A new Liberal appointee to the Senate billed taxpayers $3,250 for a single day’s coaching on how to speak to media. Senator Margaret Anderson (Independent-NWT) did not take media questions about the expense: "What will I receive? Practical, hands-on training from leading practitioners."
The Privy Council Office offered employees free muffins to curb security breaches involving classified records, according to Access To Information files. Memos detail numerous breaches including lost BlackBerrys, stolen laptops and unlocked filing cabinets: "Be rewarded with a muffin break."
New Democrats are asking the Commons to endorse a “green new deal” mandating energy refits to every building in the country. The motion also proposed to eliminate all tailpipe emissions from cars and trucks where possible: "We want to fight the climate crisis like we want to win it."
The Department of Justice has been cited for abuse of process in bullying witnesses in a contract dispute. Federal lawyers ordered witnesses to appear for questioning on four days’ notice with “all relevant documentation” in what Ontario Superior Court called a fishing expedition: 'They constitute an abuse of process.'
Canada, unlike Zimbabwe, has no federal department of education, to which Professor Jennifer Wallner of the University of Ottawa comments: And your point is – ?
Parliament regulates the minutiae of labels on fertilizer bags; the price of mozzarella; the CDs they play at Radio CJLR in Meadow Lake, Sask. Yet in 147 years legislators have never set any federal standards on basic elementary and secondary education. Critics lament the fact. Professor Wallner argues this does not mean standards don’t exist.
“Provinces can work together,” Wallner writes; “When we compare the provincial education systems to one another, all ten show remarkably strong similarities in investments, achievements and substantive policies.”
The patent office in Access To Information memos says it is powerless to halt scammers targeting Canadians who file records with the agency. Authorities counted hundreds of cases of trademark owners targeted with fake demands for exorbitant fees on official-looking invoices: "It should not be the entire responsibility of taxpayers to expose these scams."
Cabinet yesterday said it will increase the federal minimum wage for the first time in twenty-three years. The labour department has acknowledged employer resistance to a $15 hourly minimum in federally-regulated workplaces: "Employer organizations cited negative economic consequences for small and medium-sized businesses."
Cabinet yesterday said it will take “ambitious climate action” but did not commit to maintaining a current 12¢ per litre cap on the carbon tax. The Throne Speech opening the 43rd Parliament mentioned “climate change” and “climate action” seven times: "We are inextricably bound to the same space-time continuum and on board the same planetary spaceship."
An Ontario tribunal has rejected a complaint that electronic Smart Meters make people sick. A private Conservative bill mandating health warnings on wireless devices lapsed in Parliament in 2015: "When it comes to cancers, I’m not a physician so I can’t comment."
CMHC yesterday budgeted less than $3 million for the start of a new equity loan program for first-time homebuyers. Mortgage brokers have predicted little take-up of the plan due to restrictions on borrowers: "You are limited."
The Commons yesterday for the first time in 152 years elected an Italian-Canadian Speaker. “Grazie,” said five-term Liberal MP Anthony Rota, son of immigrant parents from Calabria: "Noi non potemo avere perfetta vita senza amici."
Nearly eight in ten Canadian parents say their children recognize McDonald’s, according to Department of Health research. Staff commissioned surveys with families nationwide in advance of a national kids' food ad ban: "We noted stronger evidence of widespread brand recognition beginning at an early age."
CBC-TV advertising revenues have declined by more than half in five years amid a shrinking audience, according to financial records. One CBC executive earlier told MPs it “requires visionary talent” to manage marketplace downsizing of the Crown broadcaster: "Unfortunately we are in a downsizing environment."
The Privy Council in confidential pre-election focus groups polled Canadians on a catchier name for pharmacare, according to Access To Information records. Cabinet has set no deadline to implement a proposal by its own advisory panel to enact a universal $15.3 billion-a year prescription drug plan: "'Universal pharmacare program’ sounds made up."
The Federal Court of Appeal has upheld the firing of a curt human resources manager cited for rude emails. Coworkers complained the federal employee was needlessly abrasive: "I can be honest in a not so nice way."
