Telecom service to thousands of Canadians has been disrupted by copper theft, says Telus Corporation. The company in a petition to MPs appealed for tougher penalties under the Criminal Code: "Most of these crimes result in minor charges."
The Canada Revenue Agency’s Taxpayer Bill Of Rights is not a bill and does not convey any rights, says a federal judge. The ruling came in the case of a tax filer who appealed reassessments dating back 24 years: "It would probably be better if the document were given a different name."
Ex-Conservative leader Erin O’Toole in a sworn statement says "lovely" and “flirtatious” young Chinese women approached his campaign in incidents “he believes may have constituted foreign interference.” It followed the targeting of a former Conservative MP by a friendly female employee of the state-run Xinhua News Agency: "Mr. O’Toole described them as ‘lovely.'"
The federal Liberal Party’s national director testified he did “not know” if Chinese Communist Party agents helped elect a Liberal MP in 2019. Azam Ishmael’s comments came under rapid-fire questioning at the Commission on Foreign Interference: "I don't know. I don't know. I don't know."
MPs by unanimous vote have ordered committee hearings into the Jasper, Alta. fire. Cabinet has blamed climate change though records show Parks Canada managers had a “big concern” regarding forest management: "I saw with my own eyes the destruction."
The Canada Border Services Agency will bill taxpayers the equivalent of more than $16 million a year to temporarily hold deportees in jails, figures show. Costs include “compassionate detention conditions” like daily access to doctors, nurses and psychologists: "They have received due process upon due process."
One of the nation’s largest telecom companies is petitioning MPs for the same newsroom subsidies paid to newspapers. Rogers Communications Inc. said excluding TV and radio employees was unfair: "Who is to say that print is more important?"
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom writes: “Canadians throw out 35 million tonnes of food each year. Much of it edible…”
Lawyers are unloved and jokes are legion: how does a lawyer sleep? First he lies on one side, then he lies on the other. “In the public’s mind lawyers are not only adept at the dubious arts of manipulation and double dealing, but also moral hypocrites because they defend these practices in the brazen name of ‘professional ethics,’” write editors of In Search Of The Ethical Lawyer. “Along with used car dealers and telemarketers, lawyers are considered to be the least trustworthy and least respected of all professions.”
Yet there is no criticism of barristers that has not been made by barristers themselves. They are capable of raw self-analysis that’s rarely practiced by journalists, morticians, accountants or any other trade you can think of. It speaks to plain integrity and a passion for the profession. Imagine a volume In Search Of The Ethical Engineer written by engineers.
The Department of Environment commissioned in-house polling that asked Canadians if they were willing to take fewer flights or pay a green surtax on air tickets. The research made no mention of frequent travel by public office holders: "The climate crisis is the greatest challenge of our time."
Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault yesterday admitted conducting private business while a member of cabinet. Testifying at the Commons ethics committee, Boissonnault contradicted claims he had no dealings with an Edmonton import firm that paid him $220,000: "Do you think Canadians are stupid?"
Immigration Minister Marc Miller yesterday said he is confident security checks on foreigners are reliable despite three being arrested on terrorism charges in the past three months. “We are confident in our security screening,” Miller told the Commons public safety committee.
Cabinet should unseal all secret records on Nazi fugitives in Canada and make the digitized documents available to the public, says B’nai Brith Canada. The group in a petition to the Commons finance committee said it was essential to waive confidentiality on enemy combatants and collaborators: "Allow Canadians to fully appreciate and move on from Canada’s Nazi past,"
Taxpayer-funded groups have no right to subsidies and cannot claim Parliament has “an obligation to consult each and every stakeholder” impacted by cuts, a federal judge has ruled. The Federal Court decision follows forecasts that broad funding cuts are now inevitable: "We saw that before."
A Liberal-appointed senator says the government has a duty to correct media thinking. Senator Lucie Moncion (Ont.) acknowledged she successfully called up edits to an article by a political opponent published in the subsidized press: "We had to remain vigilant."
