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."
Cabinet cannot cut spending without risking an economic depression, says Treasury Board President Jean-Yves Duclos. This year’s deficit is near $400 billion: "Doesn’t that mean there is no ceiling then on the spending?"
Media smears against the Communist Party of China have misinformed Canadians, says Ambassador Cong Peiwu. The envoy in webinar remarks to a Beijing-friendly group in Ottawa complained of poor press coverage: "Speak out."
Cabinet yesterday approved another pandemic relief measure for Canada Student Loan borrowers. Students forced to take temporary leave of their studies due to illness or parenting are granted a reprieve from payments: "More students may experience illnesses including mental health challenges."
Local authorities cannot name and shame neighbours they suspect of breaking pandemic rules, says Newfoundland & Labrador’s privacy commissioner. The warning came in the case of a small town mayor who took to social media to name residents he claimed breached the Quarantine Act: "Keep the village idiots off the streets!"
