The Canada Revenue Agency awarded its employees $2,500 in compensation for payroll errors regardless of whether they were underpaid in the first place, according to labour board records. No explanation was given: “That didn’t work.”
New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh yesterday dropped two candidates for inappropriate tweets. The Party platform advocated federal measures to counter online hate: “We’re seeing a scary rise in anti-Semitism and we are unequivocally opposed.”
A garbled TV headline breached a news code on ethics, a national broadcast regulator said yesterday. Canadians expect accurate pandemic news, said the Broadcast Standards Council: “I’m just asking people, don’t gather in large groups.”
The Afghanistan Veterans Association of Canada yesterday petitioned Rideau Hall to award the Victoria Cross to a Nipissing, Ont. man, Jess Larochelle. Advocates noted there was precedent in reconsidering nominees for an award so rare no Canadian has won it in 77 years: “The guy had a broken back and single-handedly fought off forty Taliban.”
Public Works Minister Anita Anand personally called a federal contractor in a cabinet colleague’s riding to “speak about your needs,” according to internal emails. Cabinet to date has not disclosed details of the sole-sourced $200,451,621 contract for Covid ventilators that were shipped for storage in an Ottawa warehouse: “I am reaching out to arrange a phone call.”
We Charity spent nearly $20,000 hosting the Prime Minister’s wife at an event in Britain a month before cabinet aides began negotiating terms of what became a $43.5 million federal grant to the charity, according to records. It was the costliest of eight We Charity appearances by Sophie Grégoire Trudeau: “She got Covid from attending the We Charity event.”
Canadians share a lingering fear of crowds even after Covid runs its course, says in-house research by the heritage department. Most say they are uncomfortable or unsure it would be safe to attend indoor concerts and events once pandemic restrictions are lifted: ‘It would make me anxious.’
New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh yesterday said a public apology, not censure, was sufficient for a Toronto candidate who posted anti-Israel tweets. Singh earlier pledged support for federal legislation to regulate hurtful comments on social media: “Why are you standing by this candidate?”
Human rights codes do not protect maskless shoppers, the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal has ruled. People who claim a right to forego Covid masks must have a valid medical reason, the Tribunal said: “I was told if I would not wear a mask I had to leave.”
Federal prisoners do not have to get vaccinated, the Correctional Service said yesterday. However prison guards as federal employees would be required to show proof of vaccination under a cabinet proposal: “The Covid-19 vaccine is not mandatory for federal inmates.”
Public Safety Minister Bill Blair’s department commissioned pre-election polling on whether to ban hunting rifles and shotguns. More than a third of people favoured a ban, mainly those who were “not very or at all familiar” with firearms regulations: “The objective of this research was to set benchmarks.”
Elections Canada yesterday said poll officers have been instructed to call police if necessary to enforce local pandemic rules. RCMP in one incident were summoned to an advance poll in West Kelowna, B.C. to question maskless voters: “You have to be careful here.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau yesterday said any re-elected Liberal cabinet will amend the Criminal Code to outlaw protests outside hospitals, clinics and pharmacies. The Code already prohibits unlawful assembly by as few as three people: ““Why would that legislation be necessary?”
The Bank of Canada in a review of Donald Trump tweets concludes the former U.S. president’s messages had a “statistically significant” impact on exchange rates. Twitter permanently suspended Trump’s account last January 8: “His tweets were informative and potentially consequential.”
Cabinet aides were in personal contact with VIPs and Liberal Party insiders seeking federal Covid contracts from the outbreak of the pandemic, according to internal emails. Other suppliers were told to register with a federal website: “Could we reach out politically on this one as well?”
