Political aides in the Prime Minister’s Office offered a sole-sourced pandemic contract to a U.S. vendor by text, according to records. The message went to a Liberal Party contact at Tesla Motors Canada: “We will pay of course.”
The Prime Minister’s Office from the earliest days of the pandemic knew of a “massive shortage” of masks that would have to be rationed, according to an internal document. The Public Health Agency at the time publicly stated Canadians had no need for masks: “Everybody wants it, we won’t have enough to go around.”
Elections Canada last night calculated turnout in Monday’s general election was only the second-worst since Confederation. An estimated 58.9 percent of electors cast ballots compared to the record low 58.8 percent in 2008: “We will have to consider this.”
The 44th Parliament must raise taxes on corporations and wealthy individuals to pay pandemic debts, New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh yesterday told reporters. Both the NDP and Liberal Party proposed billions in new taxes in their election platforms: “People are worried about who’s going to pay the price for the pandemic.”
Toronto again led the nation in voting Liberal. Updated ballot counts gave the Party a clean sweep of 25 Toronto ridings, enough to form a minority government: “People started to love Toronto a little bit better up in Ottawa and this is the love being returned.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last night won a third term with casualties including the loss of five Liberal cabinet ministers, parliamentary secretaries and committee chairs. Preliminary figures made Trudeau the first federal leader in Canadian history to win election with less than a third of the popular vote on low turnout, the lowest ever in a general election.
Three defeated cabinet ministers missed by mere days the deadline to qualify for a parliamentary pension that averages more than $71,000 a year. The former MPs required a minimum six years’ service to qualify: “It is calculated from the date of election.”
The CBC has expressed regrets over a garbled online story that depicted re-elected Conservative MP Rachael Harder (Lethbridge, Alta.) as “callous and ignorant.” Records detailed snide questions from a CBC Calgary reporter who falsely accused the MP of spreading misinformation about Covid: “I agree we have failed.”
Class action lawyers yesterday appealed to policyholders at Aviva Insurance Company of Canada to join a $300 million lawsuit over pandemic claims. The company sold “business interruption” coverage due to infectious diseases but denied many Covid claims: “This is a case of real people suffering real harm in real time.”
A federal agency, the National Capital Commission, faces a federal lawsuit for using yellow “caution” tape outside a building. The English-only tape breached the Official Languages Act, according to a complainant described in Federal Court as a frequent litigator who “deliberately searched for violations of the Act.”
The Bank of Canada in a research paper says it should consider issuing its own digital currency in competition with bitcoin. It comes seven years after the Bank quietly killed a similar initiative by the Royal Canadian Mint: “A central bank digital currency could be necessary.”
A federal agency, the National Research Council, is recruiting foreign workers after claiming it is “often not possible to find qualified Canadians” to work at its labs. Canada has produced 19 Nobel Laureates including prize winners in chemistry, medicine and physics: “Foreign workers may be hired to work in any NRC location across Canada.”
Cabinet aides in blunt emails expressed exasperation with Chinese suppliers that failed to fill orders for medical supplies. “Our experience is that shit can go sideways in China,” Matt Stickney, the Prime Minister’s executive director of operations, wrote in an April 1, 2020 email: “Do we need to ‘thank’ them?”
The Prime Minister’s Office approved a breach in contracting rules by wiring millions in advance cash payments to pandemic suppliers in China, according to internal emails. Staff said payments were rushed to contractors because “the Americans are moving faster than us.”
A Winnipeg man who claimed pandemic relief benefits though he wasn’t eligible does not have to repay the money, the Manitoba Court of Appeal has ruled. The Court accepted as evidence a remark by a Department of Employment spokesperson to the Toronto Star: “Ensure vulnerable Canadians do not fall behind.”
