucrats.”

Canada’s chief bank inspector yesterday warned of “significant payment shock” facing homeowners with a quarter trillion in fixed payment mortgages charged at variable rates. Homeowners at risk are no longer paying anything against the principal of their loans, said Superintendent of Financial Institutions Peter Routledge: ‘Mortgagors will have to make it up.’

Cabinet yesterday said it would not tolerate any “glorification of violence or terror” targeting Jews in Canada. Hamas terrorists proclaimed this Friday the 13th a “day of general mobilization” against Jews worldwide: “Under no circumstances will it be tolerated.”

Cabinet will finalize a long-promised national school lunch program in 2024, says the Department of Social Development. The department in a memo described it as an anti-inflation measure for families that can’t keep up with grocery bills: “Despite their promises the Liberals have only delayed action and disappointed families.”

National pharmacare will cost Parliament and the provinces $11.2 billion in its first year, the Budget Office said yesterday. Cabinet has committed to passing a pharmacare bill by Christmas: “It has got to be passed by the end of this year.”

Cabinet yesterday pushed its gun control program off to the next Parliament after acknowledging stiff resistance. An amnesty and related buyback of prohibited firearms is now deferred until 2025 after the next general election: “The ban and the buyback program were seen as wasteful because the policy isn’t aimed at stopping illegal gun smuggling.”

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland yesterday ordered private mortgage lenders to report suspicious cash transactions. Freeland’s department in a regulatory notice said Canadian real estate was at “increased risk of exploitation” by criminals: “These unregulated mortgage lenders can be highly vulnerable.”

Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly yesterday dismissed criticism of a slow Canadian response to war in Israel. “I am a busy woman,” Joly told reporters. There were “so many issues happening in the world,” she added: “I know people are scared.”

The head of Canada’s largest Protestant church wrote MPs that cabinet should honour a boycott of Israel to protest its “system of apartheid.” Reverend Carmen Lansdowne, moderator of the United Church, wrote the Commons foreign affairs committee 10 days before Hamas terrorists killed Jews: “It is very complex.”

Immigration is key to preserving French, Languages Minister Randy Boissonnault has written MPs. Canada’s Languages Commissioner earlier recommended cabinet recruit immigrants from former French colonies like Mali and Senegal: “French is in a minority situation in Canada and North America due to the predominant use of English.”

Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly yesterday did not comment on records indicating her office approved funding for a group that called Israel a “sadistic” perpetrator of war crimes. The group Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East complained Canadians were “cheering on Israel” after the country was attacked by terrorists: ‘Stop cheering on Israel as it takes out its revenge.’

Canadian workers have millions invested in Israel, according to Canada Pension Plan Investment Board accounts. Holdings totaling more than $120 million include shares in some of Israel’s largest banks impacted by terrorist attacks: “It’s very important for us to thoroughly understand all the risks of investing in any market.”

Cabinet advisors yesterday questioned whether legalizing marijuana achieved what advocates promised five years ago. Legalization neither eliminated the black market nor protected children from unregulated marijuana use, wrote an Expert Panel: “Rates of cannabis use among youth in Canada remain high.”

Computer security at the Canada Revenue Agency remains poorly monitored years after hackers breached taxpayers’ accounts, says an internal audit. The Agency maintains electronic records on more than 27 million individual and corporate tax filers: “Did these attacks not demonstrate there was a total failure?”

The Department of Transport is finally enforcing an auto bill passed by Parliament in 2018 that grants regulators new powers to recall faulty cars. Millions of “unsafe vehicles” are on Canadian roads, by official estimate: “Yes, there is always room for improvement.”