A sixty-foot artifact of the nation’s pioneering era in space is to be demolished as scrap metal, says the Canadian Space Agency. Private researchers said they were unable to save the Kennedy Antenna, a parabolic dish used to track the 1962 satellite that made Canada the third country in space: "It is a shame."
Managers of a federal employees’ group insurance plan have lost a preemptive bid to dismiss a costly class action lawsuit. Sun Life Assurance Company is accused of miscalculating cost of living increases for thousands of beneficiaries: "The plaintiff has pleaded some evidence."
2021 marks a hundred years since neither Liberals nor Conservatives won a majority of seats in the Commons. This had never happened before. It is now commonplace and uniquely Canadian, explains Professor Nelson Wiseman of the University of Toronto.
“Canadian voters have become volatile, more volatile than American voters,” Wiseman writes in Partisan Odysseys. “Although there is no generally accepted measure of party identification, Canadians are less likely than Americans to have party affiliations ingrained into their personal identities.”
The federal deficit is near $400 billion, seven times the previous record, with proposals by cabinet yesterday to extend new benefits to jobless workers. “Our government has taken on more debt so Canadians didn’t have to,” Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters.
We Charity executives in a June 29 phone call with federal officials complained a “scandal” over their dealings with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s family was “taking (a) life of its own”. An agreement to grant the federal contractor $43.5 million was cancelled after We Charity disclosed payments to Trudeau’s mother and brother: "There will be noise but that’s politics."
A federal agency yesterday fined the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce $1.23 million for miscalculating interest at credit cardholders’ expense. The penalty is the largest since Parliament in 2018 ordered naming and shaming of banks found to breach consumer protection codes: "It is important for consumers to know."
We Charity in an email to the Department of Employment acknowledged it faced sharp cutbacks without federal funding. The group’s executive director sent the email a day after cabinet approved a $43.5 million grant: "Job losses were inevitable."
Cabinet yesterday in a statement said whales and dolphins should “not be displayed” at theme parks and aquaria in Canada. The review of regulations followed an appeal from Attorney General David Lametti for more animal protection laws: "There is much more to do."
Federal employees in internal memos expressed astonishment at the cost of an untendered agreement to have We Charity manage a student aid program. The plan was to pay post-secondary students $10 an hour, but included $500 per hour fees for We Charity lawyers and six-figure payments to project managers: "Bit of a shit show."
Newly-disclosed records contradict testimony by ex-Finance Minister Bill Morneau that he had scant personal contact with a federal contractor, We Charity. The finance department released a series of “Hello Bill” emails from Craig Kielburger, co-founder of the charity: "They are all besties."
We Charity highlighted Trudeau family members’ paid appearances with the group in appealing for a $43.5 million grant, according to documents. Internal memos indicate Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office was “weighing in” on the grant proposal weeks before the Prime Minister said he first heard of it: "We have the documents right here."
Suspension of Parliament has delayed disclosure of speaking fees paid to the Prime Minister’s wife and family. Justin Trudeau as a first-term MP personally collected almost $300,000 in talent fees from unidentified sponsors: "That way we could at least limit the damage we’re about to cause."
The Public Health Agency in a 2019 internal memo boasted it was fully prepared for a pandemic after spending millions stocking federal warehouses. The memo was dated last September 16, three months before the coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan, China: "We want to be as ready as possible."
Media executives divvying up federal grants awarded their own companies 100 percent wage subsidies, accounts show. News Media Canada, a publishers’ lobby, yesterday did not comment: 'Helping the press is in the interests of democracy.'
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau yesterday prorogued the minority Parliament, halting for at least a month ongoing committee investigations of federal contracting, China meddling and We Charity. Trudeau told reporters if Opposition MPs didn’t like it they could force an election: 'We will force a confidence vote.'
