Sixth and seventh waves of pandemic infection will occur and “some will actually be quite severe,” says the Public Health Agency. Full vaccination with two Covid shots is insufficient, doctors said: "All policies need to be re-examined over time. This is one of them."
The nation’s largest daily, the federally-subsidized Toronto Star, seeks millions more in taxpayers’ aid. The publisher petitioned MPs for new concessions including a $5,000 tax credit to train employees in how to use the internet: "The industry needs time."
Uyghur Muslims have filed a Federal Court challenge of cabinet’s refusal to censure China for genocide. The Court claim was filed as cabinet celebrated Canadian athletes at the Beijing Winter Games: "Cheer on our athletes. Go Canada go!”
Taxpayers have now spent $10 million on a decrepit heritage building that has sat empty for 23 years. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2017 announced with fanfare the Ottawa landmark would become an Indigenous Peoples’ Space: "We have a lot of hard work ahead."
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, writes for Blacklock’s each and every Sunday: “In the year 2056, Chapters will announce a major expansion to its gift section, boosting the display of decorative pillows, scented candles and specialty teas. Books may still be found on the remaining shelf near the emergency exit…”
Buried in the files of Ontario District Court is R v. Anguei Pal-Deng, an unsettling case. The accused, a Sudanese Black man, 25, already on probation for common assault, was charged with savagely pushing an 82-year old grandmother down a flight of stairs at Toronto’s Dufferin Mall on March 6, 2014. Two eyewitnesses saw everything: the vicious attack, the bleeding victim, the thin blue line of criminal justice that separates civilized society from urban mayhem. “He grabbed my arm and threw me down the stairs,” the woman said. Pal-Deng spent 7 months in jail awaiting trial.
His case was assigned to Judge Melvyn Green, former co-president of the Association in Defence of the Wrongfully Convicted. Judge Green took an unusual interest in the case; he pulled mall security tapes and examined them frame by frame. “I feel compelled to note that absent the closed-circuit television evidence, the result may have been tragically different,” he wrote.
The Freedom Convoy blockade at Parliament yesterday completed its sixth day amid MPs’ claims lawless truckers were attacking passersby on the streets of Ottawa. Preliminary data show police-reported street crime actually fell since the blockade began: "There have been no riots, injuries or deaths."
The CBC yesterday clarified its claim the Kremlin was behind a Freedom Convoy truckers’ protest at Parliament Hill. The assertion was not factual, the Crown broadcaster said: "There is concern that Russian actors could be continuing to fuel things as this protest grows, or perhaps even instigating it."
Cabinet yesterday acknowledged widespread opposition to its proposal to censor legal but hurtful internet content. “This is a very important and complex issue,” Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez said in a statement: "I will have more to say on online news and online safety in the coming days and weeks."
Suspending MPs caught in ethical violations would be effective, Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion said yesterday. Currently the only consequence for breach of the Conflict Of Interest Code For MPs is a public apology: "It never went any greater than that."
Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos yesterday said protection of privacy was an “absolute priority” in a federal data scoop on cellphone users. Members of the Commons ethics committee said cabinet merely outsourced privacy issues to telecom providers: "The average cellphone user, unless they are informed, basically wouldn’t know."
Environmentalists have won a key legal challenge over federal licensing of a bestselling weed killer. The Federal Court of Appeal ruled regulators failed to properly assess risks of glyphosate sold in Canada under the Roundup brand since 1976: "This is the first time this Court is called upon to review a decision of the Pest Management Regulatory Agency."
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau yesterday pledged to avoid any direct dealings with a federal lobbyist, the Canadian Mental Health Association, after it appointed his wife as “national volunteer.” The Association last year received millions in federal grants: "There is no consideration for talent fees."
Federal managers billed taxpayers more than $150,000 for videoconference workshops with a consultant offering deep breathing exercises, records show. The spending followed questionnaires indicating many government executives complain they work too hard: "Take a deep breath. Let it out slowly. Why is it we all forget we can do this at any time?"
Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem yesterday faced pointed criticism for inaccurate inflation forecasting. The Bank has a “credibility gap” on the rising cost of living, the Senate banking committee was told: "You missed the mark."
