CMHC in the largest known privacy breach of any federal agency last year mistakenly emailed personal information on 45,000 homeowners to an unnamed bank. The Privacy Commissioner was never notified, according to newly-disclosed records: “An email with an MS Excel attachment was sent.”
Conservative MP Michael Chong (Wellington-Halton Hills, Ont.) last night said he was personally threatened numerous times by people he believed were Communist Chinese agents. Chong said he called police: “It was more than one.”
Governor General Mary Simon in a 16-month period billed taxpayers nearly $38,000 for silk jackets, cocktail party dresses and other outfits and accessories, accounts show. Charges ranged from $675 for a silk jacket to $380 shoes, a $159 suede vest and $95 scarf: ‘People spend $150 for two small bags of groceries that are barely enough to feed a family.’
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland yesterday said federal debt charges are “absolutely handleable” but would not discuss the figure. Freeland testified for 90 minutes at the Commons finance committee to break a Conservative filibuster of her budget bill: “I think it’s really important to put numbers in context.”
A federal backlog of air passenger complaints over poor service is now up to a record 46,000, the Canadian Transportation Agency said yesterday. It is the equivalent of a three-year wait according to Agency figures: “The customer comes last now.”
People’s Party leader Maxime Bernier yesterday said he was the first politician in Canada to be jailed without committing a crime. Bernier agreed to pay $2,000 in fines and costs in Manitoba Provincial Court for technical breach of 2021 pandemic restrictions: “It was a dark time in Canada.”
A federal program offering homeowners “green” grants to refit their property is under-subscribed by almost 60 percent, records show. The Department of Natural Resources acknowledged “challenges.”
Conservative and Bloc Québécois members of the Commons public accounts committee yesterday served notice they seek to review 10 years’ worth of Trudeau Foundation tax returns. It follows evidence the Foundation misrepresented a $140,000 gift from a Chinese donor affiliated with China Central Television: “Canadians are owed a proper explanation.”
Cabinet spent billions more on Indigenous affairs without proportional improvement in actual services, Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux said yesterday. Public Accounts show spending more than doubled after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau created two Indigenous departments out of one: “Increased spending did not result in a commensurate improvement.”
The entire management of the Canadian Human Rights Commission should be fired for racism, union executives yesterday told the Senate human rights committee. The Commission was cited by the Treasury Board for mistreating Black employees: “Systemic discrimination runs so deep in Canada’s public service it can be found in the very branch of the government responsible for fighting it.”
Data confirm hundreds of thousands of families will not use subsidized daycare. A quarter of young children are raised in the home, figures show: “It provides a snapshot of early child care use across the country.”
There is little “greening” of the nation’s commercial truck fleet despite offers of $250,000 federal grants, says in-house research by the Department of Natural Resources. Cabinet has targeted transportation as a key polluter that accounts for 22 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions: “The most common barrier identified by companies is cost.”
RCMP are short of their targeted strength by almost ten percent, new data show. The Mounties acknowledged being unable to draw enough recruits despite union pay, quicker processing and a rule change that allows foreigners to apply: “Policing is no longer considered as attractive a career as it used to be.”
The Office of the Ethics Commissioner confirms it is unable to investigate any misconduct until a new appointee is named by Parliament, a process that could take months. The post has been vacant since April 19: “Take notes, keep receipts.”
The first reforms to lobbying rules since the We Charity scandal will come into effect July 1. Lobbying Commissioner Nancy Bélanger said amendments would govern all 8,000 registered lobbyists in Ottawa: “There will be plenty of time for people to look at it and react.”
