Federal tariffs on U.S. metal imports have only hurt Canadian consumers and manufacturers, a factory owner yesterday told the Commons trade committee. Cabinet last July 1 imposed 25 percent duties on American steel and 10 percent on aluminum in retaliation against identical U.S. taxes on Canadian exports: “Does our government care?”
The Department of National Defence yesterday said it will hire real reporters to pose fake questions in a staff training session to expose “media techniques”. The department did not comment on the cost of the fake news exercise, or identify journalists who agreed to participate.
“Journalists are required to prepare interview questions ahead of the training sessions,” the department wrote in a notice Journalists Role-Playing Professional Services: “The training requires the participation of journalists to simulate appropriate media interviews.”
Fake news training sessions are scheduled at the Defence Public Affairs Learning Centre in North York, Ont., a federal facility that trains military spokespeople and staff “in a risk-free environment to prepare for successful media engagements and interviews”. Role-Playing said full-time reporters will be paid to pose as fake reporters in workshop sessions, then critique staff on how well they perform in simulated interviews and news conferences.
“Journalists share their observations with the instructor who will provide feedback to the candidates,” wrote staff. “At the end of the session, journalists offer their observations to the training coordinator for future sessions.”
The budget was not detailed. The military did not reply to Blacklock’s questions.
Fake news workshops are intended to train military employees to “understand the media and social media environment”, learn how to “negotiate an interview”, and maneuver through pitfalls they might face in disclosing information to the public. “Recognize and respond to different types of questions and techniques used by media,” said Role-Playing.
“The contractor should use the following media techniques and types of questions that could be expected on the subject of the interview in order for the spokesperson to practice bridging techniques: the loaded question; the hypothetical question; the opinion question; the statement; and the silent treatment,” wrote staff.
“To support the training, the contractor must provide journalists that will conduct an analysis of the media landscape specific to each spokesperson’s topic, and practice interviews with the specified spokesperson using relevant, credible and challenging questions in the formats specified by the instructor,” the notice said.
The Canadian Association of Journalists, a volunteer trade association, did not comment. “It’s not just in wartime situations that reporters find themselves ‘embedded’,” the Association wrote in a 2014 report of its ethics advisory committee How Close Is Too Close? “Where is the journalist’s primary loyalty?” said the report. “What would the public think?”; “Applying any one of these tests might raise a red flag.”
By Staff 
Airports and airlines will see new mandatory regulations on accessibility next year, the CEO of the Canadian Transportation Agency last night told the Commons human resources committee. Enforcement will include fines for non-compliance: ‘It is a fundamental human right.’
Federal departments and agencies have paid out $135,092 in damages to employees who did not receive paycheques, according to newly-released Public Accounts. The Public Service Alliance of Canada has requested a general compensation fund for employees affected by the failed Phoenix Pay System program: “No worker should be forced to sell their vehicle.”
The Commons yesterday rejected a motion to examine postal banking. Critics noted debate occurred as the Canadian Union of Postal Workers began rotating strikes to press contract demands on management: “We do not get great service, but we are well served by the banking industry.”
Cabinet yesterday said it may seek a wider Code Of Conduct on internet and TV service providers’ sales practices. Federal data show 1 in 4 Canadians still suffer bill shock five years after regulators first introduced a consumers’ code for wireless subscribers: “It’s basically a cartel, let’s face it.”
A $2 million taxpayers’ loan to a green technology company created a single job, according to Access To Information records. The loan to a money-losing Québec firm was awarded a year-and-a-half after it received an outright grant of $2.4 million: “We are grateful.”
Street language is okay on TV political talk shows, a national broadcast council has ruled. The decision follows “insulting” remarks by a former co-chair of Ontario’s failed Liberal campaign: ‘He could have used equivalent terms such as ‘idiot’ or ‘goofball’.”
Parks Canada says it may rewrite rules to amend speech gag regulations under the Canada National Parks Act. MPs and senators on Parliament’s scrutiny of regulations committee called it a breach of the Charter of Rights: “You know what? We’re just going to leave it the way it is.”
Nuclear safety officers cruelly caricatured as donut-eating Homer Simpsons must meet rigorous fitness tests, says the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. The agency in a notice spelled out annual physicals for staff including stair-climbing and knee bends wearing a 20-lb. safety vest: “These standards must be met.”
A Saudi airline is suing the Canadian Transportation Agency for legal costs in scheduling, then canceling a hearing over a $2,500 fine. “The Agency under its current leadership seems to be on a crusade against airlines,” said a lawyer in the case.
Members of the Senate trade committee yesterday expressed skepticism over claimed benefits of a new Pacific trade pact. The government’s own data suggest the treaty could result in job losses, said one legislator: “Why should we all get on the bandwagon?”
Canada’s bilingualism commissioner yesterday told the Commons languages committee he should have new powers to levy fines for English-only signage or service. “The Act should be modernized as quickly as possible,” said Raymond Théberge.
Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould yesterday called cabinet a world leader in freedom of information, though Canada ranks 56th in a global rating. Members of the Senate legal and constitutional affairs committee criticized a cabinet bill that further limits disclosure of important public records: “It can be a shield as well, right?”
Cabinet yesterday introduced a bill to ban bear-baiting. The U.K. abolished the spectacle in 1840. Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould told reporters she did not know how often it occurs in Canada: “I’m not exactly clear on how prevalent it is.”
