Cabinet will impose limits on record deficit spending though details cannot be disclosed, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland last night told the Commons. “I am not hiding anything,” said Freeland.
The Commons public accounts committee yesterday passed a Conservative motion ordering a 35 percent increase in the budget for federal audits. The Office of the Auditor General for years complained it was so short of funding it delayed investigation of misspending: “The Auditor General’s work is extremely important.”
A taxpayer-funded Canadian Muslim Voting Guide published in 2019 by Wilfrid Laurier University breached federal law, says Elections Commissioner Yves Côté. The Guide that criticized opposition MPs carried a government logo and indicated it was funded by a federal agency: “The Commissioner has determined a violation was committed.”
A Black woman from British Columbia who spent more than twelve hours in airport custody on false suspicion of drug smuggling has lost a racial profiling complaint against the Canada Border Services Agency. Legislators have complained the Agency is the only police force in the country without independent oversight: “Persons at border crossings have reduced expectations of privacy.”
The Speaker of the Senate yesterday banned pandemic masks with slogans. A Manitoba senator was ordered to remove a “Vote 16” mask that promoted amendments to the Canada Elections Act: “This is a new situation. for us.”
Companies aren’t people and cannot claim Charter protection against cruel and unusual punishment, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday. The decision came in the case of a Québec firm fined $30,843 for selling $18,396 worth of kitchen cabinets without a permit: ‘The purpose is to ensure compliance with regulations.’
Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson yesterday said he will soon introduce legislation to meet greenhouse gas emission targets that “may” include taxes. Cabinet had promised before the 2019 election it would never raise the federal carbon tax: “It may be tax mechanisms, and it’s pricing pollution.”
Canadians can afford to pay for wage increases for public employees, Treasury Board President Jean-Yves Duclos last night told the Commons government operations committee. Duclos defended a settlement with the largest federal public service union that pays a 2.8 percent increase retroactive to 2018, a further 2.2 percent increase last year and 1.35 percent this year: “Why?”
The Canada Revenue Agency yesterday confirmed auditors targeted small businesses that applied for pandemic wage subsidies. MPs on a 176-152 vote ordered the audits suspended until next June: “The last thing they need is a call from the Canada Revenue Agency.”
Parliament’s Pay Equity Act will cost federally-regulated employers almost two-thirds of a billion, the Budget Office said yesterday. The labour department claimed it could not estimate the cost when legislators passed the Act two years ago: “It’s almost an impossible task.”
CMHC yesterday said a proposal to change its name is not finalized. Evan Siddall, CEO of the federal mortgage insurer, announced a new name seven weeks ago though MPs questioned the purpose: “Why does it really matter what your name is?”
The Canada Revenue Agency last night would not comment on MPs’ complaints auditors have targeted small businesses drawing pandemic relief benefits. The Commons votes today on a motion to suspend audits for at least seven months: “Stop treating small business owners like tax cheaters.”
Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault yesterday introduced first-ever federal regulation of the internet, specifically streaming video services like Netflix and Disney Plus. Cabinet dropped a January 29 proposal to control digital news publishers under the Broadcasting Act: “Do we try and change everything under the sun?”
MPs on the House affairs committee yesterday expressed alarm over low voter turnout in two provincial elections. Trends may see future campaigns decided by as few as a third of voters, said one MP: “It would be a tragedy.”
Feminists and social conservatives alike should press Parliament to restrict children’s access to online pornography, a Liberal appointee last night told the Senate. A private bill would make websites criminally responsible for inadequate controls on access by minors: “We must absolutely protect children against what is literally brainwashing.”
