Parliament’s Budget Officer yesterday said “as a taxpayer” he hopes the Canada Revenue Agency recovers pandemic cheques claimed by Canadians who didn’t need the money. The Agency has identified 440,000 claims flagged for investigation: "It makes you wonder."
Canadians are divided on whether the country’s best years are behind it, according to in-house research by the Department of Finance. More than a third of people surveyed said Canada has passed its peak: "Many had low expectations of the government."
Cabinet quietly shelved a proposal to nationalize a shuttered General Motors plant to produce electric vehicles, internal records show. Proponents had suggested the Department of Industry buy the factory to make all-Canadian electrics: "We seem to have some pretty fundamental differences of opinion about the role of industry and the private sector."
Chinese-Canadians were alert to the pandemic more than a month before the Public Health Agency, the Commons public safety committee was told yesterday. One MP said he first learned of the coronavirus risk not from any federal agency, but organizers of a Chinese-Canadian fundraiser in his constituency: "We weren’t even calling it Covid-19 at the time."
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made inaccurate claims in boasting of cabinet’s pandemic response, according to internal emails. “Oh dear,” wrote one political aide. Staff in the Department of Public Works suggested they “try and talk around it” in case anyone noticed: "Maybe we can say -- "
Canadians should be able to vote by phone in a pandemic election, says a Liberal majority on the House affairs committee. The recommendation was met by opposition warnings of a ballot box swindle: "It opens the door to fraud."
SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. was awarded a $150 million federal contract for pandemic field hospitals nobody asked for, according to records. The Department of Public Works five months after signing the sole-sourced contract had not bothered to fix any delivery dates for the mobile health units: "A public call for tenders was not issued due to the urgency."
We Charity’s former chief lobbyist says she had no idea of Bill Morneau’s personal dealings with the group that prompted his abrupt resignation as finance minister. “That just makes absolutely no sense,” one Conservative MP told the Commons ethics committee: "This could be perceived as an attempted bribe."
Chinese diplomats threatened they would not tolerate finger-pointing from Canada over the import of shoddy medical goods, internal emails show. The “warning” came from the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa: "They appreciated the Prime Minister’s response would be fact-based and expressed the hope that ‘China-related issues would not be cooked up.'"
Federal agencies continue to make late payments to small contractors despite policies promising prompt settlement of accounts, says Procurement Ombudsman Alexander Jeglic. A review found cases where contractors waited months to be paid what they were owed: "We had men in tears here talking about this problem."
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, examines current events in the Blacklock’s tradition each and every Sunday: “This morning, along Rockliffe Parkway, everyone drives the speed limit. The red pickup truck, the blue Hyundai…”
Most everyone has a place that inspires reflection and contentment: a Paris café, a salmon run on the Miramichi River, your grandmother’s kitchen table. Roberta Laurie is an Alberta Rotarian who finds her place at a Malawian school for girls. The result is intriguing and joyful. Weaving A Malawi Sunrise never patronizes. Laurie is a delightful writer whose reportage is so skillful it draws readers who have no interest whatsoever in Malawi or the minutiae of public education.
A Liberal lobbyist Elly Alboim who asked political aides to consider a federal contract for his son also lobbied the Prime Minister’s Office for a corporate client but never reported the fact. Lobbying for contracts must be disclosed under federal law: "I was not lobbying."
Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna yesterday pledged a Crown-owned Infrastructure Bank will finance more and better projects, though nothing has been completed to date. Parliament launched the Bank in 2017 with $35 billion: "Zero cannot be more."
Auditor General Karen Hogan yesterday defended her ties to a Liberal lobbyist. Hogan awarded sole-sourced contracts to a lobbying firm and fed them confidential copies of her audits months before they were available to MPs and senators: "We try to have varied points of view."
