The Department of Justice may withhold its litigation costs from taxpayers under “solicitor-client privilege,” the Office of the Information Commissioner said yesterday. MPs have demanded that all expenditures of public money be disclosed including expenses run up by federal lawyers: 'It is a broken system.'
Most court records sent to federal prisons, up to 80 percent, contain paperwork errors, says a federal audit. The investigation was prompted by the mistaken 2017 release of a British Columbia drug trafficker due to a typographical error: "It is important."
The Government of Canada paid a foreign contractor blacklisted by allies as a Russian war collaborator, records disclose. Payment was made even after the contractor was censured by allies: "Canada is actively exploring options on next steps."
Quarantine hotels cost taxpayers more than a third of a billion according to new figures, the highest disclosed to date. Expenses were the equivalent of more than $17,000 for every traveler given shelter for 72 hours: "Costs associated with this program included lodging, meals, security, traveler support and transportation."
Tax measures should support Canadians who work past 65, says Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne. The number of pensioners who remain in the workforce is currently the highest in history, according to federal data: "The tax system should not create undue barriers for seniors who wish to return or remain in the workforce."
Canadians typically don’t know much about the Navy but suspect it is probably racist, says in-house research by the Department of National Defence. More than a third of people surveyed called Navy racism worrisome though they couldn’t point to any particular allegation or incident: "One Black participant did describe the Navy as being as racially diverse as the National Hockey League."
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault yesterday renewed a 2016 pledge to phase out “inefficient” fossil fuel subsidies without defining “inefficient.” Enforcement is scheduled for 2025: "The term ‘inefficient’ fossil fuel subsidy lacks a commonly accepted definition."
Cabinet commissioned in-house research on banning federal funding to any Canadian organization "unaccepting of LGBTQ individuals,” records show. A Privy Council report also discussed preferential funding for Pride communities like LGBTQ scholarships: 'They questioned why the process to normalize and protect LGBTQ communities was not moving faster.'
Reporters may conceal conflicts of interest involving analysts they quote in stories under a ruling by a national press ombudsman. The decision came in the case of a Twitter source quoted by Anja Karadeglija, a National Post reporter and journalism ethics instructor: “Journalists are free to choose the sources they deem credible.”
Friends of China may be spreading pro-Beijing propaganda to “pollute the general media” in Canada, warns a Department of Public Safety briefing note. Cabinet is reviewing a proposal to mandate public disclosure of advocates acting on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party: "Information could be disseminated by Canadians who may not be fully aware."
Cabinet budgeted millions for a vaccine passport program to 2026 though the World Health Organization has declared the pandemic is over. A Department of Health memo said funding was needed to support federal measures “as needed going forward.”
Accidental marijuana poisoning of kindergartners has worsened under legalization, according to records. The Department of Health acknowledged “the rise in pediatric cannabis poisonings” since Parliament legalized marijuana in 2018: "This is largely driven by children younger than five."
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom writes: “Lack the standing to blame God for the killings in Vietnam, the famine in Biafra, the genocide in Rwanda, the ethnic cleansing in Myanmar…”
Canadians questioned in Privy Council research “almost all had a negative opinion” of cabinet’s management of the economy, says an in-house report. Disclosure of cabinet polling follows Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s complaints of “gloom and doom and the talking down of Canada.”
Cabinet will not allow disruptions to continue at West Coast ports, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said yesterday. On-and-off strike action since July 1 by the International Longshore & Warehouse Union was unacceptable, said Trudeau: "This strike could not continue."
