A bill to criminalize wage fixing is only a “downpayment” on reforms to the Competition Act, says the Department of Industry. The clause in cabinet’s 464-page omnibus budget bill sets a maximum penalty of 14 years’ imprisonment: ‘You said it was a downpayment. Can we expect more?’
The Public Health Agency cited for pandemic mismanagement paid five-figure bonuses to executives last year, records show. No manager was fired despite an internal audit that found the Agency lacked “needed breadth and expertise to lead.”
Police never asked cabinet to invoke the Emergencies Act, the RCMP said last night. The Mounties contradicted repeated claims by Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino that cabinet was “acting on the advice of law enforcement” in taking emergency measures against the Freedom Convoy: “We’re not in the position to provide influence on the government.”
Inflation is forcing Canadians to take on second jobs, postpone retirement and cancel vacations, says in-house research by the Privy Council Office. Canadians in federal focus groups said they also feared rising interest rates will throw the housing market into disarray: “Inflationary circumstances had prompted some to delay their retirement or return to the labour force.”
Department of Environment electric charging stations go months without seeing a single user, records show. New data confirm a 2019 audit at the Department of Natural Resources that public charging stations average as few as one or two cars daily: “I don’t own an electric vehicle.”
VIA Rail subsidies last year cost taxpayers from $35 to nearly $900 for every passenger, financial statements disclosed yesterday. The Crown railway said ticket sales remain a fraction of pre-pandemic levels: “Our government is not privatizing VIA.”
Cabinet will ask the Supreme Court to save a 2019 law on environmental impact assessments, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said yesterday. The Alberta Court of Appeal struck down Bill C-69 as unconstitutional: “We will be appealing this decision.”
The Chief of Defence Staff last night contradicted Canadian diplomats’ claims that Afghanistan collapsed too quickly to evacuate all Canadians and Afghan allies. General Wayne Eyre said it was obvious for months the country would collapse: “We poured our heart and soul into that country.”
TD Canada Trust faces millions in claims under a proposed class action lawsuit on behalf of every customer charged an NSF fee in the past ten years. Ontario Superior Court upheld a complaint from one depositor charged $98 in NSF fees over a 45¢ overdraft: “TD Bank has profited enormously.”
A Liberal MP yesterday apologized after attending a parliamentary sitting by Zoom from a toilet stall. MP Shafqat Ali (Brampton Centre, Ont.) was the second legislator in a year to be cited for performing washroom functions on camera: “The Member of Parliament was literally using the washroom while participating in a sitting of the House of Commons.”
A proposed $26 billion buyout involving two of the nation’s four largest telecom corporations yesterday was delayed at least a year and possibly blocked altogether. Federal anti-trust lawyers sought an injunction against the takeover of Shaw Communications of Calgary by Rogers Communications Inc. as in-house Privy Council research showed consumers opposed the deal: “Canadians pay some of the highest prices for wireless services in the developed world.”
The RCMP has fewer Indigenous members today than a decade ago despite years of “reconciliation” training, says an internal report. Auditors complained many police were unsure what reconciliation meant: “It is not clear what reconciliation means for each employee.”
Parliament must closely watch federal departments profiting from fees, the Commons industry committee was told. Cabinet five years ago passed a little-noticed law allowing departments to perpetually increase fees to inflation, currently 6.7 percent: “They are making a profit and not disclosing it to Parliament.”
A tenth of federal employees contracted Covid despite the highest vaccination rate of any comparable workforce, data show. The Public Health Agency confirmed vaccines offered “imperfect protection” after a few months: “Two doses have a very limited ability to reduce infection and therefore transmission.”
The number of periodicals in Canada fell nine percent in five years despite almost a third of a billion in federal subsidies, says a Department of Canadian Heritage audit. The disclosure follows confirmation a separate $595 million newspaper bailout did not create jobs as promised: “The industry is facing major challenges.”
