Public Safety Minister Bill Blair’s department commissioned pre-election polling on whether to ban hunting rifles and shotguns. More than a third of people favoured a ban, mainly those who were “not very or at all familiar” with firearms regulations: "The objective of this research was to set benchmarks."
Elections Canada yesterday said poll officers have been instructed to call police if necessary to enforce local pandemic rules. RCMP in one incident were summoned to an advance poll in West Kelowna, B.C. to question maskless voters: "You have to be careful here."
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau yesterday said any re-elected Liberal cabinet will amend the Criminal Code to outlaw protests outside hospitals, clinics and pharmacies. The Code already prohibits unlawful assembly by as few as three people: "“Why would that legislation be necessary?"
The Bank of Canada in a review of Donald Trump tweets concludes the former U.S. president’s messages had a “statistically significant” impact on exchange rates. Twitter permanently suspended Trump’s account last January 8: "His tweets were informative and potentially consequential."
Cabinet aides were in personal contact with VIPs and Liberal Party insiders seeking federal Covid contracts from the outbreak of the pandemic, according to internal emails. Other suppliers were told to register with a federal website: "Could we reach out politically on this one as well?"
There are no data proving vaccine passports work, says Dr. Theresa Tam, chief public health officer. Tam told reporters the actual impact on vaccination rates has not been studied by the Public Health Agency of Canada: "That remains to be seen."
The Newfoundland and Labrador government quietly petitioned the post office to hire replacement workers to deliver the mail, according to internal records. Neither Canada Post nor the Premier’s Office would comment on emails dating from a Covid outbreak in St. John’s: "The Newfoundland and Labrador government has requested that Canada Post look at hiring temporary workers."
The Department of Canadian Heritage has spent three years devising a program to promote the arts at foreign embassies, according to a briefing note. Expenses to date were not detailed. It follows a fly-a-chef program by the Department of Foreign Affairs that cost $1.75 million a year: "People begin to gain a better appreciation of other perspectives."
Local bans on home cultivation of legalized marijuana are constitutional, the Québec Court of Appeal has ruled. A similar challenge of a Manitoba ban is pending: "Do I understand the Government of Canada would leave it totally to the courts?"
Historian Jack Granatstein decades ago crisscrossed the country interviewing the last surviving senior Canadian officers to serve in the Second World War. Once newsreel heroes, they were now old men, in their 80s and 90s, forgotten by the public – bitterly so, in some cases. Luckily for readers, Granatstein saved his notes.
“Some of what I recorded was indiscreet, self-serving and gossipy, no doubt, but almost all of it seemed to me to be the truth,” writes Granatstein; “During the war, several of the officers whom I interviewed had refused to be disparaging about the abilities of their leaders, despite probing questioning. They had no such qualms in disparaging politicians, but the passage of decades and the gaining of perspective relaxed such instinctive attitudes in many interviewees’ remarks on their comrades.”
Internal emails show federal employees had to script a town hall appearance by Prosperity Minister Mona Fortier that included written questions submitted in advance. The Department of Finance yesterday did not comment: "We’re really looking forward to some of those answers."
An emergency fund for poor and homeless veterans has been oversubscribed by 35 percent, according to a Department of Veterans Affairs report. Auditors quoted one employee as stating the program was saving lives of desperate ex-military left on the streets: "Demand for the Fund has exceeded the funding."
The Liberal Party yesterday did not comment after an Atlantic candidate was quoted as warning cabinet “unfortunately” will have to tax home equity. Jason Hickey, Liberal candidate in New Brunswick Southwest, made his remarks in a video recording distributed by the Conservative Party: "It’s what we have to do."
New data by Statistics Canada yesterday confirmed most pandemic victims were over 85. The figures mirror research by other groups indicating a majority of deaths occurred among octogenarians: "The Covid-19 mortality rate for the 85 and older age group outpaced the overall increase in the mortality rate."
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland yesterday appealed to Québecers to “make the right choice” after Premier François Legault publicly opposed the Liberals’ re-election. The Party won 35 of 78 seats in Québec in the last campaign: "It's a tough situation."
