The idea that “Chinese people are oppressed” is laughable and patronizing, says an executive with a federally-funded foundation. The Asia Pacific Foundation of Vancouver yesterday had no comment: “China has risen.”
Internal emails show federal agencies used the pandemic to shut down Access To Information disclosures even as cabinet boasted of openness and transparency. Advocates rate Canada worse than Bulgaria in concealing documents from the public: “Access To Information processing is NOT a critical service.”
The number of insolvencies in Canada has declined compared to last year, says a federal report. The Superintendent of Bankruptcy warned of a delayed wave of financial failures once normal court proceedings resume: “There will be an increase, but I don’t think it will be sudden.”
Cabinet must table a federal budget as soon as possible, says a Liberal appointee on the Senate national finance committee. Cabinet has yet to detail spending and borrowing plans six months into the fiscal year: “We certainly need to come up with a positive, clear, realistic picture of where this is going.”
More than four in ten Canadians tell federal researchers immigration quotas must be cut. The Department of Immigration this fall is expected to lower quotas that would see 341,000 people let into Canada this year, the highest number in more than a century: “Canada should focus on helping unemployed Canadians.”
A newspaper that spearheaded the campaign for federal subsidies says direct taxpayers’ aid now comprises more than a third of its revenues. The publisher of the Winnipeg Free Press had predicted the company was in trouble two years before the pandemic: “This is the most serious crisis we have faced in our history.”
The Department of Health yesterday said it is hiring federal consultants to monitor as many as ten pilot projects involving free distribution of medication to drug users. The department did not comment on whether it proposed to federalize safe injection sites: “Treat people who use drugs with compassion and give them the support they need.”
A national broadcast regulator has quietly dismissed scores of complaints against a Vancouver radio host who criticized pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong. The Canada Broadcast Standards Council would not explain its decision: ‘China is an open-minded country.’
National railways will spend nearly $79 million installing locomotive video and voice recorders, the Department of Transport said yesterday. Parliament has mandated installation of high-grade recorders in all cabs within two years: “This is an egregious violation of workers’ rights.”
RCMP laid nearly 10,000 pandemic-related charges in four months including breach of the Quarantine Act, Statistics Canada said yesterday. The Canadian Police Association had complained of a hodgepodge of Covid-19 regulations that saw police ticket Canadians for everyday activities: ‘The last thing we need is more conflict between the public and police.’
New Democrats yesterday said Commons committees must expand investigations of alleged favouritism in the awarding of federal contracts. The party’s ethics critic named former Liberal MP Frank Baylis whose medical supply company received a six-figure contract weeks after Baylis left Parliament: “How did that contract happen?”
Federal agencies in four years hired fewer than 800 medically-released veterans though Parliament passed hire-a-vet legislation. An audit said of those who were hired, fewer than three percent were appointed as managers: “Civilian life can be a challenging experience.”
A British Columbia court has detailed windfall gains for Airbnb vendors. Disclosures of actual receipts from a single property follow appeals by the Hotel Association of Canada for federal taxes on short-term rentals: “It is an illegal business.”
The Public Health Agency yesterday said its Covid-19 Alert tracing app was “never going to be 100 percent perfect”. Few Canadians have downloaded the free app intended to notify smartphone users if they were in contact with a coronavirus carrier: “Has this been a flop?”
The Canada Revenue Agency says it knows of “several serious risk associations” where criminals infiltrated its databases. The disclosure was made by a senior manager at a labour board hearing: “We’ve seen it happen.”
