Tariffs on Chinese electric cars, steel and aluminum offer only a “short reprieve” for industry, the Commons trade committee was told yesterday. The tariffs take effect October 1: "This is basically a short reprieve, a temporary reprieve."
A federal judge has upheld one of the steepest fines ever levied for breach of migrant labour regulations. An Alberta contractor was fined $153,000 and banned from the Temporary Foreign Worker Program for five years after failing a spot inspection: "The process was fair."
Federal auditors cite Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault’s department for poor oversight of millions spent on green subsidies. Management of taxpayer funds was so sloppy it represented “potential legal and reputational damage,” said a report: "We observed significant issues."
The judge leading the China inquiry has disclosed she held 22 secret meetings with immigrant communities “willing to share their experience” on intimidation by foreign agents. Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue said she could not give public notice of her meetings for fear of endangering informants: "For security reasons these meetings took place in private at undisclosed locations."
The Department of Foreign Affairs faces demands to explain internal documents showing New York Consul Tom Clark was personally involved in buying an $8.8 million Manhattan penthouse at public expense. Clark repeatedly denied having anything to do with the purchase: "You would have us believe you said absolutely nothing and nobody asked?”
Canadians report an epidemic of gangland crime despite millions in federal grants under a Guns and Gang Violence Action Fund. In-house research by the Department of Public Safety found a fifth of people surveyed said they personally knew of gang violence: "Seven in ten agree Canada has a gang violence problem."
More than 150,000 Canadians are eligible to cast ballots today in two federal byelections including a Manitoba riding where the prison vote once influenced the outcome. Cabinet earlier blamed “hard times” for the loss of a safe Liberal seat in a June byelection in Toronto: "Do you think the Liberals need a radical change in strategy?"
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom writes: “We regret to inform you that your son has died this morning when securing a road south of Kandahar. The Improvised Explosive Device gave him no chance…”
If aliens invaded, a prime minister’s first duty would be to get premiers on the phone. Airspace is clearly federalized under the Aeronautics Act. But what if invaders land on islands and travel by ferry to terrorize the populace? If it’s a British Columbia ferry, that is provincial jurisdiction. Newfoundland and Labrador ferry, federal.
The space enemy may use laser beams to make trees explode or boil mountain lakes. That is clearly provincial jurisdiction. But let one errant death ray touch a single rivet on a railway trestle and you are dealing with the Government of Canada, my friend.
This is “the incredible fragmentation we have in this country among federal, provincial and municipal governments,” as then-Senator Howard Wetston (Ont.), a former federal judge, once put it. Wetston was referring to regulation of light bulbs.
Opposition MPs yesterday told New York Consul Tom Clark to “keep your bags packed” after the next election. Testifying at the Commons government operations committee, Clark denied any role in the federal purchase of his $8.8 million Manhattan penthouse despite documents to the contrary: "Why don’t we just stop the lying?"
New Democrats yesterday said they will fight any federal interference in an Air Canada strike or lockout. Failed contract talks with some 5,400 members of the Air Line Pilots Association would ground planes nationwide as early as next week: "If you want to make it a confidence vote, make it one."
Almost a tenth of Canadians surveyed in federal focus groups say they now worry about running out of food. In-house research also identified people who said they were “hungry but did not eat.”
Attorney General Arif Virani faces a direct challenge over cabinet’s signature bill to censor speech on the internet. Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner (Calgary Nose Hill) yesterday said an alternative Opposition bill will target online crimes without “putting a chill on Charter-protected speech.”
Operating costs at federal prisons last year were the equivalent of $428 per inmate per day, according to Statistics Canada figures. The Correctional Service cautions actual expenses are much higher when including equipment, prison guards’ pensions and other costs: 'Canada's is among the highest resourced correctional systems in the world.'
A majority of voters outside Québec do not trust the Government of Canada and rate it secretive and incompetent, says in-house Privy Council research. The pre-election findings follow Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s statement that “Canadians’ need to have faith in their government’s honesty.”
