There is insufficient evidence to determine if a costly grocery subsidy for Northerners is lowering the price of food, says a federal report. The Nutrition North program cost $194.3 million last year: "Is the subsidy being fully passed on to consumers?"
Cabinet for a third time in five years is reviewing federal regulation of legal internet content, the Department of Industry said yesterday. “Details will be made public at the appropriate time,” it said.
Floor-crossing by a fifth opposition MP to the Liberal caucus yesterday marked the largest mass defection to a federal governing party in the Commons in 109 years. MP Marilyn Gladu (Sarnia-Lambton, Ont.), former Conservative Party leadership candidate, said she hoped to gain more federal funding for her riding as a Liberal: "I thought, should I quit?"
Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet yesterday appealed to voters to hold the line on a close Liberal majority in a Montréal-area byelection. A Bloc win in Terrebonne, Que. would limit cabinet to a thin but working majority in the Commons: "‘Who the hell speaks for me?"
The Prime Minister’s Office yesterday had no comment after a senior executive was censured for cronyism. Christiane Fox, now-Deputy Minister of National Defence, breached an Act of Parliament in finding an $80,000-a year government job for a school friend whose experience consisted of working as manager at a Good Life gym: "Giving someone preferential treatment is in itself improper."
Cabinet’s $30 billion promise to create a quarter million new daycare spaces by March 31 was not met, says a federal document. Then-Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland in 2021 promised billions in five-year subsidies on a promise of $10-a day fees and “250,000 new high quality child care spaces by 2026.”
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne boasted to senators he was personally involved in details of construction for regional high speed rail in Québec, records show. It contradicts Champagne’s claim he recused himself under the Conflict Of Interest Act after his wife was hired by the railway: "We got the train through Trois-Rivières."
It’s a “good situation” when cabinet ministers’ spouses can enjoy their own careers, Prime Minister Mark Carney said yesterday. He dismissed questions regarding the finance minister’s personal involvement in promoting a regional rail corporation that hired his wife as vice-president: "It’s important that we have a system that those individuals can continue to pursue their career."
The housing crisis only affects people who don’t own houses, says a federal briefing note. The Department of Housing in an Access To Information note to Minister Gregor Robertson said it found affordability was no problem for homeowners who bought property 25 years ago: "In other words, if you consider all Canadians there does not appear to be an affordability crisis."
A Toronto banker appointed to oversee defence contracting owns shares in dozens of publicly-traded firms including federally regulated companies, according to ethics filings. Doug Guzman, a former Royal Bank executive, earlier acknowledged he had no military experience: "You would have to ask others why I was picked for the job."
Cabinet yesterday said it would not commit to new funding to clear a backlog of hundreds of whistleblower complaints alleging corrupt practices and misconduct. A federal commissioner has said three times as many lawyers currently on staff are required to investigate tips of government wrongdoing: "There may be allegations that do not see the light of day."
Immigration Minister Lena Diab’s department in a draft citizenship guide celebrates Liberal political appointees and an LGBTQ activist. Cabinet sought new themes in what it called a “restructuring of the way we educate not only new Canadians but all of us.”
Cabinet polled catchphrases and logos in attempting to ease the housing crisis, records show. The Privy Council commissioned federal focus groups on marketing techniques most likely to convince Canadians that cabinet would address shortages: 'Branding concepts could be used by the federal government.'
Doly Begum, a Liberal byelection candidate, in social media posts prior to her nomination described Liberals as untrustworthy, conniving and “the surest path to greater evil.” Begum is a former deputy leader of the New Democrat opposition in the Ontario legislature: "The shine has worn off the Liberals’ formula of fake progressivism."
Cabinet on Saturday served notice of fee hikes for migrant workers, foreigners seeking permanent residency and other services. Federal lawyers have successfully defended against challenges of fees as discriminatory: "Canada is a country of immigrants."
