A majority of Canadians, nearly sixty percent, oppose federal regulation of internet speech, says in-house government research. The Privy Council study contradicted claims by Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault that “a very high proportion of Canadians” want regulation: "This is an issue of concern for more and more Canadians."
The Department of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it knew of at least 119 Canadians detained in Chinese prisons and hospitals. The actual figure may be much higher, staff noted: "This figure represents the number of Canadians detained in a prison, in a detention centre or in a medical facility."
MPs should veto a 56 percent increase in the federal debt ceiling unless cabinet first writes a budget, the Commons finance committee was told yesterday. No date has been set for a budget, the first in two years: "That is a recipe for trouble."
Then-Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in 1984 said he privately sympathized with Cold War protesters and “was concerned about losing public opinion” over cruise missile testing, according to declassified records. Cabinet Minutes disclosed senior Liberals were sharply divided over “Reaganite militarism.”
Climate change amendments to the National Building Code will be introduced by year’s end, the National Research Council said yesterday. The Council has promised the nation's 14 million homeowners will not be forced to renovate existing properties: "It is not mandated that everyone refit their homes."
Barely two percent of Canadians infected with Covid reported the fact using a costly federal tracing app, says the Public Health Agency. Only a fifth of mobile subscribers downloaded the app in the first place despite repeated appeals by the Prime Minister: "This is an approach we are confident is going to make a big difference."
Cabinet faces a Charter challenge of its $225 million Covid hotel program. A media company Rebel News Network Ltd. seeks confidential documents used to justify mandatory quarantine at federally-approved hotels for all returning air travelers: "It is clear there were many other alternatives."
Opposition MPs yesterday ordered Commons industry committee hearings into a proposed $26 billion buyout involving two of the nation’s four largest telecom corporations. “Frankly the status quo is unacceptable,” Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre (Carleton, Ont.) told reporters: "We have a protected, regulated oligarchy."
Pierre Trudeau’s last finance minister Marc Lalonde warned cabinet that federal overspending was a looming disaster, like “keeping its finger in the dike,” according to declassified records. The Parliamentary Budget Office has calculated current deficits are running at the highest rate to GDP since Lalonde’s era: “Bad as it is, it could easily become even worse.”
A Liberal appointee in the Senate yesterday introduced a private bill promoting decriminalization of heroin. Senator Gwen Boniface (Ont.), a former Ontario Provincial Police commissioner, said simple possession for hard drugs should be a ticketing offence: "Substance use disorder is a public health issue."
Protests over the Atlantic seal hunt prompted a bitter split in the 1984 federal cabinet, according to declassified records. Ministers cursed the International Fund for Animal Welfare while acknowledging the seal hunt was “relatively minor.”
We Charity’s Kielburger brothers yesterday admitted they were in contact with a political aide in the Prime Minister’s Office over a $43.5 million grant. The Commons ethics committee focused on a friendly June 27, 2020 exchange between the Kielburgers and Ben Chin, senior advisor to the Prime Minister: "That's a private matter."
The Department of Health just eleven days into the pandemic told doctors and nurses they must recycle rationed masks until Covid-19 ran its course, according to an internal briefing note. “The document is for internal use by Health Canada,” wrote staff.
Then-Justice Minister Mark MacGuigan in 1982 wanted to sue child killer Clifford Olson to recover federal cash payments but dropped the idea for fear of political embarrassment, say declassified records. Cabinet at a confidential meeting complained it only learned after that fact the RCMP paid Olson $100,000 to disclose where he buried his victims in the British Columbia woods: "Mr. MacGuigan stressed the decision was his alone."
Then-Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s cabinet opposed compensation for Japanese-Canadians interned during World War II since they did not appear unhappy, according to declassified Cabinet Minutes. Ministers said compensating those whose property was seized would set a precedent: "All minorities will feel they should have a right to redress."
