Blacklock's Reporter

Preventing maskless shoppers from visiting retail stores is not discriminatory, a Human Rights Tribunal has ruled. An Edmonton adjudicator dismissed two separate complaints by shoppers who claimed in-store mask rules were a breach of the Human Rights Act, including one who was escorted from a Costco outlet by police: “Limitations to the right to be free from discrimination may be justified.”

Canada’s ambassador to Kabul boasted diplomats were prepared for any emergency in “high-risk missions, for example Afghanistan.” Ambassador Reid Sirrs closed the embassy August 15 and left the country though thousands of Canadian citizens and local supporters remained trapped in Kabul: “You can make mistakes and learn.”

The Prime Minister’s policy director in an internal email referred to an Indigenous group as “a friendly” and urged staff to answer their complaints to prevent them “from popping off at us.” The remarks concerned a confidential text from the Métis Nation of Alberta: “This is completely unacceptable.”

Public Works Minister Anita Anand’s department awarded the first of $81 million in sole-sourced Covid contracts to a Québec supplier one day after exchanging emails with the company, according to court records. The vendor was later sued for alleged breach of contract: “Time was of the essence.”

A final audit of foreign aid to Afghanistan says money was spent unwisely without achieving demonstrable results. International Development Minister Karina Gould made no mention of the findings in praising Canada’s efforts: “There was a pressure to spend, and it was too much and too fast.”

More than a quarter-century of litigation by lobbyist Karlheinz Schreiber has ended in an Edmonton courtroom. The Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench dismissed Schreiber’s last appeal in long-running Charter challenges in the Airbus case: “Courts have repeatedly dealt with Mr. Schreiber’s Charter claims.”

Hundreds and possibly thousands of Canadian citizens and local supporters remain trapped in Afghanistan after the military ended a rescue airlift, federal officials said yesterday. The Department of Foreign Affairs recommended they go into hiding: “Use your judgment.”

The Liberal Party yesterday had no comment on one of its candidates who questioned the Prime Minister’s “lack of judgment” on ethics. Candidate Martin Francoeur is running in Trois-Rivière, Que., a riding the Liberals last won 37 years ago: “Therein lies the problem with Justin Trudeau.”

Legal internet content, even the offensive kind, cannot be censored since the web is “not subject to the same controls that exist in traditional media,” a Québec judge has ruled. The decision came in the case of a Facebook user falsely accused of harassment: “It would have the effect of granting everyone the power to censor the comments of others on the sole basis that this content could be considered disagreeable.”

Canadians’ support for trade with China fell by more than a tenth from the outbreak of the pandemic, says in-house research by the Department of Foreign Affairs. Reliance on China contractors for medical supplies also prompted Canadians to worry about “pandemic planning” in trade policy: ‘It should ensure preparedness to a great extent.’

More than a hundred thousand student votes are in doubt after Elections Canada cancelled special campus polls at 109 universities and colleges nationwide. One students’ group said the decision would have a clear impact: “We are purely non-partisan.”

Minister for Gender Equality Maryam Monsef yesterday attempted to explain remarks to “our brothers, the Taliban” in scripted comments at a press briefing. Monsef said the collegial greeting reflected her interpretation of Muslim culture: “There are a lot of Muslims who are aghast with the Minister’s remarks.”

Cabinet confidentially reviewed the prospect of vaccine passports while publicly opposing the idea as extreme, according to internal records. The Prime Minister for the first time August 15 endorsed compulsory proof of vaccination for federal employees and air passengers: “Not everyone agrees.”

Cabinet yesterday proposed $2.5 billion a year in new taxes on the largest banks and insurers. The Liberal Party would increase the corporate tax rate on financial institutions with earnings over $1 billion annually from 15 to 18 percent: “Why wait for an election to come up with this?”

A news agency operating as an election campaign fact checker received nearly $2 million in federal funding over the past year, records show. The Canadian Press yesterday did not comment: “Cash flow is tightening.”