Cabinet yesterday expressed shock and surprise over the loss of a must-win Liberal byelection in the Prime Minister’s hometown. Justin Trudeau and 15 cabinet ministers personally canvassed in the Montréal riding of LaSalle-Émard-Verdun: "We need people to understand."
MPs are vulnerable to electronic surveillance by foreign agents, the chair of the Commons national defence committee said yesterday. Testifying at the Commission on Foreign Interference, Liberal MP John McKay (Scarborough-Guildwood, Ont.) said Chinese hacking of his own cellphone may have exposed contacts he built up through nine terms in Parliament: "Maybe I am just being paranoid."
The Liberal Party last night lost a byelection Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called “an important moment” for Canada. Montréalers voted Bloc Québécois in a once-safe Liberal seat: "I can’t wait for the conversations we’re having in LaSalle-Émard-Verdun."
Opposition parties seek a wider ethics probe of political appointees to federal boards. Conservative MP Rick Perkins (South Shore-St. Margarets, N.S.) yesterday told the Commons industry committee there was a “culture of conflict” as shown by dozens of breaches of the Conflict Of Interest Act at a single agency: "Expose them and let the public and parliamentarians decide what should happen."
China inquiry chief Marie-Josée Hogue yesterday said she is restricted by the Inquiries Act from unmasking foreign spies on Parliament Hill. The Commission on Foreign Interference must not “jeopardize any other investigation,” said Hogue: "I am aware of the political climate."
Subsidized media must scrutinize the Conservative Party, Government House Leader Karina Gould yesterday told reporters. Her remarks followed a colleague’s comment that cabinet was “happy to help” CBC-TV counter Conservative criticism: "Make sure we are holding (Pierre Poilievre) to account."
Tariffs on Chinese electric cars, steel and aluminum offer only a “short reprieve” for industry, the Commons trade committee was told yesterday. The tariffs take effect October 1: "This is basically a short reprieve, a temporary reprieve."
A federal judge has upheld one of the steepest fines ever levied for breach of migrant labour regulations. An Alberta contractor was fined $153,000 and banned from the Temporary Foreign Worker Program for five years after failing a spot inspection: "The process was fair."
Federal auditors cite Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault’s department for poor oversight of millions spent on green subsidies. Management of taxpayer funds was so sloppy it represented “potential legal and reputational damage,” said a report: "We observed significant issues."
The judge leading the China inquiry has disclosed she held 22 secret meetings with immigrant communities “willing to share their experience” on intimidation by foreign agents. Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue said she could not give public notice of her meetings for fear of endangering informants: "For security reasons these meetings took place in private at undisclosed locations."
The Department of Foreign Affairs faces demands to explain internal documents showing New York Consul Tom Clark was personally involved in buying an $8.8 million Manhattan penthouse at public expense. Clark repeatedly denied having anything to do with the purchase: "You would have us believe you said absolutely nothing and nobody asked?”
Canadians report an epidemic of gangland crime despite millions in federal grants under a Guns and Gang Violence Action Fund. In-house research by the Department of Public Safety found a fifth of people surveyed said they personally knew of gang violence: "Seven in ten agree Canada has a gang violence problem."
More than 150,000 Canadians are eligible to cast ballots today in two federal byelections including a Manitoba riding where the prison vote once influenced the outcome. Cabinet earlier blamed “hard times” for the loss of a safe Liberal seat in a June byelection in Toronto: "Do you think the Liberals need a radical change in strategy?"
Poet Shai Ben-Shalom writes: “We regret to inform you that your son has died this morning when securing a road south of Kandahar. The Improvised Explosive Device gave him no chance…”
If aliens invaded, a prime minister’s first duty would be to get premiers on the phone. Airspace is clearly federalized under the Aeronautics Act. But what if invaders land on islands and travel by ferry to terrorize the populace? If it’s a British Columbia ferry, that is provincial jurisdiction. Newfoundland and Labrador ferry, federal.
The space enemy may use laser beams to make trees explode or boil mountain lakes. That is clearly provincial jurisdiction. But let one errant death ray touch a single rivet on a railway trestle and you are dealing with the Government of Canada, my friend.
This is “the incredible fragmentation we have in this country among federal, provincial and municipal governments,” as then-Senator Howard Wetston (Ont.), a former federal judge, once put it. Wetston was referring to regulation of light bulbs.
