The post office yesterday hinted it will seek cabinet approval for a stamp rate hike for the first time in two years. Inflation was a risk, managers wrote in an Annual Report: ‘Canada Post has an obligation to charge rates that are fair and sufficient to cover the costs.’
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau yesterday declined comment after MPs accused him of shouting a vulgarity at a female MP. “What is the nature of your thoughts, gentlemen, when you say you move your lips in a particular way?” Trudeau told reporters.
Rates of violent crime in First Nations communities are up to 16 times higher than other towns and hamlets, says the Department of Public Safety. Staff did not detail any reason for the crime wave: “Indigenous women had an overall rate of violent victimization that was double that of Indigenous men and close to triple that of non-Indigenous women.”
A backlog of veterans’ applications for disability benefits numbers just under 11,000, a rate that is “okay but it’s not good enough,” Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay said yesterday. A staff memo in MacAulay’s department said the pandemic appeared to help ease the backlog: “It was at 23,000 and now it’s around 11,000 and that’s okay.”
Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier yesterday dismissed as “twisted” allegations of corrupt practices at the Canada Revenue Agency. MPs in the Commons demanded answers on whistleblower accusations a former assistant revenue commissioner helped a corporate lobbyist save millions: “Internal Canada Revenue Agency emails raise concerns around corruption.”
The Department of Finance last night disclosed it never verified whether all account freezes under a Freedom Convoy order were justified. The department relied on banks to act in good faith, it said: “You are certain of that? Why are you certain of that?”
Senator Frances Lankin (Ont.) yesterday questioned whether lawmakers were misled by cabinet in passing back to work legislation against striking Montréal longshoremen. Access To Information records contradict cabinet claims the strike was “a matter of life and death.”
The taxpayer-owned Canada Infrastructure Bank should be disbanded, says the Commons transport committee. MPs in a report recommended that cabinet abolish the Bank as a costly failure: “This was supposed to be a marquee institution.”
Recent reductions in Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions were a Covid anomaly, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said yesterday. Guilbeault added he didn’t know what portion of reductions was due to his climate change program or the recession: “What was a result of the economic slowdown?”
Parliament should regulate telecom companies’ collection and sale of cellphone customers’ mobility data, say MPs. Recommendations of the Commons ethics committee followed disclosures the Public Health Agency bought data on millions of telecom clients in the name of monitoring pandemic lockdowns: “I had not seen anything on this scale.”
The Opposition yesterday called for Commons finance committee hearings into management of the Canada Revenue Agency. Ted Gallivan, a former assistant commissioner, is named by whistleblowers in allegations he approved a “secretive tax deal” for a wealthy corporate lobbyist: “Ted wants this done.”
Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly last night said she had no idea why Canada was the first NATO country to abruptly close its embassy in Kabul. The closure stranded thousands of Canadians and Afghan allies desperate to flee the Taliban: ““I was not privy to that information.”
It makes no sense to lift federal mask mandates for air travelers, Dr. Theresa Tam said yesterday. The Department of Transport called the mandate the “least cumbersome” pandemic precautions: “At the height of a sixth wave? No I don’t think we should be lifting mask recommendations.”
Marijuana users are now a “major contributor” to fatal road accidents, says a Department of Public Safety report. Data show police charges for drug-impaired driving jumped 43 percent with legalization of cannabis: “Drug-impaired driving is a major contributor to fatal road crashes.”
Bitcoin owners in Canada are typically young, affluent speculators who score poorly in financial literacy, says Bank of Canada research. The central bank that monopolizes the printing of banknotes in Canada has to date rejected any direct involvement in cryptocurrency: “The size of this market is not big enough to pose significant risks to the financial system. However this may change quickly.”
