Canadian diplomats embarrassed the nation by abruptly fleeing Afghanistan, MPs were told last night. The Department of Foreign Affairs has not yet explained why diplomats fled Kabul though Canadian citizens remained trapped under Taliban control: “All of a sudden, boom, they were gone.”
Cabinet is not even thinking of taxing Canadians’ home equity, Housing Minister Ahmed Hussen said yesterday. The repeated pledge follows the January 5 release of a CMHC-funded study proposing a $6 billion-a year equity tax on homeowners: “This is not under consideration by our government.”
The Department of Finance yesterday said it is unsure of the impact of a first-time federal equity tax on foreign non-resident buyers in real estate. The tax to take effect this year would punish scofflaws with $5,000 fines and surcharges: “Surely they are going to reciprocate very quickly in taxing Canadians who own property in the United States.”
Federal climate researchers spent more than $69,000 surveying Arctic residents on whether they were prepared for global warming. Respondents said they looked forward to it: “A few also felt concern that climate change was overblown and perhaps part of a historic warming period.”
The Commons yesterday by a 185 to 151 vote rejected a motion compelling cabinet to table a pandemic recovery plan by month’s end. Conservatives sponsored the proposal for a timetable to lift Covid regulations: “Canadians have had enough particularly with the yo-yoing on some measures.”
The Privy Council Office in confidential research found Canadians increasingly unhappy with cabinet’s pandemic management including “absence of a concrete reopening plan.” The in-house polling report came weeks after the September 20 election that saw Liberals regain office with 32.6 percent of the vote, a record low: “Some felt considerations other than the best interests of the country were increasingly playing a role.”
Cabinet will change Covid rules for cross-border travelers this week. The Department of Health would not say if the decision was prompted by the Freedom Convoy truckers’ protest now in its 18th day outside Parliament: “The situation changes.”
Now-retired Senator James Munson (Ont.) tomorrow is to lead national observance of “Kindness Week” after calling Freedom Convoy truckers racists and hostage takers. Munson, a former Liberal press aide, sponsored An Act Respecting Kindness Week to “encourage values such as empathy.”
A company directed by Defence Minister Anita Anand’s husband was awarded a Covid contract over eighteen competitors, records show. Cabinet said Anand played no role in the award: “A total of nineteen companies submitted bids.”
Canada Post management said it was never told of cabinet research on job and service cuts at the post office. The in-house polling by the Privy Council Office followed similar proposals in a 2013 Action Plan: “Have you been presented with the results of that?”
The Commons public safety committee yesterday voted 11-0 to investigate crowdfunding for “ideologically-motivated violent extremism in Canada.” The vote came as one MP compared Freedom Convoy truckers to terrorists: “I think any casual observer looking at Ottawa right now could probably make a link.”
The Commons public accounts committee yesterday determined no Public Health Agency executive was fired for mismanaging a national stockpile of medical supplies. Records show the Agency ignored warnings to prepare for an inevitable pandemic and instead threw masks away to save on warehouse leases: “No one in your department was held accountable for putting our front line workers at risk.”
A Public Health Agency data scoop on millions of Canadian cellphone users would never have been allowed under foreign laws, the Commons ethics committee was told yesterday. “This was staggering to me,” testified Ann Cavoukian, former Ontario privacy commissioner: “Never, ever give up on privacy. Privacy and freedom, they go hand in hand.”
Federal regulators yesterday partially repealed an order permitting telecom companies to abandon paper billing as a cost-savings measure. Consumer groups petitioned the CRTC to guarantee billing by mail: “A paper bill is the cost of doing business.”
A federal committee is recommending cabinet drop plans to legislate a statutory “right to disconnect” under the Canada Labour Code. Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan received the report last June but withheld it until yesterday: “There was substantial divergence on how the government should proceed.”
