A Unifor executive threatened to lead 1,000 autoworkers in a street brawl with Freedom Convoy protesters, the Public Order Emergency Commission heard yesterday. Dave Cassidy, president of Local 444 in Windsor, Ont., denied remarks attributed to him in second-hand police notes: “At no time did I threaten physical violence.”
Police lawyers in a confidential January 28 memo cautioned Ottawa authorities to go easy on Freedom Convoy protesters in case they were Indigenous. “Any police response considers the uniqueness of Indigenous occupations,” wrote the legal department of the Ottawa Police Service: “Focus on the requirements for peacekeeping, communication, negotiation and building trust.”
The Freedom Convoy was a “movement by right wing Christians” to gain converts, claimed internal reports by an Ottawa police consultant Advanced Symbolics Inc. Documents did not disclose how much police paid for surveillance of Christian imagery at the protests: “These are really important insights.”
A bare majority of Canadians are confident in the federal government, says Elections Canada research. The agency said it commissioned the internal polling “to gauge the general public’s opinion on various electoral issues.”
A federally-funded advocacy group is petitioning senators for a national “disinformation reporting system.” The submission to the Senate human rights committee follows cabinet proposals to censor legal internet content: “Media play a powerful role in influencing the public perceptions.”
Governor General Mary Simon and travelling companions dined on steak, cake and Chardonnay on a costly junket to Dubai, records show. Staff claimed Simon and 45 friends ate typical airline food. Actual menus for meals that cost $218 per plate featured French crepes, Beef Wellington and Red Velvet Cake with Chantilly cream: “$218 per meal would represent groceries for a whole family.”
A federal agency relied on a news release from a volunteer press group in assessing risks of violence at the Freedom Convoy, according to records. Evidence at a judicial inquiry and parliamentary hearings contradict claims the protest was armed and dangerous: ““I saw reports in the media.”
Facebook messages of support for the Freedom Convoy don’t justify a conviction for mischief, the Ontario Court of Justice has ruled. Canadian courts do not jail people because of their opinions, said an Ottawa judge: “He is not to be convicted because of his political views.”
The CBC awarded itself more than $156 million in pay raises and bonuses despite complaining of “severe” financial challenges. Documents obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation detail seven years’ worth of payments amid steep declines in CBC ad revenue: “We simply can’t be in a position where we have to keep cutting.”
The Canada Revenue Agency in internal polling questioned whether to publish a blacklist of people who cheat on taxes. Parliament three years ago rejected a private bill that advocated naming and shaming tax evaders: “35 percent strongly agree the Canada Revenue Agency should publish a list.”
Federal departments are concealing records on contracting, says Procurement Ombudsman Alexander Jeglic. The Ombudsman cited unnamed departments for hiding documents he knew for a fact existed: “We have had to write to departments during the course of a review to remind them to provide documents we know exist.”
The Public Health Agency levied quarantine fines on cross-border travelers at the rate of more than $61,000 a day, records show. Most travelers were fined $5,000 at a time for a total $14.9 million: “This is not a success story.”
The Senate is hiring a climate change consultant to help lower its emissions. Senators log 5,000,000 kilometres a year in air travel, by official estimate: “Our house is on fire and something urgently needs to be done.”
The Competition Bureau since 2019 has been investigating sales practices by one of the country’s biggest furniture dealers, Federal Court records disclose. Allegations target The Dufresne Group Inc. of Winnipeg: “The Commissioner has reason to believe the respondents engaged in deceptive marketing practices.”
The Commons finance committee has cleared a private Conservative bill to save company pensions in cases of bankruptcy. MPs have tried and failed to pass similar amendments to bankruptcy law since 1975: “We know the history of all the companies – Eaton’s, Sears, Nortel.”
