The federal debt clock is back on nationwide tour after clicking over to a trillion. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation yesterday said it will drive the clock from Victoria to the Atlantic shore “to show Canadians from coast to coast what it’s like to watch Canada’s trillion dollar debt go up in real time.”
Federal consultants compiled a list of 25 reliable journalists to be instructed on correct ways to cover general elections, according to Access To Information records. The consultants led by a former Toronto Star executive would not comment: "One way or another it falls to government to ensure the new media ecosystem does not operate in ways contrary to the Canadian principles of peace, order and good government."
Canada has proven it can collect a carbon tax that “keeps life affordable,” says the Department of Environment. The federal tax rises again April 1 to the equivalent of 12¢ a litre on gasoline: "There is a clear cost from a changing climate so it can’t be free."
A costly federal ban on six types of single use plastics will do little to save the environment, say independent researchers. The most commonly discarded plastic is not covered by Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault’s ban, data show: "This ban fails to target litter categories that appear to make up most single use plastic litter found in Canada."
The Department of Health almost four years after legalizing marijuana has identified “knowledge gaps” on health risks. The department on Saturday proposed to rewrite regulations to promote more cannabis research: "I worry about the discussion around legalization because it insinuates that this is a healthy thing to do."
Recruitment of new Mounties continues to be a fraction of needs, an RCMP union has told the Commons public safety committee. The National Police Federation counted only 380 graduates from the RCMP police academy in Regina last year, about a third of requirements: "The backlog it has created will be felt for years."
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, writes for Blacklock’s each and every Sunday: “Minimum wage goes up. Tim Hortons sends a letter to employees, cancelling paid breaks, cutting health benefits. Some say that’s not the Canadian way…”
Cabinet’s $327,000-a year chief science advisor has not published an annual report in two years despite a requirement to account for the “state of federal government science.” Records show Dr. Mona Nemer, an Ottawa chemist, instead spent nearly a quarter million flying from Yokohama to Paris since her appointment: "Science is everywhere."
The CBC has retracted another false Freedom Convoy story that suggested foreigners played a large role in the protest. The claim was made on a radio broadcast of The World This Hour, self-described as “Canada’s most trusted audio newscast.”
The Department of Transport that regulates national airports does an inadequate job of managing its own, says an internal audit. Investigators found favouritism in contracting, misuse of government credit cards and unexplained spending at seven small, federally-owned airfields: "Employees have side jobs, family relations work together and business partners are friends."
A Parliament Hill ban on lobbyist-paid interns is unfair, says the corporate-sponsored Canadian Political Science Association. The practice was prohibited four years ago by Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion as a clear conflict of interest: "They are not volunteers because they are paid by the organization that places them."
Children’s participation in sports has declined so sharply it could affect future Olympic programs, says the Department of Canadian Heritage. Staff blamed high costs but made no mention of cabinet’s 2017 repeal of a fitness tax credit: "This could result in a gap in the number of high performance athletes competing in a decade or so."
MPs have quietly dropped a committee investigation into a mystery woman who jumped on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier during Freedom Convoy protests. Cabinet blamed convoy truckers for the incident though the woman was never identified nor arrested and Ottawa police would not testify: "We describe this as a unique demonstration."
Statistics Canada for the first time is collecting data on the number of stolen and smuggled firearms used in gun crimes. However it “may take a few years” to compile figures from police nationwide, it said: 'Who owned it? How it was stored? Was the owner licensed?'
CMHC last year awarded the equivalent of a five-figure bonus to almost every employee on its payroll, according to records obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. Bonuses were paid as CEO Romy Bowers publicly lamented the tragedy of homelessness in Canada: "On any given night as many as 35,000 people across our country may be experiencing homelessness. Why is this happening?"
