The CBC has expressed regrets over a garbled online story that depicted re-elected Conservative MP Rachael Harder (Lethbridge, Alta.) as “callous and ignorant.” Records detailed snide questions from a CBC Calgary reporter who falsely accused the MP of spreading misinformation about Covid: “I agree we have failed.”
Class action lawyers yesterday appealed to policyholders at Aviva Insurance Company of Canada to join a $300 million lawsuit over pandemic claims. The company sold “business interruption” coverage due to infectious diseases but denied many Covid claims: “This is a case of real people suffering real harm in real time.”
A federal agency, the National Capital Commission, faces a federal lawsuit for using yellow “caution” tape outside a building. The English-only tape breached the Official Languages Act, according to a complainant described in Federal Court as a frequent litigator who “deliberately searched for violations of the Act.”
The Bank of Canada in a research paper says it should consider issuing its own digital currency in competition with bitcoin. It comes seven years after the Bank quietly killed a similar initiative by the Royal Canadian Mint: “A central bank digital currency could be necessary.”
A federal agency, the National Research Council, is recruiting foreign workers after claiming it is “often not possible to find qualified Canadians” to work at its labs. Canada has produced 19 Nobel Laureates including prize winners in chemistry, medicine and physics: “Foreign workers may be hired to work in any NRC location across Canada.”
Cabinet aides in blunt emails expressed exasperation with Chinese suppliers that failed to fill orders for medical supplies. “Our experience is that shit can go sideways in China,” Matt Stickney, the Prime Minister’s executive director of operations, wrote in an April 1, 2020 email: “Do we need to ‘thank’ them?”
The Prime Minister’s Office approved a breach in contracting rules by wiring millions in advance cash payments to pandemic suppliers in China, according to internal emails. Staff said payments were rushed to contractors because “the Americans are moving faster than us.”
A Winnipeg man who claimed pandemic relief benefits though he wasn’t eligible does not have to repay the money, the Manitoba Court of Appeal has ruled. The Court accepted as evidence a remark by a Department of Employment spokesperson to the Toronto Star: “Ensure vulnerable Canadians do not fall behind.”
The Department of Canadian Heritage promises “large-scale commemoration events” for a September 30 holiday for federally-regulated employees only. The holiday itself will cost $388.9 million, by official estimate: “It is hard for me to hear about the hundreds of millions of dollars.”
Health Minister Patricia Hajdu’s department shipped 350 Baylis Medical ventilators to India that couldn’t plug into wall sockets. The department forgot to include $9 electrical adaptors, according to a briefing note: “The ventilators require a different electrical cord for use in India.”
The Public Health Agency in a confidential memo warned legislators to avoid “flagrant appeals to fear” in enforcing pandemic control measures. Trying to frighten Canadians was counterproductive, “coercive” and “manipulative,” said the memo: “Some people tend to have low trust in institutions and authority figures.”
Elections Canada yesterday said it has not asked cabinet to postpone balloting for federal voters in pandemic hot spots. An obscure provision of the Canada Elections Act allows local votes to be delayed for weeks, even months in case of emergency: ‘It is the last resort.’
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole yesterday said he would not chase “the almighty buck with China” if prime minister. The Party previously endorsed a 2012 investment pact with the People’s Republic but opposed any direct free trade treaty: “It is time for Canada to get tough on China.”
Canadian National Railway Co. for the third time in four years has been levied a multi-million dollar fine for breach of environmental laws. Railway lawyers pleaded guilty in a British Columbia court to spraying herbicides in the Skeena River: “The company’s name will be added to the Environmental Offenders Registry.”
Records in a Tax Court dispute disclose terms of confidential federal loans to corporations dubbed “contribution agreements.” A federal judge ruled terms in one case were so generous, about a third the cost of a commercial loan, it amounted to an outright subsidy by taxpayers: ‘It was significantly lower than the market rate.’
