The Department of Environment commissioned in-house polling that asked Canadians if they were willing to take fewer flights or pay a green surtax on air tickets. The research made no mention of frequent travel by public office holders: "The climate crisis is the greatest challenge of our time."
Minister Changes His Story
Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault yesterday admitted conducting private business while a member of cabinet. Testifying at the Commons ethics committee, Boissonnault contradicted claims he had no dealings with an Edmonton import firm that paid him $220,000: "Do you think Canadians are stupid?"
Systems Worked, Says Miller
Immigration Minister Marc Miller yesterday said he is confident security checks on foreigners are reliable despite three being arrested on terrorism charges in the past three months. “We are confident in our security screening,” Miller told the Commons public safety committee.
Ask MPs To Release Nazi List
Cabinet should unseal all secret records on Nazi fugitives in Canada and make the digitized documents available to the public, says B’nai Brith Canada. The group in a petition to the Commons finance committee said it was essential to waive confidentiality on enemy combatants and collaborators: "Allow Canadians to fully appreciate and move on from Canada’s Nazi past,"
Court Upholds Budget Power
Taxpayer-funded groups have no right to subsidies and cannot claim Parliament has “an obligation to consult each and every stakeholder” impacted by cuts, a federal judge has ruled. The Federal Court decision follows forecasts that broad funding cuts are now inevitable: "We saw that before."
Lib Senator Edits Press Article
A Liberal-appointed senator says the government has a duty to correct media thinking. Senator Lucie Moncion (Ont.) acknowledged she successfully called up edits to an article by a political opponent published in the subsidized press: "We had to remain vigilant."
Whistleblower Names Lib MP
Liberal MP George Chahal (Calgary Skyview) last night did not comment after being named by a whistleblower for failing to act on complaints of irregularities at a federal agency. The disclosure came at the Commons public accounts committee: "His subsequent refusal to engage forced us to spend the next five months trying and failing to contact various agencies."
Accuses Cabinet Of Cover-Up
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet knowingly misdirected investigations of foreign interference under a “mountain of process,” the Commission on Foreign Interference was told yesterday. “We have become a foreign interference playground,” testified Conservative MP Michael Chong (Wellington-Halton hills, Ont.), a target of Chinese agents.
Feds Still Send Aid To China
Cabinet continues to send foreign aid to China, new records show. The Department of Foreign Affairs detailed millions in aid under a Fund intended to promote LGBTQ rights: "I don’t believe Canadian taxpayers should be sending any money to China."
Confirm Hundreds Of Arsons
Cabinet confirms hundreds of church burnings nationwide with a sharp rise in arson attacks following claims that skeletal remains were discovered at an Indian Residential School in Kamloops, B.C. Data were drawn from police reports compiled by Statistics Canada: "This includes incidents that occurred on the surrounding property such as an attached cemetery."
Says Nobody Wants Election
Canadians want nothing to do with a federal election, Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne yesterday told reporters. Cabinet faces a non-confidence motion next week: "It's already difficult to be governing."
Suspect Contractors Identified
Three contractors accused of millions in fraudulent billings are named in a federal document. Cabinet earlier told reporters all three were referred to the RCMP but would not identify the suppliers: "This is the first wave of fraudulent billing cases the department has identified with more expected to be announced in the coming months."
Search For “Randy” Heats Up
MPs yesterday took a step to censuring Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault’s business partner for contempt of Parliament. Stephen Anderson, an Edmonton importer, ignored an ethics committee order that he identify a mysterious executive named “Randy.”
344 Fired For CERB Cheating
A total 344 federal employees have been fired as CERB cheats, the highest figure disclosed to date, cabinet confirmed yesterday. The count is expected to rise with ongoing investigations: "We know in times of crisis the risk of fraud is heightened."
Silent Adler Takes Senate Seat
Radio commentator Charles Adler yesterday took his seat as a Manitoba Senator after refusing comment on past broadcasts in which he called Indigenous constituents lazy “boneheads.” The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs and Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Inc. opposed his appointment: "The vile words and contempt he has spoken are so vicious and racist."