Privy Council Office researchers say Canadians must agree on “standards and practices” for internet media. The recommendation follows a proposal by cabinet advisors for a mandatory federal registry of digital publishers: “Those words scare the hell out of me.”
MPs unhappy with their internet service last night grilled telecom executives over high prices and inadequate coverage. Pointed exchanges at the Commons industry committee came after a Rogers Communications executive described employees as heroes of the pandemic: “I think you guys are making money.”
Cabinet has approved a half-billion dollar pandemic relief bill for fishermen. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau yesterday suggested consumers support the industry by eating lobster: “Everyone who wants to show their support, buy Canadian.”
Cabinet yesterday directed a federal agency to publicly name and shame banks found to breach consumer protection regulations. Fines for scofflaws are increased from $500,000 to $10 million. Parliament passed the amendments two years ago but banks needed “time to prepare”, said the Department of Finance: “This legislation would require the naming if there is a violation.”
The Department of Public Works yesterday said it’s run out of suppliers of high-grade pandemic masks just as provinces begin to open up the economy. “We’ve got about as much as we can,” said Michael Mills, associate assistant deputy minister.
Dairy farmers dumped thirty million litres of unsold milk this spring, the Commons agriculture committee was told. Farmers have halted the practice, said the Department of Agriculture: “The situation right now is exceptional.”
Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau yesterday said a secret briefing note on the carbon tax was in fact publicly available, though no one could find it. Staff explained Bibeau was referring to a different report published two years ago: “We looked everywhere last night.”
A federal ban on high-powered firearms spells the end of heritage cannon, an MP yesterday told the Commons. The Department of Public Safety did not comment on whether museum pieces like Vancouver’s famed Nine O’Clock Gun are subject to a buy-back program: “It meets the definition.”
Cabinet has spent so much so quickly the Parliamentary Budget Office yesterday said it doesn’t know what the deficit is. “These days a week can feel like a month,” Budget Officer Yves Giroux told the Commons finance committee.
Cabinet will not disclose the cost of a CBC lawsuit against the Conservative Party. The Crown broadcaster hired private lawyers to sue Conservatives over use of copyright news video footage in the 2019 campaign: ‘Information on any expenditures has been withheld.’
All tax filers over 65 with income up to $128,000 will receive a tax-free pandemic relief cheque, cabinet said yesterday. The cost is $2.5 billion: “The wealthiest cohort in Canada are seniors empirically, statistically and factually,”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau yesterday said federal agents will “go after fraudulent cases” involving millions in suspicious claims for pandemic relief. The number of claimants for $2,000 Canada Emergency Response Benefit cheques exceeds the number of unemployed: “What we’re asking about is fraud.”
Canada’s interim Auditor General yesterday said his office is so short of funding it has indefinitely postponed performance audits of federal departments. Only investigations mandated by Parliament will be completed, said Sylvain Ricard: “I am really getting concerned.”
Cabinet yesterday acknowledged fake pandemic relief claims have been paid to ineligible applicants posing as jobless. Claims exceed by millions the actual number of unemployed, records show: ‘We are working in lockstep to ensure this isn’t happening anymore.’
MPs have gained new powers to award lucrative wage subsidies to local employers regardless of whether they asked for aid. The Department of Employment approved the “temporary flexibility” under the quarter-billion dollar Canada Summer Jobs program: ‘New projects MPs identify for immediate investment will be funded first.’
