Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland last night called the Freedom Convoy a “core threat to the Canadian economy” but provided no figures to prove it. Members of a Special Joint Committee on the Declaration of Emergency challenged Freeland to justify cabinet’s use of the Emergencies Act against truckers: "I have many figures in my head."
The federal agency that manages passports has most employees, 70 percent, working from home, records show. Social Development Minister Karina Gould told reporters she sympathized with Canadians waiting months for travel documents: "I can't give you a clear timeline in terms of when things are going to return to normal."
Cabinet effective next Monday will end most federal vaccine mandates for employees and travelers. Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said the decision reflected new science: "The decision is not based on something we woke up this morning and decided to do."
Three opposition parties yesterday announced a pact to speed passage of a bill to save pensions in cases of insolvency. MPs have tried and failed to pass similar amendments to bankruptcy law since 1975: "We hope to see this go to committee and beyond that to really do something."
Federal inspectors have intercepted tonnes of illegal plastic waste exports in the past three years, records show. MPs voted in 2021 to abolish the black market trade but saw a ban lapse in the Senate: "It is clear we cannot continue to send our plastic waste overseas."
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino yesterday lost a key vote on a cellphone search bill. Nine of 12 members of the Senate national security committee rejected his proposal to designate “reasonable general concern” as justification to search electronic devices at border crossings: "We did not have one witness except the Minister and the officials say this was a good idea."
Most Canadians are cynical about foreign aid, says in-house research by the Department of Foreign Affairs. Taxpayers suspect aid typically “ends up in the pockets of corrupt politicians,” said a report: "Only one in four Canadians, 26 percent, believes government spending on international aid is effective."
The Commons yesterday by a vote of 174 to 146 imposed closure on the latest cabinet bill to regulate the internet. The motion was worse than anything attempted by Stephen Harper, said a Green MP: "I cannot think of a time that a motion this egregious was put forward in that era."
Climate change benefits of federal tree planting will be “slow at first,” says Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson’s department. Staff cited new data indicating Canada already has so many trees the forest cover is 36 million acres larger than originally thought: "The current estimate of forest area in Canada is an improved estimate relative to what has been reported previously."
Estimates of a quarter-billion cost to expand official bilingualism to the private sector does not account for enforcement west of Ontario or east of New Brunswick, Budget Officer Yves Giroux said yesterday. Applying a new cabinet bill nationwide would cost much more, he said: "Do you think jobs will actually move outside of Québec as a result of this?"
Millions’ worth of Covid ventilators purchased through a former Liberal MP’s company were immediately warehoused as medical surplus, records show. The ventilators cost the equivalent of $23,700 apiece: "We needed an advance."
A total 110 employees of the Canada Revenue Agency have been investigated for fraud in the past five years, records show. Twenty were fired. It was the highest number of known fraud probes in any federal department or agency: "Data provided have been drawn from discipline records."
A $735,000 kitchen renovation at the Prime Minister’s official lake property was more elaborate than a mere cooking area, says the Department of Public Works. It also included a pantry, staff told the Commons government operations committee: "These investments are important."
More than a quarter million federal employees continue to work from home, data show. Cabinet has set no deadline to have all staff return to the office: "I think it’s important to understand the magnitude."
More taxpayers’ aid is needed to meet climate change targets, says the CEO of a company that received a $27.2 million subsidy for small nuclear reactors. The Department of Industry to date has spent $97.7 million on miniature reactors though none are in actual use: "Federal support will continue to be critical."
