Two Liberal MPs held shares in Facebook even as cabinet vowed to lead a national advertising boycott against the company. Neither MP commented yesterday after cabinet said it was “doing our part” to cut dealings with Facebook: "If the government and politicians don’t stand up against that kind of bullying or intimidation, who will?"
Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough’s department fired 64 employees as security risks, according to records. One was confirmed as a foreign spy: "For sensitivity reasons we cannot provide additional information on specific cases."
Cabinet yesterday approved billions more subsidies for battery factories in what the Canadian Taxpayers Federation criticized as a free for all for foreign automakers. Aid totals more than $31 billion for three Ontario plants: "The feds need to draw the line somewhere."
A federal tribunal yesterday saved General (Ret’d) Jonathan Vance from a summons to testify in a human rights case. Vance last year pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice, a first for a Chief of Defence Staff: "He was untouchable."
The Conservative Party yesterday released an email from a Liberal cabinet aide as proof of double dealing on suspected election fraud by foreign agents, it said. The email was dated only hours before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Conservatives were obstructing a public inquiry: "They don’t want answers."
An order by Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez to pull all federal ads from Facebook and Instagram will cost the company $11.4 million, less than one tenth of one percent of annual revenues. It comes seven years after newspaper publishers pleaded with cabinet to stop sending ad dollars to Silicon Valley: "Will ministries in the government and members of your caucus stop posting on Instagram and Facebook?"
Higher prices for basic groceries like cabbage and spaghetti are running at three and four times the rate of general inflation, new Statistics Canada figures showed yesterday. Details of price spikes for specific foods followed cabinet’s celebration of the last Consumer Price Index report as “good news for Canadians,” said Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.
Military recruitment fell 35 percent last year, records show. Volunteers were harder to find amid “Canada-wide labour shortages,” said a federal briefing note: "The Canadian Armed Forces is experiencing a shortfall in personnel."
Cabinet effective August 1 will eliminate all credit checks on Canada Student Loan borrowers. “It only creates a barrier,” said loan managers at the Department of Employment: "Difficulties affording postsecondary education can be expected to have long term impacts for all Canadians."
Canadians asking to see public records must first show their birth certificate, driver’s license or other proof of citizenship or residency under new legal requirements enacted yesterday by Treasury Board President Mona Fortier. The ID mandate was never put to public consultation: "No consultations were deemed to be necessary."
New Democrats will not grant the necessary unanimous consent required to speed any federal legislation to end a strike by British Columbia port workers, Party leader Jagmeet Singh said yesterday. Parliament nine times in the past 50 years has forced an end to Pacific port disputes with emergency legislation: "They should not at all be forced back to work."
The Office of Elections Commissioner Caroline Simard dismissed 116 complaints of alleged foreign interference in the last two general elections without a single attempted prosecution, records show. Simard's staff in a briefing note complained investigations were hard: "Investigations into foreign interference will inevitably continue to raise difficult issues."
The Canadian Space Agency has budgeted $65 million for a space car, according to an internal audit. The cost accounts for more than 40 percent of total moon exploration spending: "Approximately $31 million is awarded in contracts, grants and contributions to the space industry."
Gender Equality Minister Marci Ien’s department spent nearly $82,000 interviewing Canadians as young as 13 for their opinions of menstruation. Researchers concluded the topic doesn’t come up much: "Canadians were asked how often they find themselves talking to someone about menstruation."
Cabinet will decide by executive order which private sector employers must conduct business in French, says a briefing note for Languages Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor. A bill containing a first-ever federal French mandate in the private sector was signed into law June 21: "The new Act will come into force by decree."
