New Democrat and Liberal MPs yesterday questioned if federal measures are needed to curb political protests. The proposals followed a Tuesday incident in which NDP leader Jagmeet Singh was jeered by profane hecklers: “How much longer do we have to wait before we actually treat this seriously and put in place the tools to prevent this?”
Penalties for Parliament Hill ethics violations lack punch, MPs on the Commons ethics committee said yesterday. Maximum penalties range from a public apology to $500 fine: “$500 is certainly not significant in the eyes of many Canadians and I would agree with them.”
Federal Debates Commissioner David Johnston yesterday acknowledged 2021 campaign telecasts “did not deliver.” Johnston, 80, said he was personally unaware of specific complaints of bias: “Changes need to be made in the future to better serve the public.”
Employers will never fill job vacancies without record high immigration quotas, Minister of Immigration Sean Fraser said yesterday. “We cannot fill those jobs,” Fraser testified at the Commons immigration committee: ‘If we want to pay for all the things we enjoy we need to bring more people.’
The Senate yesterday passed a bill to annually honour pandemic workers from nurses to truck drivers. “This will be a time to pause for individual and collective reflection,” said the bill’s sponsor Senator Dr. Marie-Françoise Mégie (Que.): “Who should be remembered?”
Cabinet effective May 18 will require gun dealers to begin compiling a 20-year database on millions of rifle and shotgun owners. Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino yesterday denied it was a de facto gun registry cabinet had promised never to reintroduce: “They broke that promise.”
The federally regulated private sector should appoint francophone directors, Languages Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor said yesterday. Appointment of English directors left her “very disappointed and even angry,” said Petitpas Taylor: “We know French is on the decline.”
New Department of National Defence data yesterday confirmed suicide rates among soldiers, sailors and air crew are no higher than the general public. Years of statistics have contradicted media claims that military members are more susceptible to mental distress: “We recruit from the Canadian general population so our organization to some degree is a reflection of the general population.”
A long-promised federal registry listing true owners of shell companies only applies to federally incorporated firms, the Senate banking committee has been told. Companies incorporated in the ten provinces are exempt: “The government wants to give the appearance that they’re doing something.”
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.”
