Public Works Minister Anita Anand yesterday said she agreed to secrecy in approving $4.6 billion worth of contracts with vaccine manufacturers. MPs on the Commons industry committee questioned why Canada’s pandemic vaccination rate trails countries like Israel, Spain, Italy and Belgium: “It’s pretty clear Canada did a relatively poor job both in negotiations and in pandemic preparedness.”
The Royal Bank, largest in the nation, yesterday was fined $350,000 for breach of consumer protection regulations. “The problem was longstanding,” wrote Commissioner Judith Robertson of the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada: “The extent of harm for an individual cannot be readily estimated.”
Karen Jensen, a former corporate lawyer who spent years fighting equity claims by underpaid women, yesterday lamented the toll litigation takes on workers. Jensen is now Pay Equity Commissioner: “I saw personally the toll pay equity litigation took on all those involved.”
The Commons Indigenous affairs committee yesterday voted 10 to 1 for the Constitution. MPs rejected a Bloc Québécois proposal to delete reference to the supreme law from Canada’s citizenship oath: “They tried.”
The Office of the Auditor General “directed” a sole-sourced contract to a Liberal lobbyist by narrowly skirting rules on open bidding, records show. Terms of the lump-sum contract were so peculiar one employee called it “confusing.”
Ex-Industry Minister Navdeep Bains yesterday declined comment on whether he acted on behalf of campaign donors in “pressing” a company’s proposal to sell China-made masks to the government. The Conflict Of Interest Act forbids cabinet ministers from giving preferential treatment to acquaintances: “Ministers are in a position of power and have a responsibility to ensure this power is exercised fairly.”
The Commons yesterday agreed in principle to a private bill banning Canadian exports of plastic waste. Cabinet opposed the bill, predicting it would prevent contracted garbage shipments to U.S. landfills: “We are so far behind we think we are in first place.”
Canadians are troubled by Budget Office warnings of mounting federal deficits, says in-house research by the Privy Council Office. Government-commissioned focus groups feared children will suffer as future taxpayers: “Many were troubled by the heavy financial burden that was being placed on future generations.”
“Happy holidays” is not a Christian greeting biased against other religions, the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal has ruled. The decision came in the case of a Toronto resident who complained her condo board posted the generic greeting at Easter and Christmas: “The board decided to post signs for holidays it was aware of.”
The Office of the Auditor General gave confidential advance copies of its audits to a Liberal lobbyist, say Access To Information records. The Office declined an interview to explain its contacts with registered lobbyist Susan Smith, a CBC pundit and former Liberal press secretary: “That way you can access them from your office.”
Cabinet aides last night refused comment on documents indicating ex-Industry Minister Navdeep Bains was “pressing” an Ontario firm’s proposal for a multi-million dollar federal contract. Staff and executives with the company exchanged twelve phone calls and emails in two days: “Only pressing on this as it came directly from the Minister.”
Details of billions’ worth of secret contracts with vaccine manufacturers cannot be disclosed, the Public Health Agency said yesterday. Managers said signed agreements had confidential clauses that must not be revealed to the public: “There must be something in these contracts you don’t want Canadians or the Opposition to see.”
The commercial air sector will take up to seven years to recover from the pandemic, the Commons transport committee was told yesterday. Air travelers have been warned to expect higher costs long after Covid-19 runs its course: “We have borrowed heavily.”
Canadians under lockdown are angry and frustrated with cross-border holidayers, a senior Liberal MP wrote in an email to constituents. MP Anthony Housefather (Mount Royal, Que.) said cross-border travelers should expect restrictions to remain in place for months: “While I understand snowbirds are not just like any other traveler, I do not believe most Canadians see it that way.”
The Department of Public Works in five years paid nearly $1.7 million in bonuses to executives managing a bungled payroll system that cost taxpayers billions. “Ensuring public servants are paid accurately and on time is a top priority,” wrote cabinet.
