Canadians fault cabinet for waiting too long to ban international flights as a pandemic precaution, says in-house federal research. Canada did not restrict air traffic until ten weeks after the first Covid death was reported in Wuhan: “We remain concerned about social anxiety, misinformation and discrimination in the Chinese-Canadian community.”
Cabinet must resort to penalties if it is to meet targets on eliminating plastic waste, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said yesterday. A federal order listing all plastic manufactured items as toxic is currently being challenged in Federal Court: “Voluntary compliance by companies is not going to be enough.”
Federal agencies yesterday declined comment on a $120 million housing loan to one of Canada’s wealthiest developers. Cabinet earlier defended the loan as critical: “Companies, given their financial statements, don’t seem to be worthy recipients of taxpayers’ largesse.”
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers has won Court approval to proceed with a rare defamation lawsuit against B’nai Brith. The newly-released decision was the last by Ontario Court of Appeal Justice Mahmud Jamal, now a Supreme Court of Canada appointee: “From time to time CUPW takes positions on political and human rights issues.”
Drug use declined in early months of the pandemic in five major cities, Statistics Canada said yesterday. Findings were based on tests of sewage samples: “It shows potential as a data source to measure total drug use of some drugs at the city level.”
Canadians rate China a more serious threat to national interest than Russia or North Korea. The findings follow in-house research by a federal agency: “Sometimes you have to face a crisis before you truly understand there is a problem.”
Canada’s Consul General in Detroit awarded a sole-sourced contract to U.S. producers for YouTube videos celebrating Canadian industry. Consul Joe Comartin, a former New Democrat MP, was an outspoken critic of contracting that cost Canadian jobs: “Does the government realize what is happening to the economy in Canada?”
The CBC remains under immense financial pressure despite ongoing federal bailouts and 55 percent staff cuts in one division, says a Department of Canadian Heritage briefing note. The network has not disclosed a quarterly financial statement since last December 31: “The effects of Covid will persist into 2022.”
The Competition Bureau in Federal Court affidavits seeks confidential data from four telecom companies as part of its review of a $26 billion buyout of Alberta-based Shaw Communications by rival Rogers Communications. Competition lowers prices, wrote investigators: “The Commissioner is investigating the likely substantial lessening or prevention of competition.”
A trucking company that contracted for expensive fuel only days before the pandemic sent gas prices in a nosedive has been ordered to pay up. The British Columbia Supreme Court ruling hinged on a four-word email to operators of the Flying J chain of gas stations: “The customer takes the risk.”
Men
twice as likely to die
than women
when subjected to nagging.
Members of the opposition,
take note;
His Honourable the Minister
finds your questions
irritating.
(Editor’s note: poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, writes for Blacklock’s each and every Sunday)
The Department of Employment considered introduction of an electronic national ID system for all Canadians but quietly dropped the idea, says a report. Canada has never mandated a national identification card: ‘The prospect is police being able to stop people on the street and demand proof of their identity.’
A Liberal-appointed senator worked as a federal contractor for the finance department at the same time he voted in the Upper Chamber and drew six-figure directors’ fees from corporations, records show. The business affairs of Senator Sarabjit Marwah (Ont.) did not breach any ethics rules, a spokesperson said: “It’s a shocking thing to me that the conflict of interest guidelines for senators remain so weak.”
Elections Canada in another sign of an impending campaign has placed rush orders for tens of thousands of candidates’ lists in braille for the blind. And the Green Party yesterday became the first to open a leader’s campaign office: “We already launched.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs successfully lobbied California legislators to rewrite a climate change bill deemed a threat to Canadian forestry exports. Diplomats feared the California bill if adopted would be taken up by other states and hurt sales: “Canada is concerned.”
