Canada’s success depends in part on migrant labour though it accounts for a small fraction of the national workforce, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser’s department said yesterday. Fraser earlier said record high immigration quotas were essential to “pay for all the things we enjoy.”
Rising grocery prices have shoppers paying 20 percent more for spaghetti, flour, cabbage and other staples, new Statistics Canada tables showed yesterday. The cost of even the cheapest meats increased by a third or more year over year while basic white bread averaged $4 a loaf: “Canadians are feeling left behind and ripped off.”
Cabinet yesterday doubled a loan program that requires Afghan refugees to repay funds advanced to cover their cost of resettlement in Canada. Ukrainian refugees were given free grants: “Canada is treating Afghan refugees and Ukrainian refugees differently.”
Fewer than half the job vacancies in one federal department are now advertised to the general public, says a newly-released audit. The Department of Canadian Heritage confirmed only 46 percent of postings are made public, a practice criticized by the Public Service Commission as prone to nepotism: “That is certainly something we are on the lookout for.”
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s department yesterday approved taxpayer-guaranteed lines of credit for small business borrowers at nine percent interest. “Lines of credit are inherently riskier,” wrote staff: ‘It was assumed the rate at which borrowers default was 15 percent.’
“Misleading political communications” should be federally regulated, say censorship advisors appointed by Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez. Unregulated political discussion and disinformation was a kind of pollution that “erodes the foundations of democracy,” said the group: “By polluting the information environment with false, deceptive or misleading information, disinformation undermines citizens’ rights to form their own informed opinions.”
The Department of Health is hiring publicity agents to draft hashtags in promotion of “Clean Air Day” on complaints the federal observance has a low profile after 23 years. The department will pay an undisclosed sum to marketers to “engage the public,” the department said yesterday: “The objective of this contract is to increase awareness.”
An aircraft maintenance engineer fired for declining to wear a face mask at work has won nearly $9,000 in damages. Evidence at the Alberta Labour Board indicated the employee protested “he was not a sheep.”
Private companies subject to proposed bilingualism rules should have to pay cash for non-compliance, says Languages Commissioner Raymond Théberge. The Commissioner would not detail how much scofflaws should pay but earlier remarked, “We want to change their behaviour.”
Federal regulators yesterday warned the Russian airline Aeroflot it faces permanent loss of its license to fly in Canada. Cabinet temporarily banned Russian aircraft from Canadian airspace last February 27: “You know what? You have to pick sides.”
The Department of Health polled Canadians on their willingness to pay more medicare user fees in exchange for prompt care. In-house research rated the idea “controversial” but favoured by patients fed up with rationing and wait lists: “Others were open to the idea.”
Most business managers say they’re raising wages to keep and attract workers, according to the Bank of Canada. The central bank said it is closely monitoring wage trends to ensure settlements do not “become an independent source of inflation.”
The Canada Revenue Agency has opened tens of thousands of audits on property owners in Vancouver and Toronto, documents show. Auditors specifically targeted the two real estate markets in a hunt for tax evaders: “There has been a significant focus by the CRA on major centres where there are consistently high numbers of real estate transactions.”
Military contracting is tainted by inside dealing and favouritism, says Procurement Ombudsman Alexander Jeglic. A routine audit of contracts for the army, navy and air force found an “uneven playing field” that rewarded friendly suppliers: “There were numerous issues.”
Retail giant Best Buy Canada does not have to pay special damages after owning up to a typo in a sales promotion, the Nova Scotia Supreme Court has ruled. The company mistakenly advertised computer accessories so good they didn’t exist: “Best Buy did not knowingly intend to deceive customers.”
