Twenty-nine unidentified publishers have applied for payroll subsidies under a $595 million federal media bailout, records show. The Canada Revenue Agency that manages the program refused to name all applicants, citing taxpayer privacy: “We are responding to the call of our newspapers.”
The Commons health committee yesterday issued a summons to question Canada’s man at the World Health Organization, epidemiologist Dr. Bruce Aylward, over the agency’s slow response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The summons has the legal weight of a courthouse subpoena though Parliament has not enforced such an order for 147 years: “The WHO ought to operate with transparency.”
Operators responsible for a 2017 tour boat accident did not have enough lifejackets aboard, the Transportation Safety Board said yesterday. The incident prompted a federal probe of the industry and a rare Federal Court challenge of safety inspections: “The master and crew were unaware.”
Imports of pandemic supplies with English-only labels represent a Trojan horse on French language rights, a Bloc Québécois MP said yesterday. Parliament has mandated bilingual labeling for forty-six years: “Is the government going to apologize?”
Cabinet may declare a national disaster for farmers, Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau last night told the Commons industry committee. The declaration would see Parliament pay 60¢ of every dollar in claims by farmers on a cost-shared basis with provinces: “Yes, that is something we are considering seriously right now.”
The collapse of tourism will continue through the summer with at least a seventy percent decline in revenues, says Economic Development Minister Mélanie Joly. “If you have ideas for a plan, please feel free,” Joly last night told the Commons industry committee.
A billion-dollar federal program targeted to aid 100,000 homebuyers has seen fewer than 750 applications a month, records show. The equity loan plan was launched in 2019 in what a former federal budget officer called an “interesting experiment”.
The Commons last night passed a $9 billion pandemic aid bill for students amid warnings over the rising federal deficit. “We all know $200 billion deficits mean future tax increases,” said one Conservative MP.
Jobless youth should be sent to work on farms instead of receiving grants to sit at home, a Conservative MP yesterday told the Commons. One Liberal MP complained young staff have told employers that wages can’t beat federal benefits: “They are making more money staying home doing nothing.”
Parliament has now guaranteed some $16 billion worth of interest-free loans for small business, according to the Department of Finance. MPs said small operators disqualified on technicalities are becoming desperate as competitors reap a windfall: “There are so many holes in these programs.”
The Public Health Agency yesterday acknowledged it underestimated deaths from Covid-19 in Canada. The Commons health committee earlier heard testimony that actual infection rates will be five times Agency estimates: “It’s kind of hard to look at predictions.”
Cabinet has announced so many pandemic relief programs known by acronym – CEBA, CECRA, CERB, CESB, CEWS – only the Opposition yesterday found it improbable when a Liberal MP unveiled a new multi-billion dollar CEAB program on his Twitter account. The lawmaker later apologized for fake news: “There is no announcement.”
Full-time pandemic relief work for military reservists will cost taxpayers nearly half a billion dollars, the Parliamentary Budget Office said yesterday. Expenses are double the cost of the navy’s last aircraft carrier: “The front line is everywhere.”
Federal executives billed thousands in commercial flights for routine business even after the Department of Health advised Canadians to stay home where possible. Records show managers booked unnecessary travel the very day Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked the public to “figure out how to stay home from work and work from home”.
The CFL season is questionable for the first time in 101 years despite intense lobbying by the league. Health Minister Patricia Hajdu yesterday cited the risk of “spit and all kinds of stuff” in football.
