Blacklock's Reporter

Conservative MPs on the Commons government operations committee seek a hearing on a 2018 federal contract to pay the Toronto Star to cover parliamentary committees. The contract was cancelled after the Procurement Ombudsman intervened: “What was the original purpose?”

The Senate yesterday gave Second Reading to a cabinet bill on accessibility, and referred it to hearings of its social affairs committee. The Commons passed the bill unanimously last November 27 though MPs noted it will not take effect for years even if it becomes law: "No one group should have to fight to enjoy the full rights of citizenship."

A growing minority of Canadians complain the country is letting in too many immigrants, says in-house research by the Department of Immigration. More than a third of Canadians surveyed, 37 percent, said too many immigrants are coming to Canada. The rate was 26 percent in a 2014 department poll: 'Attitudes are very important.'

The Commons last night by a vote of 211 to 87 passed a bill to proclaim a new legal federal holiday called First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples Day. The bill now proceeds to the Senate: "We got this done."

Health Canada yesterday rolled back provisions of its own drug safety law following years of lobbying by the pharmaceutical industry. Parliament passed the Act in 2014, prompted by the death of a former MP’s daughter: "It is shameful."

Federal agencies spent nearly $160,000 to send employees on a January weekend junket to Las Vegas, according to accounts. Vegas temperatures averaged 18° at the time compared to -17 in Ottawa: 'It is the most cost-effective method to gather technical information.'

The Senate legal and constitutional affairs committee yesterday vetoed numerous curbs on disclosure of public records sought by cabinet. Senators rewrote key amendments to the Access To Information Act after complaining the system is dysfunctional: 'It is so broken in Canada.'

RCMP in an internal audit say they are not sure whether a $23.8 million border crime-fighting program actually reduced crime. The so-called Shiprider program introduced in 2012 allowed U.S. agents to operate in Canadian waters: 'A key limitation was lack of data.'

The Commons justice committee yesterday voted to end hearings on the SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. political scandal without calling seven witnesses accused of attempting to quash a prosecution of the company on fraud and bribery charges. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau questioned whether voters cared: "A lot of people will raise an eyebrow on that."

Cabinet yesterday promised pre-election relief for first-time homebuyers including small equity loans from the federal insurer Canada Mortgage & Housing Corporation. The initiatives come two years after CMHC vowed to “remove the punch bowl” from borrowers: "Is this going to work?"

Even the smallest businesses in Canada contact regulators at least once a week for mandatory compliance with rules and tax filings, says Statistics Canada. The agency yesterday counted 60,759,228 mandatory filings a year by businesses nationwide: "Results are intended to help measure the impact of efficiency measures."

The labour department is now conducting 2,200 spot inspections a year under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, the Commons human resources committee was told yesterday. The department did not do any surprise inspections prior to a critical audit two years ago: "It was incredibly mismanaged."

Cabinet yesterday revived a proposal to offer electric car-buyers a federal rebate of $5,000. The subsidy followed lobbying by industry and a recommendation from a Zero Emission Vehicle Strategy panel shelved two years ago: "How much is that going to cost us?"

The Commons transport committee yesterday recommended cabinet appoint a national ombudsman to hear airport noise complaints. MPs stopped short of endorsing an outright ban on night flights: "Airport noise is a significant problem."

Cabinet yesterday said it will create a Canadian Drug Agency on a promise to lower the cost of prescription medicine. Savings will only occur “in the long term”, wrote staff: "For fifty years, we've been talking about this."