Half of businesses surveyed that were shuttered in 2021 lockdowns remained closed five months later, says a Bank of Canada study. Researchers said it was critical to calculate the scope of insolvencies and so-called “zombie” businesses: ‘They are essentially dead but haven’t finalized the closure process altogether.’
The Commons finance committee tomorrow opens hearings on housing prices. Urban Canada runs a risk of a “massive financial collapse,” said the Conservative MP who requested hearings: “We risk the possibility of a major housing crash.”
Banks can afford billions in new taxes, the Superintendent of Financial Institutions said yesterday. Peter Routledge told a teleconference of Toronto bankers that taxes proposed in the Liberal Party’s election campaign platform were worth a fraction of the industry’s net income: “From our perspective this issue is rather minor.”
Opposition MPs yesterday ordered Commons ethics committee hearings into federal monitoring of cellphone users. It follows admissions by the Public Health Agency it tracked 33 million mobile devices using cell tower locators to monitor compliance with lockdown orders: “This was done in secret.”
Attorney General David Lametti in a letter to senators questioned whether police were “less aggressive” with white protesters opposed to vaccine mandates than Black Lives Matter demonstrators. Lametti cited in evidence a single CBC election commentary that complained Covid protesters were “mostly white.”
Parliament must show “fiscal discipline” after running up the biggest deficits in Canadian history, say accountants. The Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada in a submission to the Commons finance committee said Parliament must stop the spending: “It is not an appropriate time to increase personal or corporate taxes.”
Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos under questioning by reporters Friday said he personally considered compulsory vaccination inevitable, but that it was up to provinces to introduce such a measure. No province has: “I personally believe it’s going to come to that one day, mandatory vaccination.”
Federal departments must stop conducting business with their favourite contractors on the phone, says Procurement Ombudsman Alexander Jeglic. Federal policy requires any tips given to special bidders must be given to all: “I am reaching out to arrange a phone call.”
Taoists have lost a claim for a religious tax holiday. The Ontario ruling contradicts an earlier decision by a Québec judge who asked, “What is a religion?”
A snowstorm paralyses Vancouver.
The city deploys half their fleet
in a bid to reopen roads.
The second plow
may join the effort
if deemed necessary.
(Editor’s note: poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, writes for Blacklock’s tradition each and every Sunday)
The Department of Northern Affairs spent more than $1.4 million installing solar panels in the most sunless region of Canada, records show. The climate change program was to aid Arctic hamlets that rely on diesel generators for heat and light in winter months: “We funded solar projects.”
The Commons health committee must investigate why public agencies continue to distribute China-made pandemic supplies, Opposition Leader Erin O’Toole said yesterday. “We need made-in-Canada supplies of personal protective equipment,” O’Toole told reporters: “Have we not learned anything?”
The company that invented the coffee pod yesterday was ordered to pay almost $4 million in damages and costs over misleading recycling claims. Keurig Canada acknowledged its plastic K-Cup pods are not in fact recyclable in most provinces: “Misleading claims by businesses to promote ‘greener’ products harm consumers.”
Transit operators seek billions in ongoing subsidies for declining fares under a Covid grant program originally promised to be a temporary measure. The last of nearly $2.4 billion in federal aid for bus and train systems expires this year: “The pandemic has severely impacted ridership.”
Taxpayers are liable for nearly $3 billion in costs to clean up abandoned mines in the territories, say federal auditors. Remote sites like Yukon’s Faro Mine have been rated among the most polluted industrial sites in Canada: “Initial remediation costs are revised generally upwards.”
