The Chief of Defence Staff last night contradicted Canadian diplomats’ claims that Afghanistan collapsed too quickly to evacuate all Canadians and Afghan allies. General Wayne Eyre said it was obvious for months the country would collapse: "We poured our heart and soul into that country."
TD Canada Trust faces millions in claims under a proposed class action lawsuit on behalf of every customer charged an NSF fee in the past ten years. Ontario Superior Court upheld a complaint from one depositor charged $98 in NSF fees over a 45¢ overdraft: "TD Bank has profited enormously."
A Liberal MP yesterday apologized after attending a parliamentary sitting by Zoom from a toilet stall. MP Shafqat Ali (Brampton Centre, Ont.) was the second legislator in a year to be cited for performing washroom functions on camera: "The Member of Parliament was literally using the washroom while participating in a sitting of the House of Commons."
A proposed $26 billion buyout involving two of the nation’s four largest telecom corporations yesterday was delayed at least a year and possibly blocked altogether. Federal anti-trust lawyers sought an injunction against the takeover of Shaw Communications of Calgary by Rogers Communications Inc. as in-house Privy Council research showed consumers opposed the deal: "Canadians pay some of the highest prices for wireless services in the developed world."
The RCMP has fewer Indigenous members today than a decade ago despite years of “reconciliation” training, says an internal report. Auditors complained many police were unsure what reconciliation meant: "It is not clear what reconciliation means for each employee."
Parliament must closely watch federal departments profiting from fees, the Commons industry committee was told. Cabinet five years ago passed a little-noticed law allowing departments to perpetually increase fees to inflation, currently 6.7 percent: "They are making a profit and not disclosing it to Parliament."
A tenth of federal employees contracted Covid despite the highest vaccination rate of any comparable workforce, data show. The Public Health Agency confirmed vaccines offered “imperfect protection” after a few months: "Two doses have a very limited ability to reduce infection and therefore transmission."
The number of periodicals in Canada fell nine percent in five years despite almost a third of a billion in federal subsidies, says a Department of Canadian Heritage audit. The disclosure follows confirmation a separate $595 million newspaper bailout did not create jobs as promised: "The industry is facing major challenges."
Alberta is the first province to intervene in a Federal Court challenge of cabinet’s use of the Emergencies Act. Only three provinces supported cabinet’s declaration of a national emergency against the Freedom Convoy: "No government should have the power to seize a person’s property or withhold access to their assets without due process of the law."
More than $50 million in unpaid student loans will be forgiven at taxpayers’ expense this year, says the Department of Employment that manages the program. Cabinet had suspended debt collections as a temporary Covid relief measure in 2020: "The value of unpaid student loans will continue to grow."
Librarians, like hoarders, save everything because you never know what is needed in the future, and governments like to change the record as they go along. As Government Information In Canada puts it, “the goals and interests of future researchers can never be fully anticipated.” Though record-keeping has never been cheaper and easier, it has also never been more haphazard.
Government Information makes this point beautifully.
“Consider this: one has an easier time finding and reading a surveyor’s report of Aboriginal lands that was submitted to and published by the Government of Canada in 1897 than finding and reading an academic research paper submitted to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples and published for the Government of Canada by a private company in 1997,” write librarians Amanda Wakaruk of the University of Alberta and Steve Marks of the University of Toronto.
Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier yesterday said she is a “good watchdog” and sees no wrongdoing at the Canada Revenue Agency. Her remarks came as Conservative MPs served notice of hearings into alleged corruption including confidential testimony from whistleblowers: "Everything is in order."
Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault yesterday told MPs he was disheartened by police scuffles at polling stations in the September 20 election. Perrault had no explanation for what he called a rising trend in disputes targeting poll workers: "That is quite unfortunate."
Cabinet’s omnibus budget bill will criminalize wage fixing following an outcry over conduct of leading grocers. The ban would apply to every employer nationwide, a Department of Industry manager said yesterday: "The law applies broadly across the entire economy."
Border guards seized 1,113 firearms last year, the most up to date figure on the scope of known gun smuggling in Canada. The Canada Border Services Agency said a majority of seized firearms, a total 1107, were owned by Americans: "The total number of firearms successfully smuggled into Canada is unknown."
