The Department of Public Works concealed a multi-million dollar heist of pandemic masks, according to internal records. Millions of surgical masks vanished from an airport warehouse at Hamilton, Ont. after the Prime Minister and local authorities announced the delivery: 'We are not comfortable with publicly divulging the location.'
Canada’s federal whistleblower protection law is “nearly entirely dormant,” the International Bar Association said yesterday. Cabinet to date has ignored a 2017 recommendation from MPs to strengthen the law targeting disclosure of wrongdoing: "Whistleblowers are essential for credible law enforcement campaigns against corruption."
Federal inspectors will defer penalties against scofflaws under new truck safety regulations, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said yesterday. Canada for six years has reviewed electronic engine monitors already mandated in the United States since 2017: "Pay attention."
Lawyers should not make snide Twitter remarks about former clients, the Law Society of Ontario said yesterday. The regulatory guidance came on a complaint filed by Blacklock’s against Mark Bourrie, an Ottawa solicitor who lamented news coverage of the We Charity “non-scandal.”
The Commons finance committee yesterday killed a private bill to shut down Canada Revenue Agency operations in Québec. The Bloc Québécois had sought to have the province collect all income tax within its borders and remit the federal share back to Ottawa: "I’ve never had a bill defeated at committee."
The Department of Health was so poorly prepared for the outbreak of the pandemic it had to send masks to Florida for safety testing, say internal records. And the number of ventilators stored in a $300 million national stockpile was only one percent of what was needed: "It’s an embarrassment to this country."
Parliament’s Budget Officer yesterday said “as a taxpayer” he hopes the Canada Revenue Agency recovers pandemic cheques claimed by Canadians who didn’t need the money. The Agency has identified 440,000 claims flagged for investigation: "It makes you wonder."
Canadians are divided on whether the country’s best years are behind it, according to in-house research by the Department of Finance. More than a third of people surveyed said Canada has passed its peak: "Many had low expectations of the government."
Cabinet quietly shelved a proposal to nationalize a shuttered General Motors plant to produce electric vehicles, internal records show. Proponents had suggested the Department of Industry buy the factory to make all-Canadian electrics: "We seem to have some pretty fundamental differences of opinion about the role of industry and the private sector."
Chinese-Canadians were alert to the pandemic more than a month before the Public Health Agency, the Commons public safety committee was told yesterday. One MP said he first learned of the coronavirus risk not from any federal agency, but organizers of a Chinese-Canadian fundraiser in his constituency: "We weren’t even calling it Covid-19 at the time."
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made inaccurate claims in boasting of cabinet’s pandemic response, according to internal emails. “Oh dear,” wrote one political aide. Staff in the Department of Public Works suggested they “try and talk around it” in case anyone noticed: "Maybe we can say -- "
Canadians should be able to vote by phone in a pandemic election, says a Liberal majority on the House affairs committee. The recommendation was met by opposition warnings of a ballot box swindle: "It opens the door to fraud."
SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. was awarded a $150 million federal contract for pandemic field hospitals nobody asked for, according to records. The Department of Public Works five months after signing the sole-sourced contract had not bothered to fix any delivery dates for the mobile health units: "A public call for tenders was not issued due to the urgency."
We Charity’s former chief lobbyist says she had no idea of Bill Morneau’s personal dealings with the group that prompted his abrupt resignation as finance minister. “That just makes absolutely no sense,” one Conservative MP told the Commons ethics committee: "This could be perceived as an attempted bribe."
Chinese diplomats threatened they would not tolerate finger-pointing from Canada over the import of shoddy medical goods, internal emails show. The “warning” came from the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa: "They appreciated the Prime Minister’s response would be fact-based and expressed the hope that ‘China-related issues would not be cooked up.'"
