Hundreds of criminal gangs have turned to wholesale production of fentanyl, says a confidential federal memo. Canada is now a net exporter of fentanyl to the United States and Australia, officials say: “Canada is now a source and transit country for fentanyl.”
The Canada Revenue Agency has begun writing off millions in tax owed by bankrupt marijuana dealers. Unpaid excise taxes overall are more than a quarter billion since Parliament legalized cannabis: ‘66% of licensees have an outstanding tax debt.’
Cabinet members yesterday expressed regret over the dismissal of Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault on complaints he faked claims of Cree ancestry. Boissonnault’s ouster provoked a sharp exchange in the Senate where one legislator said the Minister should have been fired months ago: “Why did it take so long?”
Cabinet is three to four weeks away from budget trouble due to ongoing Commons gridlock, Treasury Board President Anita Anand said yesterday. An Opposition filibuster has blocked passage of all money bills: “That is extraordinary. We must vote on these.”
MPs accusing Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault of identity fraud yesterday were ejected from the Commons for unparliamentary language. Boissonnault for years claimed to be Indigenous, once stating a Cree grandmother told him as a boy: “We come from the land, Randy.”
Cabinet has doubled the cost of executive salaries since 2016, new records show. The disclosure follows a Budget Office warning that growth in federal payroll costs was worrisome: “Yes, it is worrisome.”
Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon yesterday told MPs his unprecedented use of cabinet orders to force unions into binding arbitration was intended to “ensure industrial peace.” MacKinnon in testimony at the Commons human resources committee did not say if he would act to end a five-day strike by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers: “How can we not hear?”
A total 880 Canada Revenue Agency employees fraudulently claimed pandemic relief cheques, the highest figure disclosed to date, Revenue Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said yesterday. It followed claims by an Agency executive that “not very many” employees were cheats: “We have a zero tolerance policy for fraud.”
Taxpayers should expect a loss in any sale of the Trans Mountain Pipeline despite cabinet assurances, Budget Officer Yves Giroux said yesterday. Giroux recommended MPs audit billions’ worth of cost overruns: “That is a very interesting question.”
A former deputy industry minister yesterday denied any responsibility for rampant conflicts at the disgraced federal agency Sustainable Development Technology Canada. Retiree John Knubley, testifying by videoconference at the Commons public accounts committee, appeared agitated as MPs accused him of a coverup: “I am not a lawyer.”
The Conservative Party yesterday in its final submission to the China inquiry questioned why Prime Minister Justin Trudeau twice approved a Liberal nomination for MP Han Dong (Don Valley North, Ont.) despite learning he was under security surveillance. Political aides vetoed Dong’s appointment to a committee on China relations but permitted him to attend four years’ worth of secret Liberal caucus meetings: “Liberals knew.”
New Democrat MP Heather McPherson (Edmonton Strathcona) yesterday was reprimanded by the Commons Speaker for wearing a lapel pin proclaiming support for Palestinians. MPs jeered after McPherson compared her “solidarity” pin to wearing a Remembrance Day poppy: “No!”
Addictions Minister Ya’ara Saks yesterday said families across Canada often ask her for parenting advice. Children “are feeling immense anxiety” due to the internet and climate change, she told reporters: “We can’t always protect our kids from the hardships they may face.”
The Department of Finance will order banks to disclose how much they pocket in non-sufficient funds fees on chequing accounts — it could be as high as a half billion a year, said the department — with a new cap on NSF charges. Service fees overall may account for more than a tenth of earnings by Canada’s largest banks, said a federal report: “There is very limited information published by banks.”
Twenty-five New Democrat MPs oppose any cabinet intervention in rotating postal strikes, says Party leader Jagmeet Singh. The last mail strike six years ago ended with back-to-work legislation after five weeks: “Stay out of this.”
