Climate change may have contributed to a June heat wave though “factors here are not completely understood,” says the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society. Scientists in a videoconference denied they had “cherry picked the data” to alarm the public: “You can look at any event, even the most mundane day, and make it completely unique.”
We Charity co-founder Craig Kielburger has lost a federal board appointment as advisor to the Leaders’ Debates Commission. The Commission yesterday confirmed Kielburger, a former Liberal Party donor, was the only advisory board member to be replaced: “Members will be guided by the pursuit of the public interest and by the principles of independence, impartiality, credibility.”
Canadians “need to reduce air pollution,” Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna said yesterday. The Minister made the remarks after flying to Edmonton for a news conference. Flight logs show McKenna logged nearly 29,000 kilometres by air last year: “Seniors are dying because of the extreme heat.”
A rewrite of a federal citizenship booklet now in its fifth year is not ready for release, the Department of Immigration said yesterday. Staff said work continues on “historically accurate” accounts of Indigenous history with other input from the gay community: “There is a need to have a restructuring of the way we educate not only new Canadians but all of us.”
A new audit details ongoing difficulties with cabinet’s signature ecological program launched five years ago. The $1.5 billion Oceans Protection Plan was to create “a world-leading marine safety system” to protect coastlines from oil spills: “Staff did not have a good understanding of who should report or how.”
A judge has settled a federal case over which manufacturer is Canada’s barbecue “king.” The ruling came in an ten-year dispute under the Trademarks Act: “The likelihood of confusion may be heightened where the goods in issue are of such a nature they are often used together.”
Canadians fault cabinet for waiting too long to ban international flights as a pandemic precaution, says in-house federal research. Canada did not restrict air traffic until ten weeks after the first Covid death was reported in Wuhan: “We remain concerned about social anxiety, misinformation and discrimination in the Chinese-Canadian community.”
Cabinet must resort to penalties if it is to meet targets on eliminating plastic waste, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said yesterday. A federal order listing all plastic manufactured items as toxic is currently being challenged in Federal Court: “Voluntary compliance by companies is not going to be enough.”
Federal agencies yesterday declined comment on a $120 million housing loan to one of Canada’s wealthiest developers. Cabinet earlier defended the loan as critical: “Companies, given their financial statements, don’t seem to be worthy recipients of taxpayers’ largesse.”
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers has won Court approval to proceed with a rare defamation lawsuit against B’nai Brith. The newly-released decision was the last by Ontario Court of Appeal Justice Mahmud Jamal, now a Supreme Court of Canada appointee: “From time to time CUPW takes positions on political and human rights issues.”
Drug use declined in early months of the pandemic in five major cities, Statistics Canada said yesterday. Findings were based on tests of sewage samples: “It shows potential as a data source to measure total drug use of some drugs at the city level.”
Canadians rate China a more serious threat to national interest than Russia or North Korea. The findings follow in-house research by a federal agency: “Sometimes you have to face a crisis before you truly understand there is a problem.”
Canada’s Consul General in Detroit awarded a sole-sourced contract to U.S. producers for YouTube videos celebrating Canadian industry. Consul Joe Comartin, a former New Democrat MP, was an outspoken critic of contracting that cost Canadian jobs: “Does the government realize what is happening to the economy in Canada?”
The CBC remains under immense financial pressure despite ongoing federal bailouts and 55 percent staff cuts in one division, says a Department of Canadian Heritage briefing note. The network has not disclosed a quarterly financial statement since last December 31: “The effects of Covid will persist into 2022.”
The Competition Bureau in Federal Court affidavits seeks confidential data from four telecom companies as part of its review of a $26 billion buyout of Alberta-based Shaw Communications by rival Rogers Communications. Competition lowers prices, wrote investigators: “The Commissioner is investigating the likely substantial lessening or prevention of competition.”
