Parliament’s Budget Officer is proposing reforms that would make the office independent and answerable only to MPs. The watchdog has repeatedly complained of inadequate funding and federal stonewalling on the release of records: “It’s significant”.
Parks Canada is prepared to commission hundreds of statues of its little-known mascot Parka The Beaver in a bid to boost receipts. The agency in 26 pages of contractors’ specifications carefully explained the statues must be weatherproof and childproof: ‘The tail must be positioned in a way that makes it impossible for visitors to jump on it’.
Most Canadians couldn’t buy an electric car even if they wanted one, says a federal report. The Access To Information disclosure follows cabinet’s funding of $62.5 million for new electric recharging stations: ‘It can only be characterized as difficult’.
Taxpayers have offered Canada Revenue Agency employees wine, gift cards and jewelry, all returned under a cabinet directive against payola. Employees must decline gifts in the name of integrity, the Agency says: “Sometimes it is difficult”.
The Library of Parliament in two years has spent more than $100,000 on social media ads, though the public is not allowed to take out a book. The Library said it wanted to “build awareness” of services that are closed to the public: “Why?”
Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson faces a federal lawsuit on allegations she breached the Conflict Of Interest Act. The challenge by the advocacy group Democracy Watch asks that the Court of Appeal quash a Commissioner’s ruling as unlawful: “It’s a charade”.
Access To Information records disclose in-house bickering between federal departments over promised aid to farmers hurt by a European Union trade pact. The agriculture department “pushed back” for “a stronger message” on compensation for dairy producers, documents show: “My question is, how does Canada prepare for trade talks?”
The equivalent of nearly half of Health Canada employees have contacted social workers for counselling on “psychological issues” and other worries, documents show. Only 12 percent of complainants said they were happy to go to work in the morning: “We do see trends”.
The justice department in a classified memo says years of inadequate Legal Aid funding affected “a fundamental service for vulnerable Canadians”. The Memorandum For The Minister noted Canada spends less per capita on legal services for the poor than England or Australia: “It only works for people with money”.
A financer called one of Canada’s top investment bankers has been cited for failing to report more than $18 million in taxable income. A federal judge upheld 50 percent gross negligence penalties in the case of the “drive-by” tax return: ‘He was willfully blind’.
An Olympian hailed for good sportsmanship has won a tax judgment against the Canada Revenue Agency. A federal judge ruled the Agency was wrong to levy late-file penalties against Lawrence Lemieux, hero of the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul: “I’m not one to ask for help”.
Conservative leadership candidate Michael Chong in a private letter to cabinet worried a European trade pact would “challenge” Canadian supply management. Chong had publicly praised the agreement as historic. The MP did not respond to an interview request.
Canadian diplomats representing the nation abroad should drive Canadian-made cars, says Unifor. The foreign ministry is placing September 1 orders for millions in new vehicles without any requirement they be made here: “It’s a real opportunity”.
Cabinet supervision of the Transportation Safety Board has been transferred to the Privy Council from Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc. Officials said it was to avoid any conflict with the fisheries department, responsible for the Canadian Coast Guard: “It makes sense”.
Men gather by the downtown shelter, smoke,
watch life roll by.
I cross the street to the city’s newest condos.
A basic unit
– 1 bedroom apartment a quarter of a million dollars –
features panoramic windows,
designer kitchen cabinets,
granite countertops
and
oak hardwood floors,
“but not real oak,” the lady admits
when I repeat my question.
She leads me through the grand lobby. My eyes
follow her dyed hair as she introduces the pool, the sauna,
and the empty, landscaped terrace.
“Our standards have been elevated,” she says,
as though explaining modern life
to a Neanderthal.
Back by the Mission I watch my steps,
avoid spittle,
cigarette butts.
(Editor’s note: poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, examines current events in the Blacklock’s tradition each and every Sunday)
