Thousands of Covid body bags were quietly bought up by the Department of Public Works at the same time political aides looked for “success stories” to tell the public, Access To Information records show. Authorities feared a shortage of bags in the first weeks of the pandemic: "Do we need special ones to deal with people who died from Covid?"
Canada’s most Liberal city, Toronto, stands to lose a seat in Parliament under federal redistricting. Election planners said as large as Toronto has grown, the rest of Ontario has grown larger: "Over-representation in Toronto has emerged due to uneven population growth."
So many children have been infected with Covid there is increasingly “hybrid immunity” among elementary schoolkids, says the National Advisory Committee on Immunization. Most Canadian parents have not provided Covid shots to children under 12, the panel said: "Severe medical conditions in this age group should be rare."
Cabinet is preparing to write numerous loopholes into a promised ban on foreigners’ purchase of residential real estate. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised the ban last August 25 while campaigning for re-election: "We’ll crack down on the predatory speculators."
Canada's largest airport is so bad that competitors in nearby Buffalo, N.Y. ought to hold a parade for the transport minister, says a Conservative MP. The Commons transport committee listened as MP Tony Baldinelli (Niagara Falls, Ont.) read out TripAdvisor comments disparaging Pearson International Airport as the worst on Earth: "Just got back from a trip to Nevada flying out of Buffalo and I’m from Ontario. The airport is a dream."
Air cargo flights of Chinese medical supplies cost taxpayers $120 million in the first 90 days of the pandemic, say Access To Information records. Federal agencies said they had no choice but to charter planes after failing to maintain a national stockpile of masks, gloves and medical gowns: "The cost of flying one cargo plane from China to Canada is between $600,000 and $800,000."
Cable and satellite TV customers in Canada should be required to pay for gay programming, a CRTC commissioner said yesterday. A majority of federal regulators rejected mandatory carriage for Out TV Network Inc. of Vancouver, the self-described “world’s first LGBTQ network.”
The Federal Court of Appeal has dismissed an $825 million anti-trust lawsuit against the NHL and junior hockey leagues. Former players alleged breach of the Competition Act: 'The statement of claim alleging a conspiracy between leagues has no chance of success.'
Nearly a third of Canadians say they’re concerned about health effects of everyday use of cellphones, Wi-Fi, Smart Meters and other products that emit radiation, says in-house research by the Department of Health. Regulators have consistently maintained wireless devices pose no danger to human health: "There is no evidence that using a cellphone causes brain tumours."
Seventeen percent of small business owners surveyed are preparing to close permanently under pressure of six-figure Covid debts, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said yesterday. Few will formally file for bankruptcy protection from creditors, analysts said: "Small firms are in for a rough recovery."
Internal records identify a Department of Public Works manager, Shawn Gardner, as the contact man for SNC-Lavalin lobbyists who won a $150 million contract for pandemic supplies nobody asked for. Documents show Gardner contacted SNC-Lavalin within days of the pandemic’s outbreak: "The actual contract was signed by Shawn."
Two MPs vying for the Conservative Party leadership say they'd repeal a Canada Revenue Agency regulation that tax filers must report the sale of their home under threat of an $8,000 fine. Critics have condemned the data scoop as a step to a home equity tax: "I will stick a pin in that in a New York minute."
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino yesterday claimed federal agents had “a record year for illegal firearms seizures” in 2021. Records show 316 smuggled handguns were confiscated by the Canada Border Services Agency: "The total number of firearms successfully smuggled into Canada is unknown."
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland yesterday signed off on Canada’s latest loan to Ukraine, a total $450 million to buy heating oil. Canadian loans total $1.95 billion to date: "The Ukrainian economy will contract 33 percent in 2022."
Francophones are outnumbered by Canadians speaking new immigrant languages, Statistics Canada confirmed yesterday in new Census data. The number of citizens whose mother tongue was neither English nor French was at its highest level in 121 years: "This is a record high since the 1901 Census."
