The carbon tax will keep rising “until we reach our targets,” cabinet’s representative in the Senate said last night. “We will be seriously fighting climate change for the first time,” said Senator Marc Gold (Que.), who had earlier promised the 12-cent a litre tax on gasoline would never go up: “Yes, there is an increase.”
The Public Health Agency threw out millions’ worth of pandemic supplies to save $900,000 a year on warehouse leasing costs, according to internal memos. Masks, gloves and face shields were landfilled not due to budget cuts but a consultants’ report that called warehouse closures “more cost efficient.”
Internal memos show the Public Health Agency was surprised by a public announcement by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that Canada as early as June was prepared for a vaccine roll-out. Staff complained a vaccine task force hadn’t even met at the time: “The procurement strategy does not exist.”
A U.S. conglomerate 3M Company beat out 499 other prospective bidders including Canadian firms to win a lucrative federal contract for high-grade pandemic masks, records show. The contract is worth a minimum $111.6 million and as much as a quarter-billion over ten years: “No issues have been raised.”
The pandemic is no excuse for concealing government records, a Northwest Territories information commissioner has ruled. Disclosure of public documents is as important as combating Covid-19, wrote Commissioner Elaine Keenan Bengts: ‘It is a fundamental check and balance on the exercise of emergency powers.’
Cabinet will hike the carbon tax 240 percent despite repeated promises to freeze rates set by Parliament two years ago. “We have always said we needed to take additional climate action,” said Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna. Cabinet waited until the Commons adjourned for Christmas before disclosing the increase: “We will win the race against climate change.”
Parliament must appoint an independent Inspector General to watch for sweetheart contracting, a former crime-busting Québec prosecutor testified at the Commons ethics committee. “You are thinking because of the pandemic everything goes,” said Denis Gallant, deputy counsel at a 2011 inquiry that exposed graft in the Québec construction industry: “As a taxpayer I have to wonder.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs paid nearly $30,000 to internet fact checkers in Argentina. Asked why, a spokesperson replied: “We’ll get back to you.”
A Liberal MP compelled to apologize to the Commons for an ethics breach described the lapse as a paperwork error. “Do not dare question my ethics or my integrity,” said MP James Maloney (Etobicoke-Lakeshore, Ont.), chair of the Commons natural resources committee.
“I apologized and I apologize unconditionally,” Maloney told the Commons: “If somebody deserves to be punished for handing something in late, I am guilty.”
Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion on November 19 ordered the MP to apologize to the Commons for breach of the Conflict Of Interest Code. Maloney had failed to promptly disclose all personal assets despite being asked fifteen times. “A Member’s protracted breach of their disclosure obligations cannot be viewed as trivial,” wrote the Commissioner.
“Not only did he delay completing his disclosure well beyond a reasonable time, he also failed to respond to communications from the Office for months,” wrote Commissioner Dion. The demand for a public apology was the first by a federal ethics commissioner. Ex-Liberal MP Joe Peschisolido (Steveston-Richmond East, B.C.) on October 19 complied with a House order that he write a letter of apology for breaching the Conflict Of Interest Code involving dealings through his law firm.
“Members who sit behind the government front bench feel they do not need to follow the rules,” said Conservative MP Michael Barrett (Leeds-Grenville, Ont.). “The top-down example is a complete disregard for the ethical rules of this place. It sows into the national conversation, into the public discourse, a distrust in our democratic institutions.”
“Canadians are rightly concerned,” said MP Barrett: “Show respect for Canadians and follow the rules of this place.”
All MPs must file a Disclosure Statement on assets within sixty days of their election. MP Maloney was the last Member of the House of Commons to file his statement September 14.
Records indicate Maloney has extensive stock holdings in forty-four corporations including SNC-Lavalin, Bank of America, Canadian National Railways, Google, Cenovus Energy, Philip Morris International, Starbucks and Suncor Energy.
“The Conservatives virtually since day one have been consistently trying to focus the House of Commons on the issue of corruption,” said Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux (Winnipeg North), parliamentary secretary to the Government House Leader. “It does not matter what issues Canadians are facing. For them it is all about looking under every little rock.”
“They are more concerned about the personalities than the policy,” said Lamoureux. “That is fine. They are the official opposition. They can set their agenda and have their agenda all they want.”
By Staff 
The Commons health committee by an 11-0 vote has endorsed a private bill asking tax filers to volunteer as organ donors. Parliament since 1999 has seen repeated failure of bills to establish a national donor registry: “It is so simple.”
All four Atlantic provinces in a rare joint letter have petitioned the federal cabinet to disclose the true impact of a new climate change program, the Clean Fuel Standard. Energy ministers said regulations would impose punishing costs on households and industry: “Our economies are already struggling.”
There will be no amnesty for ineligible claimants who took $2,000 pandemic relief cheques, Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough said yesterday. Applicants who claimed to be jobless workers must repay their debt to the federal treasury, she said: “We put in place the CERB to help people who experienced job loss because of Covid.”
Cabinet yesterday introduced a bill to extend voting in any pandemic election. The bill also confirms powers to suspend balloting in Covid-19 hotspots in the name of public safety: “What would that look like practically speaking?”
The Senate yesterday by an 84-2 vote brushed aside protests cabinet has not targeted pandemic relief to the poor. Two Liberal-appointed senators attempted to highlight the appeal by challenging a budget bill: “Are we seeing hypocrisy here?”
The Parliamentary Press Gallery yesterday detailed a draft ethics code to counter misconduct that “could erode the professional relationship” in the “halls of power.” The Gallery has been named in Federal Court affidavits for blacklisting the Rebel News Network while granting membership to the Chinese Communist Party-funded Xinhua News Agency: ‘Members can directly question individuals who drive and shape public policy.’
