The Commons by a 202-115 vote yesterday rejected a private bill to outlaw “green” expropriations of private land without a public hearing. “My goal is to protect the property rights of average Canadians,” said Conservative MP Cheryl Gallant (Renfrew-Nipissing, Ont.), sponsor of the bill.
You can’t run down an employee with a forklift under a new Senate anti-harassment policy. An official guide also forbids leering, off-colour jokes and “invading personal space.”
A national broadcast ombudsman yesterday cited the NHL’s Brian Burke for breach of an ethics code. Burke was accused of using a violent metaphor while commenting on a playoff game: “Commentators can still use colourful expressions to make their point.”
Directors of the Parliamentary Press Gallery yesterday rewrote new ethics rules that shield China’s Xinhua state news agency from expulsion. A proposed code of conduct applies only to new applicants seeking membership. Xinhua has been a member for 57 years: “This is particularly important when it comes to the very halls of power.”
Federal failures to properly stock medical supplies prior to the pandemic were a “significant error,” the Canadian Public Health Association said yesterday. Managers of the national stockpile were so short of goods they recommended nurses wear aprons due to lack of medical gowns: “We are facing a real crunch.”
Canada must ensure “all the I’s are dotted and the T’s are crossed” before citing China for genocide, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau yesterday told reporters. His remarks followed a Conservative protest against having Canadian athletes attend the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing: “There is no question there have been tremendous human rights abuses.”
Cabinet yesterday budgeted nearly $190 million in pandemic funding for VIA Rail. The Crown railway reported disastrous losses with the collapse of passenger revenues: “VIA Rail has managed its expenses responsibly.”
Cabinet yesterday introduced a bill allowing municipalities to ban handguns under threat of two years’ imprisonment. “Gun ownership in this country is a privilege and not a right,” said Public Safety Minister Bill Blair: “We rely on the rule of law, not the end of a gun.”
A meatpacker that admitted to mistakenly selling turkey sausage containing chicken has lost a Federal Court bid to block disclosure of inspection reports under Access To Information. The processor said it feared media would publish “sensationalistic articles” on the contents of sausage: “The unfair manner in which the media will publish the identifying information will exacerbate the economic harm.”
Ongoing legal expenses from Julie Payette’s brief term as Governor General have cost taxpayers a quarter million, according to accounts. Payette abruptly resigned January 21 following complaints of workplace harassment: “Participants used the expressions ‘climate or reign of fear or terror.’”
The federal Leaders’ Debates Commission yesterday said it is hiring a TV producer in anticipation of a snap election call. The Commission said more than two debates may be held, but did not comment on its censure by a federal judge for running a media blacklist: “They botched it.”
The Department of Health in three weeks of spot checks found $1,440,000 in counterfeit medical products, records show. The Canada Border Services Agency said it also intercepted shipments of fake pandemic masks from five countries: “They should start going after the people importing this.”
Travel agents have been so hard hit by Covid-19 most are living on federal pandemic relief, an industry group told the Commons transport committee. “Many storefront agencies are now closing permanently,” said the Association of Canadian Independent Travel Advisors: “The travel industry was the first to be shut down and will be one of the slowest to recover.”
A Montréal judge has certified a class action lawsuit claiming refunds for anyone who lost money playing poker on a Loto-Québec website. Québec Superior Court was told a software glitch allowed some players to see their opponents’ face-down cards at the end of each hand: “Do they bluff?”
Calls for disclosure of $4.6 billion worth of contracts with vaccine manufacturers have prompted a cabinet filibuster. Liberal MPs on the Commons health committee delayed a vote to compel release of the terms to legislators: “We were elected to govern and we were elected to lead.”
