The Prime Minister’s snap 2021 election call disrupted a crucial Covid relief program, says a federal audit. Justin Trudeau left no one to approve payments for mercy flights carrying essential food and medicine to 140 remote hamlets: "That did not happen."
Only a “small portion” of millions in federal grants to a foreign aid group went to “critical nutrition needs,” say auditors. Taxpayers are the largest single donors to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank Program: "There were shortcomings."
Cabinet says it must continue to subsidize development of small modular nuclear reactors though none are in use to date. “The federal government acknowledges it has a role to play,” said Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson: "Canada will need to act boldly."
The number of air passenger complaints at the Canadian Transportation Agency has grown to more than 55,000, by official estimate. The Agency responsible for handling complaints of poor service typically manages 10,000 a year: "Customers? Always dead last."
In-house research by a federal agency settles longstanding disagreements over the most popular pets. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency was conducting surveys on animal diseases when it compiled new data on who owns which pets, from turtles to livestock.
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom writes: “A psychologist on TV says this generation needs more person-to-person contact. His words struck a chord with me. I would like to respond…”
“Old maid” once defined a single woman of 23. In rural Canada bachelors outnumbered ladies by 46 percent. With those kinds of pressures, how could an average Canadian get a decent date a hundred years ago?
The answers are unearthed in an unusual archaeological dig. Historian Dan Azoulay of McMaster University picked through some 20,000 lonely-hearts columns published in Western Home Monthly and Family Herald from 1904 to 1929 to document the dating game in the words of those who played it. “I believe I could live with almost anyone who could cook a good meal, wash the dishes and not grumble,” as one Alberta farmer put it.
Women were prized for prowess in making pie, playing the piano and appearing “delicate” but “not too proud.” Conversely eligible men were required to sober up, bathe and have cash: “To a good many bachelors, in other words, size mattered – the size of their land, their homes, and their bank accounts,” Azoulay writes in Hearts and Minds.
The Canada Revenue Agency asked accountants if they'd report small businesses that don't pay their taxes, records show. “Very few were interested,” said in-house research: "Some felt it would be unlikely that Canadians would report on one another."
The Department of Finance hired a friend of Minister Chrystia Freeland as a senior advisor, records show. Freeland said she played no role in the appointment: 'I want to avoid any appearance of preferential treatment or any opportunity to further the private interest of a friend.'
The Supreme Court yesterday agreed to hear airlines' challenge of passenger compensation rules on international flights. A lower court dismissed airlines’ claim that Canadian regulators had no jurisdiction on flights that originated or ended outside the country: "Canada requires an effective air passenger rights regime."
Canada must double or triple its electricity output to meet 2050 climate targets, says a Newfoundland and Labrador submission to the Senate energy committee. Meeting targets is “likely not possible” without more federal subsidies, it said: "That is the equivalent of four Churchill Falls."
Federal subsidies for electric car makers yesterday reached $32 billion, twice the annual output of the entire Canadian auto sector. “It’s pretty remarkable,” Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said in awarding another subsidy to Ford Motor Company: "I think it is a big accomplishment."
Canadians must focus on “high value guests” in tourism, says a federal agency. Wealthy foreigners are “naturally curious,” “seek culture” and spend more than working people, it said: "In other words, value and values over volume."
A review of Covid contracts approved by the Department of Health showed more than a tenth failed to follow the rules, a federal investigation said yesterday. The department issued 17,000 contracts. Only 40 were checked at random: "Health Canada cannot demonstrate it followed the proper procurement protocols and that its practices were fair, open and transparent."
Forty percent of Canadian teenagers eat restaurant food at least twice a week, Statistics Canada said yesterday. New data precedes a Third Reading vote in the Commons on a private Liberal bill to ban junk food advertising to children: "We would like it to be done as quickly as possible."
