The Commons ethics committee yesterday recommended that Parliament close what critics called the “Carney loophole” by forcing the Prime Minister to sell millions in stock holdings. Liberal members of the committee objected: 'It appeared to have been crafted with one individual in mind.'
The Commons by unanimous vote has passed a private bill to commission a medal for living organ donors. The award would be a token of the nation’s thanks for “a priceless gift,” said the bill’s sponsor, Conservative MP Ziad Aboultaif (Edmonton Manning): "A transplant recipient once said to me, ‘I just don’t feel that a thank you card is enough.'"
Cabinet will take majority control of all 26 Commons committees and no longer “play silly partisan games,” Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon said yesterday. The move effectively quashes all ethics investigations, subpoenas and questioning of reluctant witnesses: "That’s settled."
Free health care for illegal immigrants and rejected refugee claimants cost more than $43 million last year including free prescriptions and transportation to a doctor’s office, the Department of Immigration disclosed yesterday. Figures were made public at the request of Conservative MP Burton Bailey (Red Deer, Alta.) who said foreigners with no legal right to be in Canada received better care than many taxpayers: 'People on bogus asylum claims are receiving health care many Canadians do not even receive.'
The Commons yesterday by a 291 to 28 vote gave Second Reading to a private bill to regulate advertising of sports betting. Bill S-211 An Act Respecting A National Framework On Sports Betting Advertising passed the Senate last October 21: "We know there is the potential, as with many other addictive activities, to destroy."
Protestors convicted of attempting to intimidate Canadians under hate crime amendments to the Criminal Code should pay the cost of prosecution, the Senate was told yesterday. The proposal follows complaints that one of Canada’s largest Orthodox synagogues now spends a million a year on security: "Where hatred is the animating force behind a serious crime, requiring an offender to bear some of those costs is a signal that a community’s safety should not be taken for granted."
Cable TV subscribers face another rate hike, the second in two weeks, after the CRTC yesterday increased mandatory monthly fees to rescue a money-losing channel. It follows a Department of Canadian Heritage report warning the future of television in Canada is “uncertain.”
Chinese police are a law enforcement “partner” just like the FBI, the Mounties said yesterday. However details of a confidential partnership agreement with Beijing cannot be disclosed “without their permission,” said a Deputy Commissioner.
The operators of Canada’s largest private TV news network yesterday said losses are running at $40 million a year. “There is fear,” said an executive with Bell Media Inc.
Heritage Minister Marc Miller yesterday would not say who in his office recommended a Canada Summer Jobs grant for an anti-Semite. Internal records confirm payment to a constituent in Miller’s riding who fantasized about shooting Jews: "I would strongly recommend as the Member of Parliament for downtown Montréal that the money be clawed back."
Canadian universities, unions and medical professions must confront anti-Semitism, the Senate human rights committee said yesterday. A committee report specifically denounced anti-Jewish discourse in professions: "It was deeply sad."
The Commons by a 164 to 153 vote yesterday confirmed Prime Minister Mark Carney’s nominee as Budget Officer. Annette Ryan, 55, a former assistant associate deputy finance minister, acknowledged she knew Carney when both studied at Oxford in the 1990s but denied any partisan leanings: "Will you commit to never censoring or watering down a report at the request of the government, bureaucracy or Prime Minister’s Office?"
Canada Post yesterday said it will cut 30,000 jobs through attrition after reporting a “seismic” pre-tax loss of $1,569,000,000 last year. “Some changes will raise concerns,” CEO Doug Ettinger wrote in an Annual Report to Parliament: "Change is never easy, especially at Canada Post."
Auto executives yesterday warned cabinet concessions to Chinese automakers undermine Canadian jobs. Cabinet on March 11 granted Chinese battery electric cars low-tariff access to the Canadian market with an initial quota of 49,000 vehicles this year, rising by 6.5 percent annually: "It is a major mistake."
The Canadian Human Rights Commission in a report to the United Nations said it's upset by anti-Black bigotry. The federal agency made no mention of mistreating its own Black employees, prompting censure by the Treasury Board and a public apology by the Chief Commissioner: "There needs to be a swift and complete overhaul of the Commission’s senior management."
