Blacklock's Reporter

Cabinet’s representative in the Senate yesterday said he’d determine whether the Toronto Star lobbied the Prime Minister’s Office for a lucrative contract. The $355,950 deal was cancelled December 5 by the Procurement Ombudsman following a formal complaint from Blacklock’s: ‘Can you tell me whether any Torstar executive approached the Prime Minister to solicit this contract?’

A Senator yesterday issued a Christmas appeal to cabinet to redouble efforts to find destitute seniors entitled to federal benefits they never received. Cabinet says it knows of nearly 90,000 deserving pensioners who did not apply for the Guaranteed Income Supplement: “This money rightly belongs to those forgotten Canadians.”

Parliament would ban all imported goods produced with child or forced labour under a private Liberal bill yesterday introduced in the Commons. The bill follows an Ethical Procurement Of Apparel guide introduced September 3 by the Department of Public Works: "Do you support supply chain slavery?"

The Governor General yesterday signed into a law an Act repealing criminal blasphemy last used to prosecute distributors of a 1979 Monty Python film. One MP ridiculed cabinet’s priorities: "They dealt with blasphemy, finally."

Lawmakers yesterday ended 97 years of debate in the old House of Commons with one last piece of unfinished business on the Order Paper, a Conservative MP’s motion to honour immigrants including his own parents. The House closed at 4:59 pm for renovations expected to take 10 to 20 years. "What a privilege to be here, to live in this country."

Cabinet has voted to raise stamp prices by $26 million but deferred the increase until after Christmas. Canada Post warns more hikes are likely after estimating it lost $110 million in a series of rotating strikes by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers: "The revenue generated from the proposed rates would contribute significantly."

A Public Service Commission audit says 1 in 5 federal employers surveyed failed to give hiring preference to medically-released veterans though it is a legal requirement. Parliament passed the law in 2015: "Another qualified candidate was appointed ahead of an eligible veteran."

The Great Lakes drowning of two schoolchildren yesterday prompted cabinet to mandate new liability rules for commercial passenger boat operators. Regulations took 18 years to finalize after the sinking of the Truth North II: "It has taken some time."

Broadcasters are saving about $8 million a year under a 1997 law that caps royalties for playing Canadian music, the Commons industry committee was told yesterday. Radio stations have lobbied to retain the cap that fixes royalties at as little as $100 a year: "No other country has a similar subsidy."

Conservative MPs yesterday took up a Liberal Senate bill to track unpaid taxes through the Canada Revenue Agency. The Senate passed the bill November 27 on criticism of the Agency as untrustworthy: "This is a common sense bill."

The Liberal chair of the Commons finance committee yesterday said Canadians have been driven to tears by mistreatment at the hands of the Canada Revenue Agency. MPs cited an audit confirming the Agency breached its own Taxpayer Bill Of Rights: "They’re treated like a criminal."

MPs on the Commons House affairs committee yesterday cautioned taxpayers to brace for cost overruns and skipped construction deadlines on mammoth Parliament Hill renovations. The Department of Public Works acknowledged it’s not sure how long the project will take, or how much it will cost: “I can foresee an outraged Canadian public looking at the total bill for this.”

Business groups yesterday protested a new statutory holiday for Indigenous people could be costly. A private New Democrat bill under study by the Commons heritage committee would fix a holiday in June to honour First Nations, Métis and Inuit: "What is your plan for reconciliation?"

Farmers cannot survive if they have to pay the 12¢-a litre national carbon tax, says the Canadian Federation of Agriculture. The Senate agriculture committee yesterday said farmers already exempt from some fuel taxes deserve more waivers: "We can't be paying extra taxes."

A federal ban on noisy airport night flights would be a job-killer, an Air Canada executive yesterday told the Commons transport committee. Airport managers acknowledge receiving thousands of noise complaints: 'My riding is under a flight path.'