Cabinet yesterday proposed to appoint a chief internet censor with sweeping powers to block websites, investigate anonymous complaints and conduct closed-door hearings into legal but hurtful content deemed a threat to “democratic institutions.” Technical papers released by Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault’s department said cabinet would determine “the threshold for what constitutes potentially illegal content.”

Cabinet should mandate vaccine passports, says a federal executives’ periodical. The Prime Minister has called it an “extreme measure,” while one federal agency said any passport mandate would breach the Privacy Act: “It is an encroachment on civil liberties.”

The Prime Minister yesterday named five people to the Senate including an Alberta appointment Premier Jason Kenney called a “slap in the face.” The Alberta cabinet on June 23 issued an order to hold elections for Senate nominees this fall: “The Prime Minister knows full well.”

Canada Post yesterday confirmed the limited reintroduction of postal banking for the first time in 53 years. Post offices in Nova Scotia and Alberta will broker cash loans for the Toronto Dominion Bank: “Postal banking has been under a tremendous amount of discussion.”

A provincial court judge has ruled military bookkeeping is so inept it was impossible to know for certain how much was stolen at the Sydney, N.S. Garrison. The ruling follows an internal audit that faulted the Department of National Defence for mismanagement of money-losing golf and curling clubs: “There are too many holes in the bucket.”

The Public Health Agency called police to report nearly 58,000 Canadians suspected of leaving their own homes in breach of the Quarantine Act, records show. Figures did not disclose if any were charged by the RCMP: “Home checks focus on medium risk travelers.”

Elections Canada research shows a majority of electors oppose giving the ballot to high schoolers. A bill to lower the federal voting age to 16 was given Second Reading in the Senate on June 22: “What about running for public office?”

Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault’s department today will detail internet censorship rules to be enforced under a bill that has yet to pass Parliament. Legal but hurtful content deemed to “undermine Canada’s social cohesion or democracy” will be banned: “The idea of bureaucrats once again getting into this business is deeply disturbing.”

A third of Canadians are wary of a little-known federal program to monitor border travelers for tax compliance. Research by the Canada Border Services Agency found only 26 percent of people surveyed were “very comfortable” with the collection of more personal information: “How would you rate your level of confidence?”

Climate change may have contributed to a June heat wave though “factors here are not completely understood,” says the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society. Scientists in a videoconference denied they had “cherry picked the data” to alarm the public: “You can look at any event, even the most mundane day, and make it completely unique.”

We Charity co-founder Craig Kielburger has lost a federal board appointment as advisor to the Leaders’ Debates Commission. The Commission yesterday confirmed Kielburger, a former Liberal Party donor, was the only advisory board member to be replaced: “Members will be guided by the pursuit of the public interest and by the principles of independence, impartiality, credibility.”

Canadians “need to reduce air pollution,” Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna said yesterday. The Minister made the remarks after flying to Edmonton for a news conference. Flight logs show McKenna logged nearly 29,000 kilometres by air last year: “Seniors are dying because of the extreme heat.”

A rewrite of a federal citizenship booklet now in its fifth year is not ready for release, the Department of Immigration said yesterday. Staff said work continues on “historically accurate” accounts of Indigenous history with other input from the gay community: “There is a need to have a restructuring of the way we educate not only new Canadians but all of us.”

A new audit details ongoing difficulties with cabinet’s signature ecological program launched five years ago. The $1.5 billion Oceans Protection Plan was to create “a world-leading marine safety system” to protect coastlines from oil spills: “Staff did not have a good understanding of who should report or how.”

A judge has settled a federal case over which manufacturer is Canada’s barbecue “king.” The ruling came in an ten-year dispute under the Trademarks Act: “The likelihood of confusion may be heightened where the goods in issue are of such a nature they are often used together.”