Small businesses flooded MPs and federal agencies with complaints of red tape in answering a call to produce pandemic supplies, internal records show. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked contractors nationwide to “help out during this critical time.”
A total 440,000 Canadians who claimed $2,000 pandemic cheques were flagged for investigation, Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough said yesterday. Cabinet has not yet detailed the scope of outright fraud under the program: “We can’t.”
The labour department has cited Canada Post for breach of a public health order at a major mail sorting plant. A Covid outbreak at the Gateway Plant at Mississauga, Ont. prompted managers to close one shift January 23: “Canada Post implemented a mandatory face covering policy to control the spread of the virus.”
Cross-border drivers returning home to Canada face $3,000 fines without proof they’re Covid-free, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said yesterday. The rule takes effect February 15: “If they do not have a negative test there will be fines that could go up to $3,000 per person.”
The Public Health Agency was so mismanaged it rejected an offer of masks from a major North American supplier eight days after the pandemic’s outbreak, records disclose. Even the Prime Minister’s Office questioned why the lead from Honeywell International Inc. was ignored: “Masks are not the top priority.”
Business owners are predictable complainers about the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, a spokesperson for the public works minister wrote in a staff email. James Fitz-Morris, a former CBC reporter, said it was “only a matter of time” before contractors complained about the CERB: “Gear-up for stories about losing domestic manufacturing capacity because of CERB.”
The Prime Minister’s chief of staff Katie Telford says she played no role in winning a federal appointment for a personal friend. Telford in a filing with the Ethics Commissioner said she followed all rules in avoiding preferential treatment in the appointment approved by cabinet last December 11: “We all get into public service to help others.”
The Canadian Armed Forces will never achieve equity hiring targets at current rates, says a military journal. Department of National Defence research has showed visible minorities and immigrants considered military careers a “last resort.”
The Department of National Defence yesterday said it had nothing to do with a federal notice that prompted rumours of “quarantine camps.” Enquiries from alarmed MPs were forwarded to the military, internal emails show: “This is the second time I’m seeing this topic come through an MP’s office.”
The Commons natural resources committee by a 6-5 decision blocked a vote to investigate the collapse of the $8 billion Keystone XL pipeline project. Opposition MPs expressed anger after Liberal and New Democrat members adjourned debate with a snap vote: “We just did. We can and we did.”
Anticipated monthly vaccine deliveries are “estimates” only and are not included in confidential $4.6 billion contracts with manufacturers, says Public Works Minister Anita Anand. MPs on the Commons health committee said it is mathematically impossible for cabinet to meet its vaccination targets: “No one in their right mind believes in the math you are telling us.”
Promoters of a bill to legalize bookmaking in Canada accuse cabinet of slowing the repeal of a Criminal Code ban on single-event sports betting. Cabinet introduced its repeal bill three months ago then pushed it down the parliamentary calendar: “In fact if anything, it has slowed it down.”
Canadian drivers returning home from the U.S. may be asked to prove they’re Covid-free though they cannot be barred from entering the country, says Public Safety Minister Bill Blair. Cabinet will impose new regulations on travelers at land crossings but with plenty of advance warning, he said: ‘All Canadians have a constitutional right of entry.’
Ninety percent of immigrants to Atlantic Canada under a 2017 pilot program stayed in the region for love of the place and its people, says federal research. Eighty percent said they had no plans to ever leave: “More than half reported they liked their community.”
An Ontario company that emailed then-Industry Minister Navdeep Bain’s office for help with a multi-million dollar contract proposal yesterday said there was “no attempt to influence here whatsoever.” Email records show Bains directed staff to press the company’s case: “I was surprised to see these emails.”
