A Public Health Agency executive who admitted to putting “lives of Canadians at risk” yesterday was promoted as senior advisor to the Prime Minister. Kristina Namiesniowski, president of the Agency, was named a $238,000-a year advisor in the Privy Council Office: "Time is of the essence."
The typical Canadian carries $70 in their wallet, mainly five and ten-dollar bills, and stashes another $185 in their vehicle glove box or dresser drawer at home, says the Bank of Canada. Researchers surveyed cash holdings in a study on the future of bitcoin and other digital currencies: "I use cash to monitor my spending."
Canadians’ automatic right to travel between provinces does not apply in a pandemic, says a St. John’s judge. The ruling came in the case of a Nova Scotia woman denied permission to travel to Newfoundland & Labrador to attend her mother’s funeral: "Right to mobility under the Charter is not absolute."
Most homeowners in Canada expect the government to protect them in case of overland flooding, says Department of Public Safety research. Private insurers have offered climate change flood coverage to policyholders since 2015 though few homeowners have bought it: 'Other policyholders would essentially be subsidizing them, which is not right.'
Senior Department of Finance officials had secret meetings, phone calls and emails with the insurance lobby on pharmacare, Access To Information records show. Scores of contacts were never reported under the Lobbying Act, with careful instructions from insurers that information was “not to be shared publicly”.
A Twitter storm by homeowners prompted CMHC to quietly pull funding for federal research on a home equity tax. CEO Evan Siddall emailed the private notice to staff while publicly blaming Blacklock’s for “irresponsible reporting” in disclosing the study in the first place: "Whose bright idea was this?"
Cabinet proposes to enforce a climate change code on all Canadian companies operating abroad. The mandate would see mining, oil and gas firms “be positive on the local environment”.
Masked MPs return to Parliament Wednesday under strict orders to cover their faces. The directive follows a warning from local health authorities that Ottawa is now in a second wave of Covid-19 infections: "I think their business has changed."
Federal managers have unwittingly hired fake nurses, engineers and architects, say auditors. The Public Service Commission reviewed scrutiny of job-seekers’ résumés after one national health care administrator was found to have bought her Master’s Degree from a Texas diploma mill: "The federal public service is not immune to such fraud."
Fewer than one in five Canadians, 19 percent, rate the environment as the top issue for cabinet, says internal polling by the Privy Council Office. Findings were drawn from questionnaires completed before the pandemic and recession: "We still have another crisis. It’s called climate change."
Elections Canada yesterday placed rush orders for millions of ballot pencils in anticipation of a snap vote. The order came a day after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he didn’t seek another election less than a year since the last one: "We should all have tremendous confidence in Elections Canada."
Ninety percent of Canadians claim they voted in the last election, according to a federal questionnaire. Parliament has never seen ninety percent turnout in any election: "It is socially acceptable to be seen to vote."
Federal regulators yesterday warned radio stations to reconsider threatened pandemic layoffs and closures. The CRTC expressed unease with a broadcasters’ demand for waivers from licensing requirements, saying it could have “significant potential impact”.
The pandemic is causing “psychological stress” to prisoners, says the Chief Justice of Nunavut’s territorial court. The Iqaluit judge cited Covid-19 in sentencing a repeat violent offender to eighty days in jail: "Should jail sentences generally be shorter because of Covid?"
Cabinet will march in lockstep with the European Union on climate change regulations, Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said yesterday. One E.U. directive commits to double the rate of renewable energy use seen in Canada: "There’s a whole range of things."
