Elections Canada yesterday said it is auditing campaign returns by Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller over failure to report donations from a private New York fundraiser. The Commissioner of Elections is also reviewing Miller’s returns: “Does this seem odd to you?”
Millions of self-employed Canadians including family business operators may qualify for Covid-19 income support, cabinet said yesterday. Details are likely in the March 30 budget: “What measure is the government considering?”
An Alberta senator yesterday complained of “spiritual disenfranchisement” over restrictions on Indigenous smoke ceremonies in her office. The Senate budgets committee agreed to investigate: “I can’t smudge and pray in my office without giving twenty-four hours’ notice.”
The CEO of a green energy firm that has yet to turn a profit despite millions in subsidies yesterday thanked the Commons finance committee for taxpayer grants. MPs are investigating the scope of federal aid to corporations worth $5.5 billion a year nationwide: “If somebody’s throwing money out a window, stand next to the window.”
Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said cabinet is prepared to follow Rwanda’s lead in banning single-use plastic bags. Wilkinson in testimony at the Commons environment committee did not comment on the cost to consumers: “Canadians are far ahead of us on this.”
Liberal Senate appointees yesterday were accused of engineering a “power grab” to strip the Conservative caucus of its budget: “Why are they getting more money?”
Parliament pocketed more than a hundred million in tariff revenue that was promised to compensate industry, the Parliamentary Budget Office said yesterday. Finance Minister Bill Morneau repeatedly said the treasury would not profit from special tariffs imposed in 2018: “These surtaxes are generating significant revenues, yes.”
The Department of Finance billed taxpayers for yoga mats and medicine balls to equip an office “wellness room”, say Access To Information records. Managers rushed the spending with hours left in the fiscal year in a “March Madness” phenomenon that sees federal agencies burn through unused budgets before they expire: “Let’s get this in place as soon as possible.”
Cabinet yesterday recommended Canadians avoid international travel and step back two metres from each other when coughing to avoid the coronavirus. The advice came as the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic: “Currently everything is okay, but we have to prepare.”
Chinese tax collectors have threatened Canadian trade offices overseas with hefty reassessments, say Access To Information records. One former Canadian ambassador to China has recommended all trade commissioners be pulled out of the People’s Republic amid worsening relations: “We have to brace ourselves for years of difficult relations.”
Information Commissioner Caroline Maynard yesterday said less than a year after Parliament rewrote the Access To Information Act, the system has so many holes Canadians are “fed up”. Maynard told the Commons ethics committee complaints over concealed records have more than doubled: “There are holes across the entire system.”
The Department of Infrastructure cannot account for billions budgeted for public works, the Commons finance committee was told yesterday. The Parliamentary Budget Office said it tried and failed since January to have the department disclose a list of new roads, bridges and utilities financed by taxpayers: “If they know they aren’t telling us.”
The Department of Industry says Canadians “gain wealth” from corporate subsidies but can’t explain inflated job claims. The Commons finance committee yesterday opened an unprecedented inquiry on the scope of aid to companies: “Is it true?”
The Department of Environment hired consultants to study a multi-million dollar green tax on farm fertilizer but dropped the idea on a warning of industry protests. “Don’t share outside of department,” read handwritten minutes of a staff meeting obtained under Access To Information: “Negative response likely.”
Fewer than one percent of telemarketing complaints result in enforcement action by federal regulators, the CRTC yesterday confirmed. Executives told the Commons industry committee the point of the National Do Not Call List was not to punish unwanted callers: “I mean, cases do take time.”
