Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem yesterday acknowledged he again missed his inflation target, the latest in a series of incorrect forecasts dating back two years. “We are acutely aware already high inflation has risen further above our target,” Macklem told reporters: “We now expect inflation to average almost six percent.”
A press watchdog yesterday said it will not investigate allegations an environmental journalist hastened her own arrest at a pipeline protest. John Fraser, chair of the National News Media Council, said it was not the Council’s job to “offer general comment on issues.”
More than a third of English-speaking Canadians say it would be more useful to have their children learn a second language other than French. Research by the Languages Commissioner also found almost half of all people say mandated bilingualism makes no sense in some parts of Canada: “Over half of anglophones agree with this statement.”
Public Sector Integrity Commissioner Joe Friday has named names in a massive breach of confidentiality under his own Act. The Commissioner mistakenly released 2,324 pages of records detailing whistleblower investigations at the Canada Revenue Agency: “Fear of reprisal exists. This fear is very real.”
The Treasury Board in a “March madness” spending spree burned through a third of a million to mark the end of the fiscal year, according to Access To Information records. The annual ritual sees managers spend unused budgets for fear of losing their parliamentary appropriation: “You spend money you have rather than let it lapse even if you don’t absolutely need the money.”
Covid vaccines offer little to no protection after five months, a federal scientific panel said yesterday. The Public Health Agency said all Canadians should get a booster but stopped short of mandating it: “Would you like to see the definition of ‘fully vaccinated’ changed so it requires everyone to have at least three shots?”
There is not a single Liberal voter in the hamlet of Big Beaver, Sask., one of a dozen municipalities nationwide where cabinet went scoreless in the last campaign, according to Elections Canada data. The outcome in the riding of Souris-Moose Mountain was the most lopsided in the country: “To those who say politicians do not have a heart — “
Saskatchewan legislators yesterday celebrated formal repeal of an 1881 vintage tax holiday for the Canadian Pacific Railway. Both the Commons and Senate repealed a legal clause declaring the CPR “shall be forever free from taxation” on its main line across the Prairies: “We will always be on Saskatchewan’s side.”
Internal memos name senior Canada Revenue Agency executives suspected of arranging “sweetheart tax treatment” for large corporations. Managers in one case were alleged to manipulate preferential treatment for an unidentified company and then had employees “rubber stamp the deal.”
Internal human resources reports detail dysfunction in senior management at the Canada Revenue Agency including one executive who hired Facebook friends and was suspected of billing taxpayers for junkets abroad. “A certain level of dysfunction exists within the existing working relationships,” read a Briefing Note For The Director General: “Further action will likely be required in order to remedy the apparent toxic nature of the workplace.”
Ex-army interpreters yesterday pleaded with MPs for help in rescuing families trapped in Afghanistan. The appeals followed disclosures Canada’s ambassador and his staff fled the Taliban aboard a half-empty military plane: ‘We lost. We failed. Look at us now.’
Organized crime has infiltrated the public sector but mainly at the municipal level, says a federal report. The Criminal Intelligence Service counted 31 gangs and other criminal groups with agents in city departments: “Familial or romantic relationships and monetary benefits appear to be the principal factors motivating corruption and infiltration in the public sector.”
The parliamentary secretary for the Coast Guard yesterday signed a pledge not to discuss business with his wife. Liberal MP Mike Kelloway (Cape Breton-Canso, N.S.) said it would a breach the Conflict Of Interest Act since Mrs. Kelloway works as a Coast Guard manager: “The Ethics Commissioner and I have agreed.”
Unnamed Canada Revenue Agency executives are accused of going for drinks during business hours, according to a confidential report. A consultant cited widespread complaints at the Agency’s Competent Authority Services Division responsible for international tax matters: “Questionable behaviour and work ethic by some staff members or managers were brought to our attention.”
Foreigners convicted of crimes in Canada would automatically have all immigration permits and papers cancelled under a cabinet proposal. Currently the Canada Border Services Agency complained employees must spend an average half-hour manually voiding permits one at a time for every person named in a deportation order: “In 2018 over 30,000 removal orders were issued.”
