Details of secret RCMP surveillance of federal prison guards associating with drug dealers have been disclosed by a labour board. Guards at Abbotsford, B.C. were identified as consorting with criminals in a 2015 sting operation: “A correctional officer is expected to act within the law and to serve as a role model.”
SNC-Lavalin Group is still eligible for federal contracts under terms of its latest out-of-court settlement with federal prosecutors. The Public Prosecution Service would not disclose the text of its agreement that saw SNC-Lavalin penalized for bid-rigging: “Are you consulting SNC-Lavalin?”
A federal program on equity contracting is being audited by MPs. Members of the Commons government operations committee voted 10-0 to see all records on so-called “social procurement” under a program launched two years ago: “Why is it so difficult?”
The Department of Health has invoked privacy in refusing to disclose the locations of hundreds of medical marijuana producers across Canada. The department claimed even their home cities was secret, prompting a federal lawsuit by the Information Commissioner: “Canadians have a right to request information from the government.”
Old Jason
remembered how he used to carry his son
on his shoulders.
Those were the best of times.
The laughter,
mischief.
Running out of breath.
Miniature hands grabbing his head,
pulling his hair.
Tiny feet tight against his chest.
Years went by.
His son grew taller,
stronger than he ever thought possible.
Same laughter,
mischief.
But Jason could no longer carry him on his shoulders.
The flight from Kandahar
landed at CFB Trenton.
Jason saw his son
getting off the plane.
Carried on the shoulders
of eight of his comrades.
(Editor’s note: poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, examines current events in the Blacklock’s tradition each and every Sunday).
The Commons industry committee yesterday voted to summon supermarket executives to explain their repeal of a $2 an hour pandemic bonus for employees. MPs questioned whether Loblaw Companies Ltd. and two other chains are in compliance with the Competition Act: “They can explain to this committee and the Canadian public.”
The federal debt is a trillion dollars, the Parliamentary Budget Office said yesterday. Unprecedented spending on pandemic relief programs follows twelve years of deficits: “The government’s total liabilities reached $1,514 billion.”
Federal privatization of airport security is delayed indefinitely due to the pandemic, the Senate national finance committee was told yesterday. Parliament voted in 2019 to transfer all airport screening to not-for-profit buyers: “We are waiting.”
Credit card companies are profiting off cashless transactions introduced as a pandemic precaution, independent grocers said yesterday. A cut in merchants’ transaction fees that was to take effect this spring has been delayed, the Commons finance committee was told: “How does a small and medium-sized business in this country make any money?”
One of the country’s largest utilities yesterday was ordered to surrender confidential customer records to a federal regulator. The CRTC sought hydro bills to follow the “money trail” of suspected spammers: “Canada’s anti-spam law is a federal statute that applies everywhere.”
Paula Simons, $157,600-a year Senator from Edmonton, yesterday said she will not return to the Senate until lawmakers wear masks. Simons in a “dear friends” note to senators said she was horrified legislators showed up for work mask-less: “I simply don’t feel safe.”
The Canada Revenue Agency is drafting a national policy on when to say sorry. Taxpayers’ Ombudsman Sherra Profit yesterday complained the Agency has no formal guide on what to say when it’s wrong: “If the CRA was at fault, use the word ‘apologize’.”
Public cynicism is an “ongoing challenge” for federal institutions, Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion said yesterday. The Commissioner noted Canada dropped rank in a global corruption index since the SNC-Lavalin Group scandal: “Safeguarding democratic institutions is a perpetual endeavour.”
The Parliamentary Budget Office yesterday formally cited Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna for “missing” details on thousands of subsidized public works projects. Of more than 52,000 projects claimed, analysts could find addresses and details of only 32,566 that received funding: ‘We’re just looking for proof.’
Near-record high immigration quotas are “doubtful” this year, a deputy minister yesterday told the Commons immigration committee. Cabinet in a plan written before the pandemic said it would admit 341,000 immigrants in 2020: “What are your estimates today?”
