The Receiver General last year lost more than $1.4 million by wiring tax refunds and benefit cheques to the wrong bank accounts. Losses followed a failed 2012 campaign by the Department of Public Works to require that all Canadians submit personal bank data to accept federal payments: “I don’t trust it.”
Cabinet was so fearful of public protest over to its 2018 purchase of an oil pipeline the Privy Council Office called police, say Access To Information records. Staff warned RCMP to brace for demonstrations “across the country” hours after the announcement: “Everyone practice vigilance”.
Canadian Tire Corp. yesterday received a $2.7 million federal subsidy to install electric car charging stations at stores from British Columbia to Ontario. The Government of B.C. approved a separate $275,000 grant. Canadian Tire has $9 billion in annual revenues: “Canada’s climate plan is working.”
Alberta investigators yesterday cleared RCMP of any wrongdoing in the fatal shooting of a driver awakened from a nap in a parked vehicle. The Mounties had published misleading accounts of the 2017 shooting: “The scene was carefully scrutinized.”
A right-winger cited for injuring an opposing player in a no-contact beer league game has been ordered to pay $702,551 in damages. The Court judgment is the first since a Commons subcommittee convened 2018 hearings on hockey injuries: ‘It was beyond the bounds of fair play.’
Taxpayers’ Ombudsman Sherra Profit will not take questions on a Hawaiian junket to a conference that included a workshop with a yoga instructor. “The ombudsman is unavailable for interviews,” said Christianne Scholfield, a spokesperson for Ms. Profit.
A federal agency yesterday detailed a complete overhaul of systems to protect depositors against bank failures. Canada has not suffered a run on an uninsured bank since the 1923 collapse of the Home Bank: ‘It will assess readiness in the event of a potential failure.”
A judge has awarded $485,000 in damages and costs to a Toronto company and its management targeted by libelous remarks in an internet chat room. Ontario Superior Court acknowledged all the money may never be collected since writers used pseudonyms and untraceable email accounts: “Their cowardice is reprehensible.”
A national press ombudsman has dismissed public protest over a column that joked about prostitution. The National News Media Council called it an “uncomfortable issue” but added: “There was no evidence the opinion writer had crossed the line in any way.”
The CBC confirms its English-language TV ad revenues fell by more than a third last year with fewer than one percent of Canadians watching its local suppertime newscasts. The Crown broadcaster in its latest Annual Report questioned whether it can remain sustainable without more subsidies: “Program spending in future years will have to be reduced.”
Staff in the Prime Minister’s Office in a now-deleted tweet admitted to conducting government business by private Gmail account. The practice yesterday prompted a protest by the Office of the Information Commissioner: “It is critical.”
Legal marijuana does not justify random workplace drug testing, says a labour arbitrator. The Canada Labour Code order struck down a company policy by a St. John’s helicopter operator to randomly test pilots, ground crew and maintenance engineers for cannabis: “Drug testing is invasive.”
Only five percent of small businesses surveyed have stopped taking cash, says a Bank of Canada study. Futuristic forecasts of a cashless society appear overblown, researchers wrote: “Existing concerns are unlikely to materialize.”
A stirring phrase from O Canada has been trademarked by a federal agency. The Canadian Tourism Commission now claims exclusive use of the phrase “for glowing hearts” to promote vacation packages: “This is shocking to me.”
A federal agency acting on a single complaint threatened an animal rights group with regulatory enforcement over a billboard slogan. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency in internal emails acknowledged it has no power to restrict free speech: “It wasn’t obvious where the Agency was getting its authority from.”
