Taxpayers won’t know for more than a year whether billions budgeted for pandemic relief were well spent, says incoming Auditor General Karen Hogan. Speaking in the Senate, Hogan said auditors aren’t even aware how much has been spent in the past ten weeks: "It’s important to make sure you get to the bottom."
MPs vow to “get to the bottom” of mismanagement of a $300 million national stockpile of pandemic supplies that led to costly shortages of equipment. Sally Thornton, vice-president of the Public Health Agency in charge of the stockpile, invoked national security in refusing to disclose how much equipment was thrown away before the pandemic: "These supplies literally went into the garbage."
Cabinet has approved another bailout for newspapers, the second in a year, but only for publishers endorsed by the Canada Revenue Agency. Regulations exclude small, family-run weeklies in favour of large, money-losing media corporations: "I’m a large-L, hard core Liberal."
A federal hunt for pandemic masks is so haphazard the Department of Public Works prepaid millions to Chinese suppliers of shoddy goods while dismissing offers from Western contractors, MPs were told. The department refused to name its contractors in China: "I think Canadians need to know."
Even seniors with six-figure incomes deserve a tax-free pandemic grant, says the Department of Employment. MPs on the Commons human resources committee questioned a giveaway to seniors earning more than $128,000 a year: "It's not a lot of money."
Finance Minister Bill Morneau yesterday said fraud is a problem in a pandemic relief program that pays $2,000 to the jobless. “It’s not acceptable,” Morneau told the Commons finance committee: "We’re going to have to deal with that."
The RCMP yesterday said it is placing rush orders for 150,000 cotton masks to protect constables on patrol. The Mounties did not comment on public reaction: "The RCMP has an urgent requirement for cloth facial masks."
Privy Council Office researchers say Canadians must agree on “standards and practices” for internet media. The recommendation follows a proposal by cabinet advisors for a mandatory federal registry of digital publishers: "Those words scare the hell out of me."
MPs unhappy with their internet service last night grilled telecom executives over high prices and inadequate coverage. Pointed exchanges at the Commons industry committee came after a Rogers Communications executive described employees as heroes of the pandemic: "I think you guys are making money."
Cabinet has approved a half-billion dollar pandemic relief bill for fishermen. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau yesterday suggested consumers support the industry by eating lobster: "Everyone who wants to show their support, buy Canadian."
Cabinet yesterday directed a federal agency to publicly name and shame banks found to breach consumer protection regulations. Fines for scofflaws are increased from $500,000 to $10 million. Parliament passed the amendments two years ago but banks needed "time to prepare", said the Department of Finance: "This legislation would require the naming if there is a violation."
The Department of Public Works yesterday said it’s run out of suppliers of high-grade pandemic masks just as provinces begin to open up the economy. “We’ve got about as much as we can,” said Michael Mills, associate assistant deputy minister.
Dairy farmers dumped thirty million litres of unsold milk this spring, the Commons agriculture committee was told. Farmers have halted the practice, said the Department of Agriculture: "The situation right now is exceptional."
Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau yesterday said a secret briefing note on the carbon tax was in fact publicly available, though no one could find it. Staff explained Bibeau was referring to a different report published two years ago: "We looked everywhere last night."
A federal ban on high-powered firearms spells the end of heritage cannon, an MP yesterday told the Commons. The Department of Public Safety did not comment on whether museum pieces like Vancouver’s famed Nine O’Clock Gun are subject to a buy-back program: "It meets the definition."
