Cabinet yesterday joined a “diplomatic boycott” of the Beijing Winter Olympics. One Liberal MP and former Olympian described the protest as meaningless to athletes: “I don’t think the athletes are concerned with which diplomats are there.”
The actual cost of cabinet’s latest pandemic relief bill may be billions higher than estimated, the Commons finance committee was told yesterday. The Department of Finance was in a “continued race to push money out the door,” said one MP: “Things have been lax during Covid.”
Airports, banks, radio stations and other federally-regulated employers face cash fines if they do not mandate vaccination of workers, the labour department said yesterday. Cabinet stopped short of repeating an earlier threat to strip workers of legal rights to challenge vaccine orders: “Get vaccinated. That’s what Canadians expect.”
Carbon tax waivers will save farmers nearly a half billion next year while tax credits for oil and gas companies are worth an average $1.8 billion annually, the Parliamentary Budget Office said yesterday. The figures were requested by Senator Rosa Galvez (Que.), sponsor of a Senate motion to declare a climate crisis: “We owe Canadians.”
Cabinet last night served notice it will speed passage of a bill promoting paid sick days. The Parliamentary Budget Office put the cost of the legislation at about a quarter billion by 2025: “Canada’s antiquated labour laws are sorely in need of attention.”
A spokesperson who assured reporters Justin Trudeau “wasn’t on a beach” on Reconciliation Day was demoted yesterday. The Prime Minister was twice photographed on a beach. Trudeau had promised to “set a higher bar for openness and transparency in government.”
The Commons finance committee yesterday rejected a bid by cabinet to speed billions in new pandemic relief spending. Too much has already been spent too quickly without oversight or auditing, the committee was told: “We don’t want to waste another $100 million, $200 million, a billion dollars on mismanagement or fraud.”
The Bank of Canada has suspended without pay a Christian manager who pleaded for a work-at-home exemption from compulsory vaccination. The latest enforcement measure follows a landmark Supreme Court ruling that governments had no business validating religious convictions: “It hurt so badly. I just wanted to work.”
Reid Sirrs, Canada’s last ambassador to Afghanistan, faces questioning at parliamentary hearings over his abrupt departure from Kabul. Ambassador Sirrs fled the country though an estimated 1,250 Canadians left behind were at risk of kidnapping and murder: “Get to the bottom of it.”
Pandemic relief for business was so hurried and haphazard taxpayers may never see recovery of all loans, a federal agency said yesterday. Deficit spending from the outbreak of the pandemic has totaled $508.9 billion overall: ‘Programs may not include controls to prevent major errors.’
A cabinet bill on workers’ paid sick leave should have more generous terms, New Democrats said yesterday. Amendments are “so important to protect the worker, the family and also to protect the public,” said MP Peter Julian (New Westminster-Burnaby, B.C.).
Pandemic health precautions may last “months, possibly even years,” warns Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos. His remarks to reporters followed questions over whether Duclos’ department will now redefine full vaccination to include a third Covid shot for millions of people: “May Canadians be expected to get a shot every six months consistently going forward?”
A federal bank predicts food prices will keep rising into the foreseeable future. Net price increases by wholesalers average more than eight percent, it said: “We believe food inflation will remain elevated for the foreseeable future.”
A Liberal MP who tweeted “every skinny aboriginal girl is on crystal meth” has been named parliamentary secretary for Crown-Indigenous relations. The appointment carries an $18,100 bonus to the $185,800-a year salary for MP Jaimie Battiste (Sydney-Victoria, N.S.): “Why do I assume every skinny aboriginal girl is on crystal meth or pills?”
Cabinet will consider whether the Canada Labour Code should apply to federal contractors, says Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan. MPs pressed for clarification on whether vendors including small suppliers must comply with standards mandated for Canada’s largest corporations: “How far do we go? Contractor to a contractor? The aunt or wife of an uncle of a contractor?”
