Blacklock's Reporter

The Canadian Medical Association is petitioning Parliament for $300,000 grants to families of front line health care workers who die of Covid-19. Dr. Sandy Buchman, association president, blamed the Public Health Agency for failing to stock up on masks, goggles, face shields and other pandemic supplies: “We would never permit a firefighter to go into a burning building without adequate protection.”

Legislators will extend until September a suspension without pay for Senator Lynn Beyak (Ont.). The Senate deferred a vote on reinstating Beyak after she was compelled to attend hours of Indigenous sensitivity training: “She has learned.”

A federal judge is being asked to rule on whether shouting constitutes workplace harassment. A National Research Council investigation that dismissed a ‘raised voice’ complaint is being challenged in Federal Court: ‘You are a lowly advisor, nothing else.’

Taxpayers are to compensate ex-staff of former senator Don Meredith following a sexual harassment investigation. The Senate committee on internal economy meets tomorrow to discuss claims: “What are you wearing? Can you send me a picture?”

The recession could knock an average $100,000 off home prices in the largest Western cities, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation warned yesterday. Average prices in Toronto, Ottawa and Montréal will rebound sooner, said analysts: “There is a lot of uncertainty out there.”

Canadian airlines owe customers billions for prepaid travel cancelled due to the pandemic, says the Department of Transport. Airline executives told the Commons health committee the industry will take years to recover: “We are where we are.”

Foreign Minister Françoise-Philippe Champagne yesterday said he refinanced $1.2 million in Bank of China mortgages with a Canadian bank. Champagne would not say if he previously received preferential terms from the People’s Republic: “I feel very transparent.”

Farmers have breached the Quarantine Act despite $1,500 grants to protect migrant workers, say labour advocates. The Department of Employment refused to inspect scofflaws, the Commons human resources committee was told: “Thirteen workers got one bag of potatoes to eat for a week.”

Audits for waste in pandemic spending will take “many years” to complete, Auditor General Karen Hogan warned yesterday. Hogan said investigators are unable to audit all pandemic relief programs by 2021: “We will not be able to audit each and every federal program associated with Canada’s Covid-19 response.”

The taxpayer-owned Canada Infrastructure Bank yesterday rejected demands from the Commons finance committee for details of bonuses paid to its former CEO. Pierre Lavallée abruptly resigned April 3 with three years remaining in his contract: “Well, that’s unacceptable.”

Cabinet could have “picked better words” to discourage cheats under a $60 billion pandemic relief program, Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough said yesterday. A draft bill to jail scofflaws would not be retroactive, she said: “I hear you.”

VIA Rail yesterday reported its steepest deficit in five years despite record revenues. The Crown railway also acknowledged trains are running later than ever: “The service is no longer a viable travel alternative in between and around Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Jasper and Vancouver.”

Parliament yesterday said it will not remove the n-word from its federal website. The slur is included in a poem republished by Parliament’s former poet laureate: “I’m not interested in censorship.”

Elections Canada has dismissed complaints over a private mid-campaign fundraiser in New York by Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller. The agency said it “found no information” to suggest he breached the Canada Elections Act though auditors did not speak with Miller or anyone who attended a party that included charges for hundreds of dollars in liquor: ‘It is a meet and greet.’

Retailers nationwide, all but grocers and cannabis dealers, have seen the sharpest collapse in sales since the Depression, according to federal data. The fall in storekeepers’ receipts due to pandemic closures eclipsed rates seen in 1932: “I’ve talked to countless business owners who have seen their life’s work crumble in their hands.”