Jobless Canadians calling a federal 1-800 number for help spent an average of more than an hour and a half on hold, says the Department of Employment. The disclosure follows complaints from MPs inundated with thousands of calls from constituents unable to reach the Government of Canada: "Applicants have to try for days to speak to a real person."
Cabinet yesterday waived millions’ worth of interest on late payments by federal debtors. The relief measure does not apply to taxes unpaid after September 1: "Canadians are working hard and are struggling."
A federal judge yesterday stuck as unconstitutional a treaty disqualifying refugee claims from foreigners who arrive in Canada from the U.S. An American policy of detaining claimants on their return breached the Charter of Rights, said the Federal Court: "Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security."
Nearly half a billion in pandemic relief cheques were claimed by Canadians who weren’t entitled to them, says the Department of Social Development. Opposition MPs have questioned why payments were knowingly made to 221,320 people already receiving Employment Insurance: "When it’s obvious someone is not eligible, they shouldn’t ignore that."
The Privy Council Office yesterday refused to say why it awarded tens of thousands of dollars in undisclosed sole-sourced contracts to We Charity in 2019. The contracts were just below a regulatory threshold that would have made the awards public: "What were those contracts for?"
A federal grant program is paying Indigenous people the equivalent of $154,000 a week to hunt and fish. The Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations yesterday did not comment on the subsidy intended to promote “consumption of traditional and country foods” in remote hamlets: "They will need equipment to go back to their traditional way of harvesting."
Canadian publishers remain "fragile" and have lost more than $40 million in yearly domestic sales since 2012 changes to the Copyright Act, says a Department of Canadian Heritage report. Textbook companies publish fewer than half the titles they did before the Supreme Court approved wholesale photocopying: "Publishers indicate they have been damaged."
Another private bill to regulate retailers' credit card swipe fees, the third attempt in five years, has been introduced in the Commons. The latest bill follows small business complaints of costly fees charged merchants: "Who do we work for?"
Finance Minister Bill Morneau yesterday promised cabinet will never under any circumstance tax Canadians’ primary residences. The pledge followed days of equivocation by CMHC over a $250,000 grant for a study by researchers who blamed current tax policy for “inequality and social division between renters and owners”.
Transport Canada pilots logged thousands of kilometres flying Health Minister Patricia Hajdu back and forth to her riding on weekends aboard a VIP jet. Liberals in opposition had criticized a Conservative finance minister for using the same aircraft: "It’s a classic case of do as I say not as I do."
The Commons health committee yesterday voted 6-5 to censor release of all records on the Public Health Agency’s management of the pandemic. Conservative and New Democrat MPs sought full disclosure of documents: "It's just a shame, what we're doing here."
The Competition Bureau accuses employees of Québec telecom giant Vidéotron Lteé of posing as customers in posting enthusiastic online reviews of company products. Bell Canada was earlier fined $1.25 million in a similar investigation: "I have reason to believe Vidéotron employees have engaged in deceptive marketing practices."
MPs today are expected to pass a billion-dollar pandemic relief bill for Canadians with disabilities. A similar bill to be introduced June 11 was withdrawn after legislators protested a jail clause for fraudulent claims under a separate program: "People with disabilities have been waiting way too long for this."
Cabinet says it has no "current" plans to tax home equity. Lawmakers distanced themselves from CMHC-funded research on taxing residences as capital gains, a proposal one MP predicted would see homeowners "gathering with torches and pitchforks".
Federal employees working from home are entitled to a $500 furniture grant or doorstep delivery of a free chair. The Department of Public Works did not explain why staff could not use their own chairs: "Overall costs of chairs delivered or purchased are not currently available."
