Cabinet quietly buried a promised ban on thermal coal exports announced with fanfare by then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2021, auditors said yesterday. One auditor called it the first time he’d seen an entire federal program shelved without comment: “I don’t remember a time in the last 20 years where I’ve seen work stop like that.”
Commons Speaker Francis Scarpaleggia yesterday dismissed complaints Liberals fed favoured media confidential details of a cabinet bill before it was tabled in Parliament. There were not “sufficient grounds” to find wrongdoing, he said: ‘The government’s assurance is it has no knowledge of a leak.’
A federal inventory of surplus Department of National Defence properties earmarked for housing includes buildings so decrepit they failed health inspections, new records show. One century-old Nova Scotia armoury deemed unfit for occupancy was among 14 properties listed “as potentially suitable for housing development under the Federal Lands Initiative.”
Canadians may see more interest rate hikes this winter after the Bank of Canada yesterday approved the first increase since 2023, says Governor Tiff Macklem. “There could be a need to raise the policy rate further,” he told reporters: “Higher interest rates are not going to immediately feel like they are helping.”
Members of the Commons ethics committee yesterday questioned why Liberal MP Lori Idlout (Nunavut) escaped penalty for multiple violations of the Conflict Of Interest Code For Members Of The House Of Commons. “How many times does someone have to violate it?” asked one Opposition MP.
A Correctional Service executive has been faulted for unbelievable and “preposterous” testimony at a labour board hearing. Assistant Deputy Commissioner Crystal Thompson was cited for mishandling a trivial dispute as warden at the Millhaven penitentiary in Bath, Ont.: “I do not believe her testimony.”
The Competition Bureau yesterday warned that an Air Canada proposal to expand cross-border joint ventures with United Airlines would cost consumers millions. A final decision is up to the Department of Transport, which opened public consultations on the proposal October 16: “The proposal would likely result in higher prices.”
MPs yesterday expressed incredulity on learning up to 200 employees at cabinet’s Major Projects Office are on half-salary from private corporations and were never vetted by the Ethics Commissioner. “Is this just something out of the goodness of their heart?” asked Conservative MP Branden Leslie (Portage-Lisgar, Man.): “You can see private sector companies have value in this.”
Housing Minister Gregor Robertson yesterday accused critics of scapegoating immigrants over the housing crisis though his own department said immigration contributed to housing shortages. Caught in Question Period, Robertson told jeering MPs: “There is a difference between immigrants and immigration.”
Taxpayers are typically flustered, anxious and intimidated when they receive a Canada Revenue Agency letter in the mail, says in-house research. The Agency spent $79,760 on questionnaires to determine why Canadians typically hesitated to open compliance letters: “Notifications often prompted worry before taxpayers knew what the message was about with some assuming it would bring bad news.”
Cabinet’s claim to feed 400,000 children through its National School Food Program is false, according to figures submitted yesterday to MPs. Ministers have repeated the claim though documents show it’s unfounded: “Two hundred million dollars per year from the federal government represents the equivalent of 22 cents per student per day.”
Senators yesterday said they suspected an unnamed MP leaked copies of a confidential committee report to media. Liberal MP Marcus Powlowski (Thunder Bay-Rainy River, Ont.), co-chair of the joint committee in question, did not comment: “It would be very difficult if not impossible – I would say impossible – to determine the source of the leak.”
The Canadian Transportation Agency is “incapable” of handling air passenger complaints despite hiring 120 employees to do the job, Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon said yesterday. Cabinet proposes to privatize the system: “What went wrong?”
The housing department in a briefing note to Minister Gregor Robertson acknowledged for the first time that cabinet’s housing target will not be met this decade. Immigration was to blame in part, said the note made public yesterday: “One of the drivers of the housing shortage has been the strong growth in housing demand driven by immigration.”
Labour Minister Patty Hajdu would gain “ambiguous and dangerous” powers to quash legal strikes under cabinet’s bill C-39, union executives said yesterday. The bill would codify strike bans by executive order, a measure used by cabinet 10 times in two years: “This concept is ambiguous and dangerous.”
