Federal whistleblowers who disclosed secret memos on Chinese spy activities to media should be prosecuted, says a former chief of the public service. Mel Cappe, ex-cabinet secretary, compared whistleblowers to predators whose identities must be exposed: “That is a strange position to take when we lack the clarity of the truth here.”
Cabinet yesterday introduced a bill to promote “support for workers” facing layoffs due to its climate program. Some 170,000 energy workers face unemployment, according to the Environment Commissioner: “We know the stakes are incredibly high.”
Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez yesterday defended millions in federal subsidies for TV corporations despite cutbacks at the network with the largest audience, BCE Incorporated. Television broadcasters received more than $100 million in direct federal grants through the pandemic: “What’s not working?”
Privy Council President Bill Blair yesterday said he never saw a secret memo on Chinese spies because it was sent to the wrong office. Blair’s earlier claim that information was deliberately withheld by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service was contradicted in committee testimony: ‘They sent it to another office, not my office.’
Cabinet yesterday said Canadian delegates will no longer attend meetings of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank but stopped short of dumping Canada’s shares in the Beijing operation. It followed complaints by a Canadian executive working for the Bank that the Communist Party “runs the joint.”
Cabinet had no choice but to spend billions on a Volkswagen battery plant in Ontario, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said yesterday. Her remarks followed a Budget Office report warning the venture will cost taxpayers almost 20 percent more than estimated: “Canada had to be at the table.”
People have “limited levels of macroeconomic literacy,” the Bank of Canada said yesterday. The Bank complained people often failed to “understand and correctly interpret information” about deficits, inflation and central banking: “Scores are rather low.”
The Federal Court of Appeal has dismissed a claim of discrimination by a government employee ordered to return to the office after working from home. The employee, a married mother of five, argued the order was unfair: ‘Not every conflict between one’s professional obligations and family responsibilities constitutes discrimination.’
Privy Council President Bill Blair’s claim that federal spies withheld information on Chinese interference is false, the House affairs committee was told last night. The director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service said he specifically sent a memo to warn Blair that foreign agents were targeting MPs: “The information was meant to be seen by the Minister.”
David Morrison, the Prime Minister’s former national security advisor, yesterday testified he read a secret 2021 memo on intimidation of MPs by Chinese agents but concluded there “was nothing in the note that spurred me to take action.” Morrison said he read the memo with the 2021 election underway: “You didn’t twig to the fact this could be an issue?”
The RCMP yesterday testified they relied on politicians and news reporters for leads on alleged election fraud by Chinese agents. “I wouldn’t be proud of that,” said Conservative MP Luc Berthold (Mégantic-L’Erable, Que.).
Parliament should consider an excess profits tax on grocers, the Commons agriculture committee said yesterday. Grocers testifying at committee hearings denied profiteering on food inflation: “The Government of Canada should consider introducing a windfall profits tax on large, price-setting corporations.”
Cabinet was never in a position to plant two billion trees without provincial help, Environment Commissioner Jerry DeMarco said yesterday. The Liberal Party announced the tree planting blitz as a 2019 election promise and has not met targets to date: “They have to be realistic with their programs.”
A gift of $200,000 is not enough to buy influence in the Government of Canada, former Trudeau Foundation CEO Morris Rosenberg testified yesterday. One MP on the Commons public accounts committee noted the figure is 117 times larger than the federal campaign contribution limit in Canada: ““I honestly don’t think $200,000 is very significant in the greater scheme of things.”
Canadians share “fairly negative views” about foreign aid with a quarter nationwide favouring funding cuts, says in-house research by the Department of Foreign Affairs. Spending on aid abroad costs $6.4 billion a year excluding extraordinary funding for pandemic relief or Ukraine’s war effort: “More than half of Canadians say a lot of international aid from Canada ends up in the pockets of corrupt politicians in the developing world.”
