Cabinet yesterday named a Québec rapper to the federal Historic Sites and Monuments Board. Aly Ndiaye, a self-described “history enthusiast,” criticized scholars for their treatment of racism in Canada: "It was only in rap music that I recognized my experience as an African American, American in the continental sense."
The Commons heritage committee yesterday voted to summon executives from Google Canada to explain the company’s test blocking of news websites. It followed MPs’ passage of a bill that would force Google to pay a portion of ad revenues for linking to stories by news corporations like the CBC: "Bill C-18 would give regulators unprecedented influence over news."
Sears Canada employees are petitioning the Senate to pass a pension bill that would protect retirees’ benefits in bankruptcy settlements. Reforms are too late for longtime Sears workers but would help others, they wrote: '"The Senate can help the next group."
A draft code of conduct yesterday cautioned bankers to mind the bonuses awarded to managers for aggressive sales tactics. The warning follows whistleblower testimony at the Commons finance committee that branch managers were rewarded for selling customers products they didn’t need or couldn’t afford: "Sales goals were an insidious thing."
Federal departments spent millions advertising on a China-made app now banned as a security risk, records show. Treasury Board President Mona Fortier said effective today TikTok is banned on all government-issue smartphones: "It presents an unacceptable level of risk to privacy and security."
Liberal MP Han Dong (Don Valley North, Ont.) yesterday said he welcomed an investigation of "insinuations" he kept secret contacts with Chinese Communist agents. Dong, the co-chair of the Canada-China Legislative Association, denied wrongdoing: 'I look forward to refuting these anonymous and unverified allegations.'
Parliament should mandate rent controls, says a federal report. The Federal Housing Advocate also named corporations it accused of violating tenants’ rights: "Four walls and a roof do not alone constitute adequate housing."
The CRTC is commissioning a “forensic level technical review” of the blackout of Rogers Communications’ national network last July 8. The investigation comes as cabinet considers whether to grant final approval to Rogers’ takeover of rival Shaw Communications: "This network outage left more than 10 million customers of Rogers without connectivity."
A $1.5 billion class action lawsuit that alleged misleading mileage claims by Ford Motor Company has been dismissed by the Ontario Court of Appeal. Judges ruled Ford was in full compliance with Department of Natural Resources rules: "The estimated fuel consumption for highway driving was 36 miles per gallon."
The public swearing of the oath, a Citizenship Act requirement since 1947, will lapse effective July 1. The Department of Citizenship in a legal notice Saturday said qualified applicants will be able to swear allegiance to Canada by clicking a box on a government website: 'Whether online or in person it is intended to be meaningful.'
A small Ottawa weekly collected nearly a quarter million in federal funds last fiscal year, the largest sum of any newspaper its size, according to newly released records. Hill Times Publishing Incorporated, an advocate of media subsidies, earlier received an additional $584,318 under a sole-sourced Department of Public Works contract that expires next month: "What are the details of each expenditure?"
Marijuana tax revenues after four years have finally met federal estimates tabled when Parliament legalized cannabis in 2018. Statistics Canada figures did not account for any increased costs of policing, licensing, zoning and insurance: "There really isn’t much room for taxes other than the GST."
Bankruptcy lawyers claim a bill to protect company pensions in case of insolvency may spell the death of defined benefit plans in the private sector. “Employers may abandon these plans,” partners with the largest law firm in Western Canada said of Bill C-228.
Enforcement of a bill guaranteeing prompt payment to contractors on public works remains stalled though Parliament passed the measure four years ago. Cabinet in a notice Saturday said it was still considering regulations: "They are some of the hardest-working people in our country and they are going bankrupt."
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom writes: “It is Employee Appreciation Week and my mailbox is getting full. The Director of Operations is proud of our positive, inclusive, and constructive hard work, earning admiration and respect…”
