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.”
The Bank of Canada warns of far-reaching Covid effects on consumer spending even after lockdowns end. “If consumer preferences have changed in response to the Covid-19 experience many firms will become obsolete,” read a Bank study. “Bailing out such firms is likely to create unsustainable ‘zombies.’”
English-speaking Canadians oppose bilingualism mandates in the private sector, says in-house research by the Privy Council Office. Pollsters told cabinet there is very little French spoken west of Ottawa: “Overall it was not seen as being deeply embedded in the national culture.”
The Commons yesterday re-elected Liberal MP Anthony Rota (Nipissing-Timiskaming, Ont.) as $274,500-a year Speaker of the House. Rota in the last Parliament sided with MPs in disputes with cabinet over disclosure of records: “Now that we have a Speaker it’s time to get back to work.”
Cabinet yesterday restricted development in a Montréal suburb to save a rare, inch-long frog. The order under the Species At Risk Act also forbids tree pruning, off-road bicycling and “maintenance work on any infrastructure” under threat of $50,000 fines: ‘Suburban sprawl threatens the species’ survival.”
Transport Minister Omar Alghabra confirmed unvaccinated air passengers may seek exemptions from Covid shots under vague rules to take effect next week. Enforcement will fall to individual airline agents under threat of Aeronautics Act fines of $25,000: “Starting November 30 there will be very few exemptions to allow unvaccinated travelers to travel.”
It is “probably going to be quite difficult” to convince all parents to immunize young children against Covid, says the Public Health Agency. The pandemic is blamed for six deaths among more than 6 million unvaccinated children under age 15: “I have a small child. I’m not happy about injecting him with strange things.”
