The RCMP for two years withheld in-house research showing fewer than half of Canadians surveyed consider Commissioner Brenda Lucki to be effective. Federal agencies including the Mounties are required by law to disclose polling financed by taxpayers: "They award lower marks when it comes to the calibre of its leadership."
The Department of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it has drafted plans to evacuate 300,000 citizens from Hong Kong in case of further Communist Party crackdowns. Most have dual Chinese-Canadian citizenship, an official said: "It’s our job to plan for the most extreme situations."
The Commons by a 263-56 vote yesterday rejected an apology to Québec for invoking the War Measures Act fifty years ago. A Bloc Québécois motion demanding that Parliament apologize “presents just one side of the story”, said one MP.
An Alberta realty company has lost a bid to trademark “McMortgages”. The federal Trademarks Opposition Board struck the application under protest from McDonald’s, noting the burger chain had operated here since opening its first Canadian franchise in Richmond, B.C. in 1967: 'Their trademarks are famous.'
The Department of Natural Resources says it has neither a detailed plan nor budget to plant two billion trees promised by then-Environment Minister Catherine McKenna in 2019. Data show the program even if successful would account for about a third of trees planted by forestry companies and provinces: "Mother Nature will plant millions of trees on her own."
Immigration fell as much as forty-nine percent this year to the lowest level in more than two decades. Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino said quotas must be raised in future years to make up the difference. "Immigrants create jobs," he said.
A cabinet crackdown on paid leave for federal employees who are neither sick nor working from home has prompted human rights grievances by the largest government union. The Treasury Board will not confirm the latest cost of Covid-19 furloughs, estimated at more than $1 billion to date: "Taxpayers have a right to know."
Cabinet opposes a Conservative bill to ban Canadian exports of plastic waste. One supporter called the bill “a no-brainer”, though Liberals said they feared it would affect cross-border garbage shipments to the U.S.: "Whatever happens with the private member’s bill, we do not know."
A labour board has upheld a five-week suspension for factory workers suspected of smoking marijuana in the company parking lot. Any lesser penalty would “be sending the wrong message”, wrote an Ontario adjudicator.
A law against thieving by public employees was quietly repealed by Parliament though prosecutors used it dozens of times over a ten-year period, according to Access To Information records. The Department of Justice said the law was slated for repeal because it was “obsolete”.
A media start-up that complained of the corrosive influence of federal money in Canadian newsrooms has won a sole-sourced Department of Public Works contract worth more than a quarter million. David Skok, former Toronto Star editor who launched the business website The Logic Inc. two years ago, declined an interview: "I founded The Logic on the belief that journalistic independence comes from financial independence."
Legislators would take a pandemic pay freeze for up to three years under a Senate motion debated yesterday. Senator Lucie Moncion (Ont.) said she donated her own $3,700 raise to charity this year, and recommended cabinet waive all increases: 'It is an expression of our solidarity with Canadians in these difficult times.'
The Canadian Tourism Commission yesterday appealed to people to “travel within Canada first” to save the recession-bound industry. The Commission put tourism job losses at up to 500,000 by year’s end: "It’s just bad everywhere."
Senators including a Liberal appointee yesterday questioned a lack of public information about federal finances. Mandated disclosure of borrowing ended when the Prime Minister suspended Parliament August 18: "It’s not being transparent."
Canada’s chief public health officer yesterday in an official report on the pandemic deleted all references to garbled advice on masks. Dr. Theresa Tam as late as April 3 claimed there was no evidence masks protected Canadians from Covid-19: "It is absolutely mind-boggling."
