The Privy Council Office in a secret memo said Covid vaccine injuries and deaths “have the potential to shake public confidence” and must be carefully managed with “winning communication strategies.” A federal compensation fund to date has paid out millions on injury and death claims: "Government messaging following an adverse event will be important."
Former governor general David Johnston yesterday agreed to take MPs’ questions over his role at the Trudeau Foundation. Johnston for weeks ignored requests that he appear before the Commons public accounts committee and narrowly avoided a summons last Thursday: "It's not easy."
The Department of Public Safety issued a false security bulletin claiming it had “confirmation” Freedom Convoy protesters ransacked federal office buildings, Access To Information records show. Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino’s office yesterday said it had nothing to do with the disinformation: "There’s a danger."
Conservative MPs yesterday introduced 904 amendments to the budget as a filibuster entered its second month. Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre said MPs would use all means possible to block the budget bill until cabinet caps the carbon tax and commits to eliminating the deficit: "If the government does not meet these demands we will use all procedural tools at our disposal to block the budget."
Only a tenth of air travelers are using the costly ArriveCan app since it was made voluntary, records show. Use of the app had been mandatory until last October 1: "Canadians have been able to cross the border without it for decades and even centuries."
The Privy Council in an Access To Information memo proposed a legal requirement that the CBC broadcast government messaging in a “national crisis.” Cabinet aides complained they had to buy advertising during the pandemic: "There could be new possibilities to create partnerships to respond to future crises."
The Privy Council secretly polled Canadians on pandemic vaccination tactics, Access To Information records show. Researchers tested options from paying Canadians to take a Covid shot to punishing the unvaccinated by denying them access to "certain activities."
A month-long Conservative committee filibuster of cabinet’s budget bill has spilled into the House of Commons. MPs on Friday voided a whole day’s worth of debate on Bill C-47 as cabinet fumed: "It was actually a point of order on the process for raising points of order during points of order."
Jobseekers polled by the Department of National Defence rate a new recruitment campaign as too technical and “a bit desperate.” Researchers said the air force, navy and army face a "highly competitive job market."
A bill for independent oversight of the Canada Border Services Agency will not address “problematic behaviour” by management, employees have told the Commons public safety committee. The Agency is the only police force of its size in Canada without a civilian oversight board: "Make real change."
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom writes: “My friend who works as a server at a banquet hall tells me about their training. We are expected to work in the background, she says, allow patrons to focus on their business…”
In 2001 Veterans Affairs Canada added 23 names to the nation’s First World War Book Of Remembrance preserved in the Peace Tower. The 23 were shot for cowardice and desertion. Ron Duhamel, then-veterans affairs minister, told the Commons: “People may lose control of their emotions, have a breakdown for reasons over which they have little control,” he said. “I wish to express my deep sorrow at their loss of life”.
But what if this is all wrong? What if the image of the frail and cowering soldier executed by sadistic military brass is a First War set piece that owes more to filmography than fact?
Historian Teresa Iacobelli challenges readers to review the evidence in Death or Deliverance, as fascinating a case as ever went to the jury. Iacobelli asserts that not only were military executions extremely rare, but that Canadians’ view of the incidents – including Veterans Affairs’ 2001 observance – is skewed by a Hollywood film.
Liberal and New Democrat MPs last night saved David Johnston from a summons to testify on his dealings with the Trudeau Foundation. The Commons public accounts committee by a 6 to 4 vote adjourned debate on an order compelling Johnston to appear as a hostile witness: "It is like a subpoena from a lawyer. There are legal consequences."
The chair of the Senate agriculture committee yesterday would not comment on an Italian junket so costly other senators expressed unease with the expense. Senator Robert Black (Ont.) submitted a $66,940 budget to lead a four-member farm delegation to Italy in July for a study of "soil conditions in Canada."
Jody Thomas, national security advisor, yesterday said she was on holiday and never read a secret July 20, 2021 pre-election memo warning that Chinese agents had targeted a Conservative MP. Thomas testified at the House affairs committee the “integrity of my statements here” should not be questioned: "You want Canadians to believe that?"
