Government House Leader Pablo Rodriguez yesterday said MPs have no claim to cross-examine political aides over cabinet dealings with We Charity. MPs have ordered testimony from staff in the Prime Minister’s Office on negotiation of a failed $43.5 million grant: "This is preventing Canadians from getting answers."
Liberal MPs on the Commons environment committee last evening slowed consideration of a private Conservative bill to outlaw exports of plastic garbage. Cabinet has said it would disrupt cross-border trading in waste: "It’s just a piece of paper, and what’s the point?"
Consultants with Deloitte received more than $100 million in contracts from federal departments and agencies last year, records show. An MP who requested the figures earlier questioned why the company remained qualified under an Integrity Regime for contractors: "We are aware."
The number of company insolvencies fell by almost a third last year but only because of pandemic closures at bankruptcy courts. Superintendent of Bankruptcy Elisabeth Lang has warned rates will rise: "We are keeping a close eye on insolvency rates."
“Extraordinary borrowing” by Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will cost $635,000,000,000 this year, nearly triple what Parliament spent to fight the Second World War. Freeland in a debt report to Parliament urged Canadians to reflect on the pandemic's impact: "Take stock of what really matters."
The CRTC will regulate “all programming” including internet video under a cabinet bill, says the CEO of the Commission. Ian Scott told the Commons heritage committee a longstanding hands-off treatment of the internet "has changed."
Travelers crossing the border with undeclared marijuana will be ticketed up to $2,000 effective at midnight tonight, says the Canada Border Services Agency. The crackdown follows warnings of “repercussions” when Parliament legalized cannabis in 2018: "Use of cannabis is common in Canada."
Cabinet proposes to allow immigrants with chronic health problems into the country so long as their medicare costs don’t exceed $106,000 over five years. Regulations had prohibited immigrants with heart disease, HIV and other illnesses as a burden to medicare: 'It screens out too many people.'
The number of rejected Canada Summer Jobs program applications fell 72 percent after Christian charities sued, records show. Cabinet had required applicants to swear they were pro-choice when seeking hire-a-student grants: "The most sinister threat to free speech is compelled speech."
Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem, public champion of daycare, privately tried to block the opening of a nursery near his multi-million dollar Toronto home as a nuisance that would spoil the neighbourhood's "charm" with traffic and garbage. Macklem yesterday did not comment. “It’s worth it for everyone to think about where their interests lie,” he said in a February 23 tribute to working mothers: "Governments could boost access to child care to help more women."
The Department of Employment yesterday for the first time admitted it paid millions in fraudulent claims for pandemic relief cheques. It followed a preliminary audit that found 30,000 suspected cases of fraud worth $42 million: "So many Canadians are making sacrifices."
Auditors yesterday complained they can get only a “partial picture” of spending under a multi-billion dollar infrastructure program. “We needed to do a better job of showing our work,” said Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna.
Opposition Leader Erin O’Toole yesterday repeated a pledge to repeal the carbon tax after the Supreme Court upheld the fuel charge as lawful. Other tax opponents pleaded with cabinet to postpone scheduled increases worth the equivalent of an extra 40¢ per litre of gasoline: "The last thing they need is a new cost."
The Commons transport committee by an 11-0 vote yesterday ordered disclosure of confidential federal records regarding payment of billions in refunds to air passengers. The Department of Transport had feared “economic consequences” if airlines were forced to refund travelers: "It could be hundreds of documents."
The Department of Agriculture spent $61,611 to ask 62 people to pick their favourite “Canada Brand” symbol. Researchers acknowledged the study was not useful: "A majority are at least somewhat satisfied with the program, although few are very satisfied."
