Blacklock's Reporter

Cabinet has donated a small portion of its mammoth pandemic ventilator stockpile to Ukrainian war victims. The Department of Public Works spent more than $700 million on Covid-era rush orders for ventilators that were never used: “I do have the Canadian taxpayers’ interests at heart when I am doing my job.”

Only 40 percent of homeless people provided federal aid successfully became householders, say auditors. The majority left the $3.7 billion Reaching Home program: “What they want is a place, a home, without curfew and without a schedule.”

A federal agency, Export Development Canada, yesterday said it was unsure of recovering millions it loaned for aircraft engines at an insolvent Mexican carrier. The Parliamentary Budget Office has sought greater disclosure of loan losses by Crown banks like EDC: “Parliament doesn’t pay too much attention to them.”

The Federal Court has rejected a “test case” of quarantine orders as moot. A judge said arguing whether cabinet breached the Charter Of Rights was unnecessary since all mask and vaccine mandates have been repealed: “There is no longer a live controversy.”

Senior management at the Department of Immigration is so racist that cabinet should appoint an ombudsman to investigate employees’ complaints, says an internal report. “Some people do need to be fired,” the report quoted one staffer in describing office bigotry: “We need to weed these people out.”

The Department of Canadian Heritage bent rules on federal grants to subsidize pow-wows, according to auditors. Existing rules had banned funding for contests: “I believe all parts of Canada’s heritage are important to Canada.”

Beijing envoys accuse Canada of interfering in China’s business. Cabinet was “malicious,” “farfetched” and “extremely ridiculous,” the Chinese Embassy said in a statement: “Stop spreading China-related lies and false information.”

A federal agency paid pollsters $157,646 to find out most Canadians never heard of it. The Canada Energy Regulator said it wanted to “create awareness” of its work after learning it is “not a household name.”

Parliament’s Special Joint Committee on the Declaration of Emergency yesterday entered its 18th month of deliberations with no deadline in sight for a final report into cabinet powers used against the Freedom Convoy. MPs complained they are still waiting to see all records in both official languages: “It became obvious the Liberal members of the committee were not prepared to permit the release of any government documents.”

The Commons finance committee has voted down a motion to question the finance minister over looming impacts of interest rates on mortgage renewals. “I am very concerned about what is going to happen in the fall,” said Conservative MP Adam Chambers (Simcoe North, Ont.), sponsor of the motion: “We are not paying close enough attention to what is happening in the mortgage market.”

Parliament must investigate the role of “smaller investors” in housing including Airbnb listers, says New Democrat MP Daniel Blaikie (Elmwood-Transcona, Man.). Liberal members of the Commons finance committee expressed interest, noting another Commons committee is already acting on an NDP motion to review “financialization of the housing market.”

Federal managers need “tips, tools and techniques” to deal with media on sensitive First Nations controversies, says the Department of Indigenous Services. It proposed to hire media coaches at undisclosed hourly rates: “Figure out who is taking the training and why.”

A federal agency that overpaid employees thousands of dollars by direct deposit waited too long to recover the money, a labour board has ruled. Federal lawyers likened the mistake to a “lottery” for lucky winners.

Canada’s oldest public broadcaster has repeatedly breached terms of its license, says the CRTC. Regulators imposed no sanction on Alberta’s CKUA Radio network: “It must comply at all times.”