Federal 1-800 centres have improved their rate of dropped calls by not answering the phone. The president of Shared Services Canada, the federal IT service, said an undisclosed number of jobless callers seeking benefits received endless busy signals: "The call would never get dropped, it would just never get answered."
The Federal Court of Appeal has dismissed a consumer group's demand for cash refunds on pre-paid flights. The Canadian Transportation Agency in 2019 said that “compensation must first be offered in cash or equivalent”, but waived the rule as a pandemic measure: 'The airline industry has been seriously affected by Covid-19.'
Canadians should avoid using the word “aboriginal”, says a federal language guide. The term may give offence and has no legal meaning, wrote researchers: "Using appropriate language is fundamental."
Cabinet yesterday said it will discuss with provinces a New Democrat proposal to mandate ten days’ paid sick leave for all workers nationwide. No cost or deadline was discussed: "It is just beyond imagination."
The Public Health Agency for the first time acknowledges it ignored its own advice and stockpiled only a “small amount” of pandemic supplies before the Covid-19 outbreak. Managers would not say if they ever warned cabinet: "If you could give a yes or no answer..."
The Department of Canadian Heritage admits it garbled a historical “fact” in a report to Parliament. Minister Steven Guilbeault tabled the claim Black people had a presence in Nunavut dating back 400 years. They didn’t: "You can't pick and choose facts."
Parliament should pass a law denying $2,000 Canada Emergency Response Benefit relief cheques to anyone who won’t take a job, the Commons human resources committee was told. The Department of Employment said it is curbing clear abuses of the program such as payments to dead people: "The priority was to provide the benefit."
The Canada Revenue Agency may withhold tax refunds for a year or more, a federal judge has ruled. The decision came in the case of a business denied a GST refund after auditors decided to review the company’s books: "This is for the Minister to decide."
Not a single postal worker has contracted Covid-19 on the job, says the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. Public health officers say there is no evidence the coronavirus is transmitted by mail: 'It’s remarkable; 60,000 employees and not a single Covid-19 case traced back to Canada Post."
Finance Minister Bill Morneau yesterday vowed he will not increase taxes to pay for the largest deficit in Canadian history. Morneau set no new date for a financial report to Parliament after cancelling a planned March 30 budget due to the pandemic: "We have no plan to raise taxes."
The Globe & Mail yesterday appealed for more direct federal aid to compensate for sharp revenue losses. Publisher Phillip Crawley provided rare details of finances at the daily, a privately held company owned by the billionaire Thomson family of Toronto: "The long-term outlook for the Globe and many others has darkened because of the pandemic."
The Department of Industry yesterday said “picking winners” through federal subsidies is difficult. An analysis of thousands of high growth Canadian companies found most were small and already profitable: "They are rare."
Google Canada yesterday advised users to rely on advice from the Public Health Agency despite contradictions. Disregarded recommendations from the Agency did not count as misinformation, a Google executive told the Commons industry committee: "What about in a situation where the ‘informed source’ is wrong?"
The Federal Court yesterday dismissed a complaint against a Thunder Bay, Ont. judge criticized for accepting a volunteer post at Lakehead University though he wasn’t Indigenous. A judicial investigation prompted by a single CBC News story was “unfair” and “an abuse of process”, wrote the Court.
Members of the Commons health committee yesterday expressed outrage after a Canadian scientist claimed reprisal for publicly criticizing the Public Health Agency and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The expert witness said he was blacklisted from a grant application by the Agency: "We're talking about science."
