MPs yesterday expressed anger and incredulity after officialdom defended security screening of two terror suspects. The Canada Border Services Agency said it was “concerned these two individuals got through” but defended its system as “robust.”
Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon yesterday said his order forcing locked-out Teamster rail workers into binding arbitration was “in the best interests of millions of unionized workers.” Speaking at a union convention in Winnipeg, MacKinnon said he remains a friend of labour and considered his appointment as Minister “a fun job.”
The British Columbia Court of Appeal yesterday upheld an order that Canadian National Railway pay $16.2 million for causing a 2015 forest fire. The province’s Wildfire Act allows damages against corporations found responsible: “CN admits as much.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs’ New York realtor yesterday testified an existing Park Avenue diplomatic residence was a wonderful penthouse that remains “move-in ready.” The department had cited a need for renovations as justification for buying a new $8.8 million Central Park condo for Consul Tom Clark: “It’s just very interesting to me that this residence was not good enough.”
Supporters of the 2022 Freedom Convoy protest outside Parliament included current and former Mounties, says a newly-disclosed RCMP memo. The document said then-Commissioner Brenda Lucki tried to find Convoy sympathizers within the force: “Past and current members participated in or potentially supported the protests.”
Canada was “not as prepared as it could have been” for the pandemic, says a Public Health Agency report. The first-ever admission of failure followed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s boast that Canada was among the best prepared nations on earth: “The Public Health Agency was not as prepared as it could have been.”
Taxpayers can wait up to four hours to speak to a Canada Revenue agent, says in-house federal research. The Revenue Agency earlier acknowledged taxpayers who prefer email will wait an average 57 days for a reply: “Not only is the wait time itself annoying but it can also amplify dissatisfaction if a subsequent part of the call does not go well.”
A Kenyan phone company that received millions from Canadian taxpayers lost more money again last year, new financial records show. A federal agency bought $43.4 million worth of shares in M-Kopa Holdings Ltd. of Nairobi in the name of international development: ‘These are good quality jobs in East Africa.’
Liberal MP Leah Taylor Roy (Aurora-Oak Ridges, Ont.) yesterday had no comment on an affidavit alleging Communist Party agents were hired as Elections Canada poll workers in her riding in the 2021 campaign. Taylor Roy was honoured as a “new local star” at a Chinese Canadian banquet nine days before the election was called: “The name that was given to her is Li Ya Tai Le which has a combined meaning of ‘everything goes smoothly and well.'”
Cabinet this fall for the first time will detail the true number of foreigners let into the country, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said yesterday. It follows a May 21 report by the Senate social affairs committee that complained actual counts were misrepresented in Parliament: “We are meeting the moment.”
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland yesterday said cabinet is prepared for any retaliation from China in a looming tariff war. Freeland effective October 1 is imposing a 100 percent tariff on Chinese-made electric vehicles and 25 percent on steel and aluminum: “Canada needs to be ready.”
One of Canada’s most heavily-subsidized weeklies yesterday did not comment after publishing an article critical of Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre’s proposal to abolish subsidies. The Hill Times did not disclose its own six-figure funding or the fact the reporter who wrote the story had worked as a $750-a day federal consultant: ‘He is challenging poor, underpaid local journalists.’
Parliament should pay Canadians over 65 to stay in their homes, say cabinet advisors. A National Seniors Council expert panel did not estimate the cost of its proposed Age At Home Benefit but said it should not be income tested: “The federal government should think about the economic cost of inaction.”
Elections Canada says it cannot refute an affidavit by former two-term MP Leona Alleslev (Aurora-Oak Ridges, Ont.) stating it unwittingly hired Chinese Communist Party agents as poll workers in the 2021 campaign. Alleslev in a sworn statement said she received complaints from Chinese Canadian electors who said they were too frightened to vote: “Half the Chinese Canadian constituents she canvassed would tell Ms. Alleslev they were afraid to vote for her because they feared repercussions.”
Federal executives at a confidential meeting last August 29 concluded foreign agents were using illegal methods to threaten Canadians. The meeting occurred only weeks after cabinet’s Special Rapporteur downplayed foreign interference as “media allegations.”
