The Commons ethics committee last night issued summonses for two former business associates of Liberal MP Randy Boissonnault (Edmonton Centre). The warning to appear or be taken into custody came as a company co-founded by Boissonnault was struck from the federal bidders’ list amid an Alberta police investigation: “This is a made-for-Netflix miniseries.”
Cabinet is not “panicking” over threats of a winter tariff war with the United States, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said yesterday. Opponents dismissed Trudeau as too weak and distracted to stare down a 25 percent American tariff on billions’ worth of Canadian exports: “I don’t think the idea of going to war with the United States is what anyone wants.”
Immigration Minister Marc Miller yesterday promised “a number of measures” to enforce the Immigration And Refugee Protection Act. The pledge followed a U.S. warning of a winter tariff war without a Canadian crackdown on illegal immigration: “Are you planning to deploy the RCMP?”
Federal contracting is near “the bottom tier” in accountability and fairness, Procurement Ombudsman Alexander Jeglic said yesterday. Jeglic told the Senate national finance committee that irregularities like sweetheart contracting were symptomatic of a “broken system.”
Cabinet under a private bill introduced yesterday would gain new powers to blacklist criminal gangs similar to terrorists. Current law enforcement is ineffective, said the sponsor of the bill: “Will the government support us?”
Cabinet’s pre-election proposal to issue $250 cheques to millions of tax filers yesterday was cast in doubt. New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh said he was not told of key details of the program before he expressed support: “It is a slap in the face.”
Attorney General Arif Virani yesterday said he was disgusted by anti-Semitic rioting in Montréal. One advocacy group asked that Virani vigorously pursue hate crimes prosecutions of street demonstrators targeting Jews: “Enough with the Hitler salutes in our streets.”
Payments to CBC vice presidents are a half million each, CEO Catherine Tait yesterday disclosed at the Commons heritage committee. One Liberal MP defended the pay, saying executives were motivated by “love of country.”
Foreigners who have no legal right to stay in Canada are expected to leave voluntarily, Immigration Minister Marc Miller said yesterday. The Commons immigration committee was told nearly five million temporary permits will expire over the next year: “That is what is expected.”
Cabinet includes millions spent on the Canadian Coast Guard as part of its NATO commitment for national defence, figures confirm. Costs were among $6.5 billion in non-military spending included in Canada’s NATO arithmetic: “We are on a clear path.”
MPs by a vote of 210 to 117 have endorsed a recommendation to decriminalize possession of heroin, cocaine and all other illegal drugs nationwide. The result came with little comment during a flurry of Commons votes on committee reports: “We have reached the end of the road.”
Heated debate “is what a free and democratic society does,” an Ontario judge has ruled in a ten-year legal dispute over political opinion. The key decision on free expression came in the case of 2014 commentaries by Jerry Agar of Radio CFRB Toronto: “Views may at times be expressed in colourful terms.”
Immigration Minister Marc Miller was denounced after describing an Independent MP’s immigrant employees as lazy and useless. MPs expressed astonishment at the personal insult: “They are lazy. They don’t get anything done.”
Television broadcasters rely on food advertising to offset part of the expense of their newsrooms, says the Canadian Association of Broadcasters. The trade group petitioned senators against a private Liberal bill to ban food ads targeting children: “When the ability to advertise with Canadian companies is constrained it directly impacts the ability for broadcasters to support essential democratic activities.”
Cabinet is dismissing complaints of wasteful spending as this year’s deficit approaches $50 billion or more. Conservative MP Corey Tochor (Saskatoon-University) provoked a formal protest for rough language after telling the Commons that cabinet was “pissing away taxpayers’ money.”
