Military response to sexual misconduct ‘uncoordinated and ineffectual,’ say experts
Canada’s military needs a cultural overhaul and change at the highest level, say experts testifying before a House committee in the wake of revelations successive top commanders are accused of sexual misconduct. The House Defence Committee is in the thick of a three-day study of sexual-misconduct issues in the military that could be expanded, as opposition […]
AstraZeneca vaccine approval to give Canada ‘greater flexibility’ in distributing doses widely, says health official
Health Canada’s approval of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on Friday will give Canada “greater flexibility” in distributing supplies more widely across the country once it starts to receive the more than 20 million doses on order, say federal officials. The two-dose AstraZeneca vaccine co-developed with Oxford University can be stored at refrigerated temperatures and has […]
Long-term fixes for safe drinking water in some First Nations could be out of reach for ‘several years,’ says AG
The Trudeau government has “made progress” in reducing long-term drinking-water advisories in effect in First Nations communities, but uninterrupted access to safe drinking water could be out of reach for “several years” for some communities, says the federal auditor general in a new report. The audit assessing progress in eliminating those notices over the past […]
Ottawa making ‘good progress’ modernizing procurement, but auditor finds more training needed
The federal government has absorbed the lessons from the Phoenix-payroll fiasco and has made “good progress” modernizing its procurement approach to be more agile, says Canada’s auditor general, in a report examining major projects. Still, with “limited or non-existent” training for staff on Ottawa’s new approach to agile procurement, federal Auditor General Karen Hogan’s office […]
Top Conservatives Byrne, Patterson, Dodds, Gerstein, Lecce, Mulroney lose delegate election races for party policy convention
At least six prominent senior Conservatives—Jenni Byrne, former deputy chief of staff to former prime minister Stephen Harper; Brian Patterson, Ontario PC Party president; James Dodds, the chair of the powerful Conservative Fund Canada; Irving Gerstein, former chair of the fund; Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce; and Bay Street banker Mark Mulroney, son of former […]
Torture ‘by another name’: Canada still keeps some prisoners in solitary confinement, ‘disturbing’ new data shows
Nearly 10 per cent of Canadian prisoners housed in “structured intervention units” are still being kept in conditions recognized internationally as torture, according to a new report based on data tracked by the federal prison authorities. Almost one-third of prisoners staying in these units were under conditions that qualify as solitary confinement, despite a Liberal […]
Statistics Canada ‘almost ready’ to launch consultations on effort to collect race-based data on crime
Canada’s national statistics agency says consultations have yet to begin for an initiative to beef up police officers’ efforts to collect race-based crime data, more than seven months after an announcement was made. Jeff Latimer, director general for health, justice, diversity, and population with Statistics Canada, told The Hill Times that discussions with academics, civil […]
January lobbying picks up from holiday slump
Lobbying activity rose slightly in January, with the holiday slump ebbing even as Parliament remained in recess and the usual legislative wrangling was more or less on hold. Last month, lobbyists filed 2,033 communication reports in the federal registry, an uptick of 8.6 per cent from the 1,872 filed in December. Activity was also up […]
New committee a forum to look deeper into ever-important Canada-U.S. economic relationship, but will partisan squabbles dominate?
The new House Special Committee on the Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States could allow for greater focus on Canada’s most important relationship, but it should not be bogged down by partisan squabbles, say experts and a committee member. The special committee was struck on Feb. 16 as a result of an opposition […]
Arbitrary detention declaration is a ‘good start,’ but questions loom about impact
While the tangible impact of a non-binding declaration for countries around the world to stop the use of arbitrarily detaining foreigners to advance state-to-state relations may not be momentous, former diplomats and experts say the symbolic approach is a good first step. The initiative was spearheaded by Canada, which initially had the support of 57 […]
