Attorney General David Lametti is being cited for “intolerable” and unlawful interference in court business. The Federal Court of Appeal struck down a cabinet bill to freeze civil proceedings: 'It is incorrect in law and should not be followed.'
Federal spending on pollsters has tripled in five years, says the Department of Public Works. Figures show cabinet spent a total $54.8 million on public opinion surveys since 2015: "The Government of Canada works hard to ascertain which issues Canadians care about."
The Canada Revenue Agency is citing pushback by small businesses over an obscure part of the Income Tax Act. Owners must annually file a separate form for every single payment for service of $500 or more under threat of a $7,500 fine: "They should not have to do the Canada Revenue Agency’s job."
The Department of Environment is declaring a rare woodpecker endangered in Canada. A federal recovery plan for the Red-Headed Woodpecker would spell million-dollar fines for any company that destroys its habitat: "This is a striking bird."
A Senate committee meets Thursday to review recommended compensation for ex-staffers who worked for former senator Don Meredith. The committee on internal economy has already apologized to employees who complained they were harassed by Meredith: "Is it too little, too late?"
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, examines current events in the Blacklock’s tradition each and every Sunday: ” Imagine a room full of people. Perfect venue to meet, chat, interact. You could make friends, pitch for a job…”
Canada’s Second World War began with a good sleep. When Germany invaded Poland in 1939, staff in Prime Minister Mackenzie King’s office first heard the news from a reporter who called for comment. Aides hesitated to wake King. The bulletin waited till breakfast.
Mobilize! is the title of this account of unpreparedness. Journalist Larry Rose might have renamed it The Long Nap. It is a lively narrative chronicling the nation’s sleepwalk through the age of dictators.
At the outbreak of war the cash-starved navy kept its headquarters above a delicatessen on Queen Street in Ottawa. The artillery had fewer men than the Montréal Police Department. Camp Borden’s Armoured Fighting Vehicles School had no tanks but a single truck nicknamed Old Faithful. The air force still flew a standard light bomber, the 1918 Wapiti biplane, with an air speed of 210 km/hr. It “glided like a brick”, one pilot recalled. Air crews called it What-A-Pity.
Most Canadians consider cheating on the GST a lesser offence than stealing from their employer or parking illegally in a disabled spot, says Canada Revenue Agency research. Paying cash to avoid the federal sales tax is “excused because it is seen as 'the little guy’ trying to save a little money,” said an Agency study.
The idea that “Chinese people are oppressed” is laughable and patronizing, says an executive with a federally-funded foundation. The Asia Pacific Foundation of Vancouver yesterday had no comment: "China has risen."
Internal emails show federal agencies used the pandemic to shut down Access To Information disclosures even as cabinet boasted of openness and transparency. Advocates rate Canada worse than Bulgaria in concealing documents from the public: "Access To Information processing is NOT a critical service."
The number of insolvencies in Canada has declined compared to last year, says a federal report. The Superintendent of Bankruptcy warned of a delayed wave of financial failures once normal court proceedings resume: "There will be an increase, but I don’t think it will be sudden."
Cabinet must table a federal budget as soon as possible, says a Liberal appointee on the Senate national finance committee. Cabinet has yet to detail spending and borrowing plans six months into the fiscal year: "We certainly need to come up with a positive, clear, realistic picture of where this is going."
More than four in ten Canadians tell federal researchers immigration quotas must be cut. The Department of Immigration this fall is expected to lower quotas that would see 341,000 people let into Canada this year, the highest number in more than a century: "Canada should focus on helping unemployed Canadians."
A newspaper that spearheaded the campaign for federal subsidies says direct taxpayers’ aid now comprises more than a third of its revenues. The publisher of the Winnipeg Free Press had predicted the company was in trouble two years before the pandemic: "This is the most serious crisis we have faced in our history."
The Department of Health yesterday said it is hiring federal consultants to monitor as many as ten pilot projects involving free distribution of medication to drug users. The department did not comment on whether it proposed to federalize safe injection sites: "Treat people who use drugs with compassion and give them the support they need."
