Cabinet for a second time has extended the deadline for a final report from the $92 million National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. The findings originally due last November 1, then postponed to April 30, are now due May 31: "The final report will signal the dawn of a new day."
A federal judge has ordered the Commissioner of Lobbying to reopen an investigation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s dealings with the Aga Khan. The ruling follows multiple trips by the Trudeau Family to the Aga Khan’s private Bahamian isle: “The Commissioner’s analysis does not consider whether the Aga Khan may have received ‘anything of value.'”
Cabinet is introducing first-ever regulations on bitcoin dealers. Rules will mandate disclosure of the names and addresses of traders: 'There is the ability to place dirty money into the financial system.'
A newly-appointed Senator had a paid contract with a federal department, the Senate Ethics Office yesterday disclosed. Senate rules typically prohibit legislators from doing any business with the Government of Canada, but with broad exemptions. Senator Donna Dasko (Independent-Ont.) was unavailable for comment: "The rules...do not apply."
Federal regulators yesterday cited Canadian National Railway Co. for breach of shippers' service obligations with a slowdown at Canada’s largest port. CN argued it had no choice but to restrict traffic after it was swamped with rail cars at British Columbia terminals: "Railways exist to serve the needs of shippers and not the other way around."
A junior cabinet aide took a free winter junket from a Fortune 500 corporate consultant to spend a week sailing in Florida, according to filings. The special assistant to Public Works Minister Carla Qualtrough did not respond to multiple requests for an explanation: "I was invited by two friends."
An MP has filed a federal lawsuit for disclosure of confidential terms of a Netflix investment agreement with the Department of Canadian Heritage. Cabinet has refused to release the contract under the Investment Canada Act: "Few details are available as the agreement is still subject to secrecy."
Transport Canada is shelving a recommendation that it restrict new subdivisions within 300 metres of railway tracks following hundreds of casualties. The safety measure has been reviewed for fifteen years: "We need to do more work."
The Commons has unanimously passed a jurors’ aid bill. The Conservative sponsor urged legislators to speed the bill to the Senate for approval with seven work weeks remaining before Parliament adjourns for a general election campaign: "How is it possible?"
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, examines current events in the Blacklock’s tradition each and every Sunday: “The murder of Jamal Khashoggi should not affect the relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia. On the line, thousands of jobs…”
Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux yesterday said he expects a hundred requests to analyze parties’ election promises in the October 21 campaign. Taxpayers will see first-ever independent costing of party pledges under a bill passed by Parliament in 2018: "This represents a major change in the political landscape."
One of the nation’s leading disability advocates says a federal accessibility bill appears “nebulous” and does little for the deaf. Cabinet hailed its legislation as a landmark attempt to remove barriers to accessibility: "You have to have something against which to measure yourself."
Health Canada yesterday approved continued use by most farmers of three pesticides rated more lethal to bees than DDT. Regulators said limited restrictions on fruits and vegetables will be phased in by 2022 to save bees credited with billions in crop pollination: "This will stand."
The Department of Veterans Affairs yesterday budgeted $1 million to plant trees honouring Canadian war dead. The spending follows a department audit that found long nursing home waiting lists for surviving WWII and Korean War veterans in their 80s and 90s: "Focus on care."
An exasperated school bus driver who said he’d like to drop unruly boys off in the woods has been acquitted of uttering threats in Québec Provincial Court. Drivers typically work long hours for low pay, a Teamsters Union official earlier told the Commons transport committee: "They care about the children they are carrying."
