Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault’s mandate requiring that Canadians drive electric cars will cost at least $99 billion, new federal figures show. Numbers did not include millions in hidden costs like retraining auto mechanics, said his department: "Proposed amendments are expected to lead to a loss of consumer choice."
The compact fluorescent bulb once touted by cabinet as a climate-friendly energy saver will be phased out within a year due to mercury pollution. Environmentalists and regulators 20 years ago praised the bulbs as essential in addressing global warming: "The status quo was not considered to be a viable option."
New regulations by Treasury Board President Mona Fortier would further delay Access To Information disclosures that currently stretch into years. The Board in a Christmas Eve notice said Canadians seeking public records should be required to show their birth certificate or other proof of citizenship: "No consultations were deemed to be necessary."
Canada Post has wound up its pioneering electronic document sharing service. The ePost system launched decades ago was overtaken by Google Drive and other services: "I’ve never needed Canada Post in order to send and receive email."
High profile Canadians may be in the pay of foreign agents, says a Department of Public Safety memo. The document did not identify any public office holders by name: "Do Canadians not deserve to know?"
The Government of Canada is so secretive its own employees must file Access To Information requests to retrieve records, says the largest federal public service union. The Public Service Alliance in a submission to Parliament said documents should be made public as a matter of course: "We are concerned."
The typical gun owner in Canada has a rifle or shotgun, enjoys camping and shoots for sport or food, says in-house research by the Department of Public Safety. “They are worried about the public’s view of firearms owners,” wrote researchers.
Taxpayers will lose billions with a federal waiver on Canada Student Loan interest payments, new figures show. The Department of Employment said interest charges since 2016 totaled $3.38 billion: "This measure is targeted at making loan repayment more affordable."
The Public Health Agency of Canada yesterday budgeted $720,000 for a national survey on the scope of “long Covid.” The Agency acknowledged it knew little about the number of Canadians with debilitating symptoms months after testing positive for the coronavirus: "This is serious."
Blacklock’s managing editor today named the Parliamentary Press Gallery in an Ontario Superior Court lawsuit. It follows the December 2 eviction of Tom Korski from the National Press Building, a Gallery first: “The Gallery’s conduct is reprehensible.”
A new $2 billion “green” Crown corporation will be permitted to buy, sell and swap shares in other companies without public scrutiny. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland yesterday wrote the confidentiality order into federal regulations: "You’re saying, ‘Give me the $2 billion, I’ll buy some shares.'"
Cabinet yesterday wrote numerous loopholes into Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s promised crackdown on foreign real estate speculators. “We’ll crack down on the predatory speculators that stack the deck against you,” Trudeau said in an August 24, 2021 campaign speech. “No more foreign wealth parked in homes that people should be living in.”
A Toronto man accused of waving a Nazi flag at the Freedom Convoy has filed a $1.5 million defamation lawsuit against his accuser. Ontario law restricts libel claims if allegations, even if untrue, “relate to a matter of public interest.”
Indigenous smudging ceremonies do not breach a 2008 prison smoking ban, a federal judge has ruled. The decision came in the case of a convict who complained he was irritated by fellow inmates’ symbolic burning of sage and sweetgrass: "Smudging is a ceremony that is used to pray."
A large number of Canadians, 44 percent, fear climate change will affect “food security,” says in-house research at the Department of Health. Canada is a net exporter of food with federal analysts predicting an increase in the number of frost-free days would actually boost production: "What worries you the most about climate change?"
