Former Gender Equality Minister Maryam Monsef, now a motivational speaker, won a single government client last year, records show. Monsef lost re-election in 2021 following mid-campaign remarks in which she called the Taliban “our brothers.”
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland billed thousands for limousines and taxis in Toronto despite claims she relied on her climate-friendly bicycle and public transit, Access To Information records show. Canadians expected cabinet to “ask ourselves what we did today to fight climate change,” said Freeland: "I can live that way."
Canadians don't need cabinet's help in safely using the internet, says in-house Privy Council research. Federal pollsters warned of censorship worries as Attorney General Arif Virani studies “best practices” on regulating legal content: 'They expressed reservations about the potential for censorship by the federal government.'
Canada continues to pay millions in foreign aid to China, records show. Opposition MPs four years ago proposed an immediate end to all foreign aid to a “Communist dictatorial government that abuses human rights.”
The Department of Employment continues to discriminate against Christian employers applying for Canada Summer Jobs grants, Church petitioners have written the Commons human resources committee. A federal judge three years ago ruled Christian employers could not be singled out for hectoring: "Groups are being flagged because of their beliefs, not their actions."
A billion-dollar class action lawsuit alleging Canada’s bestselling herbicide causes cancer will put federal regulators to the test, an advocacy group said yesterday. The class action suit against Roundup brand glyphosate was certified in Ontario Superior Court: 'A central argument is glyphosate must be safe because it has been approved by Health Canada.'
Cabinet's billion-dollar carbon tax cut on home heating oil followed months of warnings from in-house pollsters, records show. Homeowners opposed the tax as costly and divisive in Atlantic Canada where 24 Liberal MPs are up for re-election: "Almost all believed the carbon pricing system was too complicated and did not expect this initiative would be effective in reducing emissions."
Cabinet should discipline federal managers for incompetence or corruption, says a Privy Council report. The document by deputy ministers expressed alarm over “decreasing confidence in Canada’s democracy” since the pandemic: "We know the playbook."
No taxpayer funds have gone to “nefarious actors” in Gaza, says the Department of Foreign Affairs. The department said it took precautions against misappropriation of millions by terrorist groups but did not explain: "Protocols guard against the diversion of Canadian funds to nefarious actors."
The Department of Health has confidentially polled Canadians on whether to post warning labels on beer, wine and liquor, records show. A narrow majority supported the initiative though 28 percent said it would have no effect on their drinking habits: "Many Canadians associate drinking with pleasurable social events,"
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland in a legal notice Christmas Eve proposed to allow pawnbrokers to charge 60 percent interest on loans. Freeland had promised reforms to 1980 usury laws to protect “the most vulnerable people in our communities.”
We wish you a happy New Year. Blacklock's pauses this week for our annual holiday break and will return January 2 -- The Editor
Warmest regards to friends and subscribers for a safe and happy holiday. Blacklock's wishes you the best of Christmas -- The Editor
If focus groups were infallible every candidate would be a winner, every movie would be a blockbuster, every toothpaste would be recommended by 9 out of 10 dentists. Dilbert creator Scott Adams described focus groupers as people thrilled that somebody asked their opinion and gave them a free lunch at the same time. “There are actually some people who admitted in focus groups that they would sometimes taste soap,” he wrote.
Yet the mythology of focus group infallibility persists due in no small part to the claims of pollsters paid to conduct them, which brings us to The Big Blue Machine, J. Patrick Boyer’s account of “how Tory campaign backrooms changed Canadian politics forever.” Boyer is a former two-term Progressive Conservative MP for Etobicoke-Lakeshore. He is also an honest correspondent and skillful writer. The subtext to Big Blue Machine is failure. Boyer admits as much.
The Canada Revenue Agency will spend more than a half billion chasing ineligible claimants for repayment of pandemic relief cheques, records show. Cabinet was warned in 2020 the Canada Emergency Response Benefit program was open to abuse: 'There were only the flimsiest prepayment controls.'
