Canadians should be wary of politicians who enjoy Chinese hospitality and parrot Communist Party lines, the Commons Special Committee on Canada-China Relations was told last night. “This is part of the pattern,” said New Brunswick Education Minister Dominic Cardy. “You start off with the soft sell.”
MPs yesterday demanded that a warrant be issued for confidential files that would explain why the Public Health Agency granted security clearance to Chinese scientists at a federal lab. Agency president Iain Stewart yesterday appeared in the Commons for a public shaming over his refusal to release the records: “If this House doesn’t respect its own orders, who will?”
The Department of Environment in what it calls the “first comprehensive assessment” of the federal carbon tax admits the original $50 per tonne charge would not meet emissions targets. Then-Environment Minister Catherine McKenna repeatedly promised prior to the 2019 election the $50 rate would never increase: “The price will not go up.”
Mass photocopying of Canadian books by schools and universities has driven writers’ average net income to a fraction of the minimum wage, the Commons heritage committee was told yesterday. The Supreme Court is expected to rule this year on whether unregulated free photocopying is lawful under the Copyright Act: “It boggles my mind how it’s legal.”
Air travelers’ mandatory assignment to quarantine hotels is lawful, the Federal Court has ruled. Chief Justice Paul Crampton said cabinet had a legal right to introduce even stricter regulations as in “times of war.”
The Senate last night passed into law a private bill extending unpaid funeral leave for Canadians stricken by death in the family. The bill passed both House and Senate without dissent: “Parliament can work.”
Iain Stewart, president of the Public Health Agency, today faces arrest by the Commons Sergeant-at-Arms if he fails to appear for a public shaming in the House by 3:30 pm Eastern. Stewart in a strained appearance by video at the Commons health committee said he was unsure if he”ll appear to face formal censure: “Is that what this is about, Mr. Stewart, your own hide?”
The CBC failed to disclose financial interests of another pundit for the third time in the past year, records show. Calgary economist Trevor Tombe received a sole-sourced federal contract while criticizing the Alberta government in online commentaries. Pundits’ interests must be disclosed under a network ethics code and directive from the CBC ombudsman: “CBC needs to do better in this area.”
The Public Health Agency in an internal memo last July 31 predicted a “reasonable best case scenario” that the pandemic would peter out with relatively low infection rates. Covid instead erupted in a second wave that tripled the death count and prompted lockdowns nationwide: “We need to strike the right balance.”
A subsidized newspaper that petitioned for federal aid has been cited by a Nova Scotia judge for wrongfully firing a 39-year employee without notice or severance. Layoffs at the Halifax Chronicle Herald occurred though the publisher received pandemic wage subsidies and payroll rebates under a $595 million media bailout: “An employee of 39 years has earned a moral right to be treated with dignity.”
An industry-financed rail compensation fund intended to save taxpayers the cost of cleanup from a catastrophic oil spill totals just $87 million in its fifth year. Claims from the fatal 2013 Lac-Mégantic wreck were almost $1.5 billion: “The Fund was set up to ensure polluters pay and not Canadian taxpayers.”
Federal regulators should be more transparent with investigations of environmental scofflaws, say MPs. The Commons environment committee expressed unease over a settlement with Volkswagen at a fraction what the automaker paid to U.S. regulators: “This works out to about $55,000 per vehicle in the United States versus $1,500 per vehicle in Canada.”
The Supreme Court judge who upheld the federal carbon tax yesterday said all Canadians must do their part to lower carbon emissions, but did not detail his own efforts to fight climate change. “It’s not everybody for instance who can use a bicycle,” said Chief Justice Richard Wagner, who is provided a car with chauffeur: “You have to try your best.”
MPs yesterday in a 176-150 vote censured the president of the Public Health Agency, Iain Stewart, and summoned him to the bar of the House to be formally cited for contempt. It is the first public shaming of a federal executive on the floor of the Commons in 130 years: “We settle this by democracy.”
Heritage Minister Steven Gulbeault’s department plans a pre-election advertising blitz on racism to “deal with pressing, urgent or emergency-driven marketing that may arise.” The “social cohesion” campaign targeting white voters is set for launch in September: ‘It is targeted to non-racialized Canadians, middle aged adults and non-racialized Canadian adults.’
