The Canadian Taxpayers Federation yesterday said it needs a new debt clock after federal debts surpassed a trillion for the first time since Confederation. “This one doesn’t have enough digits,” said Aaron Wudrick, federal director.
The Department of Environment yesterday said it will finally compile old weather data for an accurate “historical database” on climate change. The department in 2019 omitted a century’s worth of data in claiming Canadian weather was unusually extreme: 'References to weather are contained in journals and diaries of early settlers.'
The Department of Health is investigating “false and misleading claims” of Covid-19 treatments using traditional Chinese herbal medicine, according to internal briefing notes. “The department takes this matter very seriously,” wrote staff.
Public Safety Minister Bill Blair yesterday expanded tax-free grants for families of front line public safety workers whose deaths are attributed to service. The program introduced in 2018 had run sixty percent under budget: "Canadians rely on them."
New $94 billion federal fuel regulations combined with the carbon tax will add fifty cents to a litre of gasoline by 2030, says an advocacy group. The Department of Environment in a legal notice acknowledged middle income households and those facing “energy poverty” will be hardest hit: "This is extremely cruel."
Canada Revenue Agency managers in an attempt at humour recommended employees play CRA bingo and shower regularly at home. The Agency did not comment on its Christmas newsletter: "Wow, just when I thought government could not get any worse."
The Department of Health was so overwhelmed by demands for Covid-19 testing it asked marijuana growers for help, according to internal briefing notes. Health officials publicly claimed Canada’s testing regime was among the best in the world: "Producers put up their hands to help out."
A quarter of federally-regulated private sector employees will be exempt from “work-life balance” regulations passed by Parliament two years ago, says the labour department. Transport companies complained the rules couldn’t apply in 24-7 trades: "Many employers raised significant concerns."
A Cape Breton court knocked 45 percent off legal fees in a real estate transaction after ruling charges must be fair and reasonable. “To use a good Nova Scotian expression, the title was not rocket surgery,” wrote the Nova Scotia Supreme Court.
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, examines current events in the Blacklock’s tradition each and every Sunday: “It the NDP would have built the Coliseum, there would have been the Union of Quarry Workers…”
The Public Health Agency in an internal memo recommended nurses wear aprons due to a shortage of medical gowns. The Agency shipped date-expired gowns to provinces after failing to stock up: "Health care workers could consider wearing an apron."
CMHC spent two years researching a new name then hid the costs from a parliamentary committee, internal emails show. The disclosures are detailed in Access To Information records obtained by Conservative MP Tom Kmiec (Calgary Shepard): "We don't want THAT."
Federal regulators quietly granted fish farmers a waiver to use an unlicensed pesticide in the name of protecting Canada’s food supply. The waiver follows a 2018 audit that cited poor monitoring of pesticides in coastal waters: "How can they know?"
Nine out of ten Prince Edward Islanders would take the Covid-19 vaccine if they could get it, but only two-thirds of Manitobans are willing. Statistics Canada yesterday documented a range of Canadians who said they were “very likely or somewhat likely” to get a shot: "Anti-vaccine sentiment is a challenge."
The Canada Revenue Agency yesterday estimated $28.7 billion a year in federal tax is never collected. Actual tax avoidance is likely worth billions more, according to Budget Office research: "The CRA refuses to be transparent."
