Blacklock's Reporter

Governor General Mary Simon and her husband Whit Fraser promised federally regulated companies a charitable tax credit for money donated to build a $4 million skating pavilion at her official residence. At least $350,000 in contractors’ pay contractors was funneled through a registered charity to generate a tax credit, records show: “Consultations with relevant federal authorities were made.”

More than 700 foreign criminals are at large, the Canada Border Services Agency said yesterday. The Agency said it had already deported 845 foreign criminals in the past year: “We are constantly scooping water out of that bathtub but the bathtub is filling up.”

The Department of Finance yesterday acknowledged then-Minister Chrystia Freeland imposed a $389 million luxury tax without any cost-benefit analysis. The tax saw new registration of pleasure boats drop by almost a tenth: “Consumers will simply choose to take their discretionary spending elsewhere.”

A Conservative candidate for Parliament yesterday told the House affairs committee Chinese Communist Party agents stalked his campaign. Threats against activist Joe Tay prompted the abrupt resignation of a Liberal MP and a security warning from the RCMP: “Volunteers and I were followed, photographed and had our homes monitored.”

There has been high turnover in ministers at the Department of Veterans Affairs, current minister Jill McKnight yesterday told MPs. Figures show departmental staffing grew by two-thirds while the number of veterans in Canada declined and cabinet cycled through a new minister every 58 weeks on average: “What message does this send to the veterans?”

Governor General Mary Simon’s office asked federally regulated corporations for money to build a $4 million Rideau Hall ice pavilion, records show. Donors were offered invitations to her official residence, a commemorative photo with Simon and a personal thank-you letter autographed by the Governor General’s husband, former CBC journalist Whit Fraser: “Recognition of philanthropic donations has to be meaningful and appropriate to avoid perceptions of conflict of interest.”

It is difficult to guarantee the safety of Jews in Canada given public disorder, the CEO of the taxpayer-funded Canadian Race Relations Foundation said yesterday. Repeated attacks on Jewish institutions including schools were obviously intended to send a message, he said: “No one knows what the future is going to hold.”

The Mounties misspent millions on China-made drones that are now compromised as “high security risks,” says an internal report. Replacing the Chinese fleet would cost taxpayers another $34 million, it said: “The current replacement model is more than twice the cost of Chinese drones.”

The RCMP yesterday said they were unaware of any progress made in meeting a 2021 Liberal Party promise to create a Canadian Financial Crimes Agency. “We’re not sure exactly,” Chief Superintendent Michael Saghbini told the Commons finance committee.

House administration yesterday had no comment on newly-released accounts showing Liberal MP Greg Fergus (Hull-Aylmer, Que.) in his last year as Speaker spent nearly $300,000 on world travel including spring break in Jamaica. The junkets followed a cabinet pledge to cut unnecessary travel: “I learned the ropes of the job.”

Governor General Mary Simon budgeted millions to install an open-air skating pavilion at Rideau Hall complete with artificial ice and decorative roof to “protect it from climate change,” according to Access To Information documents. Staff did not disclose the actual cost: “It would be a fully integrated permanent structure with pipes enclosed in concrete.”

MPs have taken another step to compel Prime Minister Mark Carney to sell millions in stock holdings. The Commons ethics committee on Friday asked that Parliament rewrite the Conflict Of Interest Act to eliminate what Conservatives have dubbed a “Carney loophole.”

Housing Minister Gregor Robertson’s department spent more than $97,000 to send managers to a two-day conference on homelessness for “inspiration,” Access To Information records show. Charges included $33,600 for hotels and $8,857 on restaurant meals: ‘It arms policymakers with inspiration.’

The Canadian Labour Congress president in a Commons petition accuses Labour Minister Patty Hajdu of misusing cabinet powers to “end a strike by simply sending an email.” The Congress seeks repeal of a federal law used by cabinet to quash eight legal strikes in the past 15 months: ‘It gives sweeping, undemocratic powers to the Minister.’

An innocuous Senate bill to celebrate the history of immigration is actually intended to counter “xenophobic rhetoric,” say Liberal-appointed senators. Even the proposed timing of the bill was designed for lobbying purposes, the Senate social affairs committee was told: “Clearly the government is not doing it.”