Most RCMP members surveyed, 76 percent, say their job is stressful and negative media perceptions of their work make it worse. Findings were based on a union questionnaire following the pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests: “Many of the key stressors facing RCMP officers at this time are not related to the job itself.”
A former Liberal MP’s company was in direct contact with federal agencies in negotiating a $237 million contract, says a memo from the Prime Minister’s Office. Frank Baylis’ business partners were warned he should “personally recuse himself.” Both statements contradict testimony at the Commons ethics committee: “Baylis Medical was involved in the contract negotiations.”
A re-elected Liberal cabinet would strip Canadians of any legal right to challenge mandatory vaccination orders, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said yesterday. The federal Privacy Commissioner has warned compulsory vaccines breach the Privacy Act: “It is an encroachment on civil liberties.”
The Liberal Party yesterday detailed a $393 million-a year proposal to cut tax credits for top income earners. “We really welcome scrutiny,” said Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland: “This is a responsible platform; it is a transparent platform.”
The Canadian Labour Congress sought federal funding for private sector pension plans that lost income in the pandemic, according to a memo in the Prime Minister’s Office. The Congress within days of the Covid outbreak also petitioned cabinet for a national moratorium on foreclosures and evictions: “We know some companies will fail during this pandemic.”
Cabinet yesterday exempted a quarter-million truck drivers, marine shippers and other federally-regulated private sector employees from new “work-life balance” regulations. Parliament three years ago passed a bill regulating shift changes and rest breaks for the sector: “Employer and employee groups expressed diverging views.”
Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller’s department spent billions on new water plants without ensuring First Nations had properly-trained managers to run them, says an audit. “We are working on a cascade of priorities,” Miller earlier told reporters.
An estimated 1,250 Canadian citizens and residents are trapped in Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Marc Garneau said yesterday. Garneau’s department in a Travel Advisory warned they are at risk of kidnapping and terrorist bombings: “Shelter in a safe place.”
Small business debts now total at least $139 billion nationwide, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said yesterday. Some operators are so desperate they have resorted to credit cards for last-chance financing, wrote researchers: “They may never be able to pay it off.”
Green Party leader Annamie Paul yesterday claimed she was victimized by a lying press. Paul’s predecessor also complained of media coverage: “This headline is a lie.”
Pandemic losses mount at VIA Rail. The Crown railway yesterday said operating losses ran to another $241.9 million in the first half of the year: ‘Work continues to minimize operating costs with measures such as temporary layoffs.’
The Department of Health in internal emails cautioned political aides to tone down claims by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that a vaccine was “the best bet to end the pandemic.” Staff warned it was unclear whether a Covid booster shot had to be “reinvented every year.”
Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault yesterday confirmed he is in tax arrears with Revenu Québec. Guilbeault would not say if a portion of his $274,500 cabinet salary was being deducted to settle the five figure debt: “Anyone who profits from the system must contribute to it.”
The Income Tax Act should prohibit Canadian corporations from transferring pre-tax profits out of the country, New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh said yesterday. “We would end that,” said Singh: “Working people, they don’t have an offshore tax haven.”
The Conservative Party yesterday said it would revive a 2015 Senate bill to ban animal testing by the cosmetics industry. Lobbyists opposed the bill after it was endorsed by Laureen Harper posing with an armful of toy rabbits: “Somehow they’re saving little bunnies. It’s not true.”
