Canada’s federal delegation to the last climate conference burned through $622,000 in air fares, accounts show. Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault called the meeting in Egypt “the next step forward for climate ambition.”
Conservatives, Bloc Québécois and New Democrat caucuses yesterday pledged enough votes, 172 against the Liberals’ 158, to force an independent public inquiry into alleged Chinese election interference. The House affairs committee today is expected to send the recommendation to the Commons: “Not a single individual has been hauled to the bar to account for any of this.”
Cabinet signed for billions’ worth of vaccines yet to be delivered, records show. Vaccines under contract for shipment are enough for another four booster shots for every Canadian adult already fully vaccinated: “There are currently 90.8 million remaining doses to be delivered in 2023 and 2024.”
The Senate yesterday said it will offer staff “recognition awards” like gold bracelets. The prizes are to help employees “feel a strong sense of belonging” to the institution that has run its budget up 70 percent since 2016: “We’re lucky.”
The Department of Immigration yesterday budgeted for war in Ukraine to continue into 2024. Managers set aside millions to cover free hotel bookings for unsponsored refugees who land in Canada with no place to stay: “There is no limit to the number of people who will be welcomed.”
Statistics Canada yesterday detailed new food inflation figures documenting a dramatic rise in basic groceries from pre-pandemic levels. Data were based on actual checkout prices nationwide: “More are borrowing money to cover their day to day expenses.”
Morris Rosenberg, former CEO of the Trudeau Foundation, yesterday in a federal report said there was “no evidence to indicate foreign state actors were specifically targeting Elections Canada or Canadian electoral systems and networks” in the 2021 campaign. Conservative MPs questioned Rosenberg’s impartiality: “There were concerns.”
Cabinet yesterday named a Québec rapper to the federal Historic Sites and Monuments Board. Aly Ndiaye, a self-described “history enthusiast,” criticized scholars for their treatment of racism in Canada: “It was only in rap music that I recognized my experience as an African American, American in the continental sense.”
The Commons heritage committee yesterday voted to summon executives from Google Canada to explain the company’s test blocking of news websites. It followed MPs’ passage of a bill that would force Google to pay a portion of ad revenues for linking to stories by news corporations like the CBC: “Bill C-18 would give regulators unprecedented influence over news.”
Sears Canada employees are petitioning the Senate to pass a pension bill that would protect retirees’ benefits in bankruptcy settlements. Reforms are too late for longtime Sears workers but would help others, they wrote: ‘”The Senate can help the next group.”
A draft code of conduct yesterday cautioned bankers to mind the bonuses awarded to managers for aggressive sales tactics. The warning follows whistleblower testimony at the Commons finance committee that branch managers were rewarded for selling customers products they didn’t need or couldn’t afford: “Sales goals were an insidious thing.”
Federal departments spent millions advertising on a China-made app now banned as a security risk, records show. Treasury Board President Mona Fortier said effective today TikTok is banned on all government-issue smartphones: “It presents an unacceptable level of risk to privacy and security.”
Liberal MP Han Dong (Don Valley North, Ont.) yesterday said he welcomed an investigation of “insinuations” he kept secret contacts with Chinese Communist agents. Dong, the co-chair of the Canada-China Legislative Association, denied wrongdoing: ‘I look forward to refuting these anonymous and unverified allegations.’
Parliament should mandate rent controls, says a federal report. The Federal Housing Advocate also named corporations it accused of violating tenants’ rights: “Four walls and a roof do not alone constitute adequate housing.”
The CRTC is commissioning a “forensic level technical review” of the blackout of Rogers Communications’ national network last July 8. The investigation comes as cabinet considers whether to grant final approval to Rogers’ takeover of rival Shaw Communications: “This network outage left more than 10 million customers of Rogers without connectivity.”
