Cabinet yesterday acknowledged stiff opposition to its proposal to regulate legal internet content. Attorney General Arif Virani said a censor bill will be split to focus on issues that “should be a priority for everybody.”
Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon yesterday said Canada Post management and workers were “highly disrespectful” of customers as a strike passed its 19th day. This week is traditionally the busiest of the year with Christmas mailings: “That is in my view, among other things, highly disrespectful.”
Canadians in federal focus groups are worried over the national debt, says in-house Privy Council research. Taxpayers rated annual deficits a symptom of poor economic management: “A greater focus needed to be placed on maintaining balanced budgets.”
Cabinet yesterday confirmed Donald Trump suggested Canada become the 51st U.S. state if it is unable to enforce border security and balance trade with America. Trump “was teasing us,” said one cabinet member who attended a banquet last Saturday at Trump’s Florida estate: “The President was teasing us.”
Parts of Canada’s Muslim and Arab communities are responsible for “a crisis of Jew hatred in this country,” says an executive with the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. The blunt testimony opened hearings on anti-Semitism by the Senate human rights committee: “There is a crisis of Jew hatred in this country.”
MPs have agreed to drop a proposed change to the next fixed election date that would have guaranteed pensions for Liberal and New Democrat two-termers. Members of the House affairs committee yesterday said they would delete the clause in an elections bill: ‘This was cynical.’
The public is owed more transparency by the Bank of Canada, the Senate banking committee said yesterday. Senators in a report said broad reforms “should be considered” after 90 years at the central bank: “Find answers to three main questions.”
A Brazilian contractor hired to manage a federal pandemic relief program billed taxpayers up to $750 an hour, auditors disclosed yesterday. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s department was blamed for poor oversight of the scheme that wasted billions: “They really did fail in their responsibilities.”
Canada’s Ambassador for Climate Change yesterday said she likes to travel by air because “it makes more sense” than taking the train or attending meetings by videoconference. Catherine Stewart would not discuss her carbon footprint after billing $254,089 in travel expenses her first two years on the job: “I speak about the devastating impacts of climate change.”
There is no evidence the Canada Summer Jobs program creates jobs though it cost more than a quarter billion last year, says a federal audit. The Department of Employment that runs the program did not determine whether 50 percent wage grants created new jobs or merely subsidized existing positions: “It is like free money.”
The Commons yesterday heard allegations of drunkenness in the chamber. New Democrat House Leader Peter Julian (New Westminster-Burnaby, B.C.) claimed “visibly drunk” Conservatives caused a ruckus, but did not provide evidence or name names: “It is unbelievable.”
One of Canada’s top business executives yesterday apologized to the Commons industry committee. Rogers Communications CEO Tony Staffieri appeared by videoconference under summons: “I would like to say I am sorry.”
Canada’s military is unprepared to defend the Arctic with few soldiers on deployment, few airfields fit for use by the Air Force and little winter training of combat forces, says a Department of National Defence audit. The largest beneficiaries of annual training exercises are private contractors, said auditors: “Russia does have military capabilities in the Arctic.”
Four New Democrat MPs were escorted off the floor of the House of Commons following an angry outburst witnessed by Speaker Greg Fergus. One Conservative said she was left shaken when New Democrats swarmed her desk following a 13-hour session on a GST holiday bill: “I was so in shock from what was going on.”
A senior Liberal MP claims Russia “is spending millions” to aid the Conservative Party. MP Kevin Lamoureux (Winnipeg North), parliamentary secretary to the Government House Leader, provided no evidence and did not respond to questions after leveling the accusation in the Commons: “It is gutter politics.”
