Nunavut Senator Dennis Patterson yesterday introduced a bill to repeal one of the few Confederation-era laws still on the books. Patterson described as “antiquated and elitist” a requirement that senators be landowners with at least $4,000 in paid-up equity: “Canadians should not be excluded from participating in the parliamentary process simply because they rent.”
Legislators for the third time in three years will attempt to pass an aid bill for jurors traumatized by graphic testimony in criminal courts. “When we ask citizens to be a juror we don’t ask them to be a victim,” said Senator Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu (Que.), sponsor of the latest bill: “There is no excuse not to adopt that bill.”
Most Canadians find the country a nice quiet place, says in-house research by the Department of Health. Staff spent $48,166 on a survey that found only eight percent of Canadians have their nightly sleep disturbed, mainly by noisy neighbours or a snoring spouse: “Do you live in an area where you have a high expectation for tranquility, peace and quiet?”
Immigration Minister Sean Fraser yesterday said he is determined to root out racism in his own department. Fraser’s remarks follow a report the department tolerated crude bigotry including managers who patted a Black employee’s hair and called Indigenous people lazy: “Are you saying there is discrimination in your department?”
The Bank of Canada has suspended without pay a conscientious objector who declined a Covid shot, then threatened to fire the employee. Joseph Hickey, a work-from-home Bank researcher who is also executive director of the Ontario Civil Liberties Association, said his suspension made no medical sense: “Your employment may ultimately be terminated if you remain non-compliant.”
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland yesterday said she will soon update figures on federal deficits, the largest in Canadian history, with “the last step” in emergency pandemic spending. It comes ahead of new Statistics Canada data on per capita debt levels: “We know how important it is to be transparent with Canadians about public finances.”
A bill to ban China-made products suspected of being produced by slave labour was yesterday introduced in the Senate. “We must let the Communist regime know we are serious,” said Senator Leo Housakos (Que.), sponsor of the bill: “Canada has a moral and legal obligation.”
The U.S. just six days after hosting a Biden-Trudeau summit yesterday again raised tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber. “Canadians were promised a renewed relationship,” said one MP: “Downplaying these threats and being hopeful is not a plan.”
A proposed gun buy-back program at the Department of Public Safety is a mammoth undertaking prone to human error and “wasted time, energy and funds,” says an internal report obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. Costs are already up to $8.8 million though the program has not been formally launched: “The feds haven’t bought a single gun yet and costs still continue to go up.”
Opposition MPs yesterday lined up 178 votes in the 338-seat Commons to reopen an investigation of why top security clearance was given Chinese scientists at a federal lab. Cabinet had gone to “unbelievable” lengths to block the probe, MPs were told: “We cannot leave things here.”
Internet regulation has “nothing to do with free speech,” Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez yesterday told reporters. Cabinet had proposed to reintroduce first-ever legislation covering legal internet content with a bill permitting the CRTC to regulate YouTube videos: “That bill has nothing to do with free speech.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs spent nearly $627,000 promoting feminism in Venezuela including the hiring of $567-a day publicists to “arrange high level media interviews” with women legislators. Managers who signed the contract yesterday would not comment.
Allegations the Clerk of the Commons misused his office to send inside information to Liberal MPs should be investigated in secret, cabinet said yesterday. Charles Robert is accused of incompetence and favouritism as a $231,000-a year cabinet appointee: “Stick to the facts, please. That’s all I ask. Something we can prove. The facts. We want to see the facts.”
The Opposition health critic yesterday accused cabinet of spreading reckless misinformation about vaccines. MP Dr. Stephen Ellis (Cumberland-Colchester, N.S.), a Truro physician, pointed to incorrect medical advice from the Government House Leader: ‘Reckless comments like this further perpetuate confusion.’
Cabinet will not tolerate “obfuscation or political games” in the 44th Parliament, Government House Leader Mark Holland said yesterday. Holland said Parliament must pass major amendments to the Criminal Code and Canada Labour Code in twenty days: “I think Canadians expect us to hit the ground running.”
