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In a report released yesterday, Auditor-General Karen Hogan said she found a “glaring disregard” for basic management practices as the cost of the federal government’s ArriveCan app grew to an estimated $59.5-million.
Federal departments spent about $59.5-million on outsourcing work with private contractors, but the lack of clear records of spending and decisions means the true cost could be higher or lower, according to Hogan’s report.
The report questions why agency officials approved invoices and time sheets from contractors in cases where “details of work performed were often missing.”
- Campbell Clark: The ArriveCan tale gets worse, but the mystery remains
Auditor general Karen Hogan speaks about the ArriveCAN app during a news conference, Monday, February 12, 2024 in Ottawa.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
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Human-rights groups decry rising trend of corporate SLAPP lawsuits
When First Quantum Minerals Ltd. sued a small African human-rights group, two United Nations experts took notice. The company said it only wanted to correct some errors, but the rights organization called the lawsuit an attempt to bully and intimidate, and the UN rapporteurs demanded that First Quantum explain its actions.
First Quantum’s legal action was not the only one of its kind, it is part of a growing number of lawsuits by corporations against human-rights activists and other critics – often categorized as “strategic lawsuits against public participation,” or SLAPPs. Mining companies and other resource corporations, including Canadian companies, have been among the most likely to file such lawsuits.
The trend is sparking worldwide concern. One study, by London-based Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, identified 437 lawsuits between 2015 and last year that have the characteristics of a SLAPP.
For those living on Belleville’s streets, the Ontario city’s overdose emergency is nothing new
Last week was a rough one for the Ontario city of Belleville. Authorities reported a rash of drug overdoses, 13 of them within the space of two hours one afternoon. Mayor Neil Ellis made national headlines by declaring a state of emergency over the community’s triple-headed crisis of mental illness, addiction and homelessness.
Canada’s overdose epidemic has moved beyond the big cities to hit even small, quiet places like Belleville. With far fewer resources than larger centres, they are struggling to cope. Ellis is pleading with the provincial government to help fund a new centre for people on the city’s margins.
The emergency declaration that caused such a sensation last week did not seem to impress Bridge Street. Overdoses are an everyday thing in this part of town.
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Also on our radar
Manitoba man charged with five counts of first-degree murder: The Manitoba RCMP have charged 29-year-old Ryan Howard Manoakeesick with five counts of first-degree murder after the weekend killings of his common-law partner, their three children and the woman’s teenage niece in a rural community southwest of Winnipeg.
Canada, U.S. seek clarity on citizens taken in Gaza: American and Canadian officials say they are still trying to sort out what caused the Israeli military to take citizens from their home in the Gaza Strip. Members of the Alagha family say Ahmed Alagha and his two sons were arrested by Israeli forces last week. Israel’s military confirmed to a Canadian media outlet that it took at least two people into custody, but would not provide a total number or an on-the-record explanation yesterday as to why they are being held.
Tennessee sees charged political debates over carjackings: Over all, the past two years have brought a steady decline in crime across the U.S. after a pandemic-era spike. But some cities and some offences have not experienced that decline. Memphis logged its highest-ever total of homicides last year, while rates of auto-theft are still climbing nationally.
Ottawa leery of approving takeover of bank: Federal banking regulators and national-security agencies will insist on a high bar before Ottawa approves the sale of Wealth One Bank of Canada to Globalive Capital Inc., one that must entail the removal of a trio of Wealth One’s founding shareholders, according to a source.
Federal land could be used for housing, minister says: Ottawa is considering changes to federal land policies and looking for ways to use public land for home building as it deals with housing affordability across the country, Housing Minister Sean Fraser said yesterday.
Sudan could face a national famine by July: A new report warns that the prolonged war between military factions in Sudan is rapidly leading to the world’s worst hunger crisis in decades, which could result in a million people dead this year from malnutrition and food shortages.
Morning markets
U.S. inflation in focus: Japanese shares touched a 34-year peak on Tuesday, while European stocks and Wall Street futures slipped as investors waited for a U.S. inflation report that could shape Federal Reserve policy. Around 5:30 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 slid 0.11 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 fell 0.61 per cent and 0.33 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei ended up 2.89 per cent. Markets in Hong Kong and China were closed. The Canadian dollar was modestly higher at 74.37 US cents.
What everyone’s talking about
Tony Keller: “The customer – the NHL – isn’t who he used to be. The league is now run by Americans, for Americans. When we talk about The Code, they don’t know what we’re on about. They’ve got less time than ever for our ancient and often self-contradictory notions of honour and vigilante violence. The American-run NHL has year by year moved to rules that celebrate skilled players, and render unemployable the less skilled.”
André Picard: “What [Joe] Biden is facing – insults, contempt and dismissiveness because of his age – is something elders know all too well. The assumptions about aging are as harmful as they are hurtful.”
Today’s editorial cartoon
Editorial cartoon by David Parkins, Feb. 13, 2024.Illustration by David Parkins
Living better
Winter fitness tips from hockey legend Hayley Wickenheiser
Retired hockey player Hayley Wickenheiser is familiar with the struggle of getting a workout in when the weather is challenging. But she’s found ways to make it work – establishing a routine that’s easy to stick to, motivating herself to get out there and modifying her workouts so she can do them anywhere.
Moment in time: Feb. 13, 1960
An African-American student sits at a lunch counter reserved for white customers during a sit-in to protest segregation. Packages of napkins have been placed on nearby stools to discourage other protesters from joining the sit-in.Bettmann/Getty Images
Black college students stage the first of the Nashville sit-ins
The U.S. civil-rights movement – a desire for equality and freedom for Blacks – can trace its roots to the mid-1950s, but it was a slow process. In Nashville, downtown department stores gladly took the money of Black customers, but banned them from using washrooms or restaurants. By late 1959, student leaders and Christian groups in the city had an idea – disciplined, non-violent demonstrations. Months of planning took place during which the students were advised, “Do not strike back or curse if abused. … Do show yourself courteous and friendly at all times. … Remember the teachings of Jesus, Gandhi, Martin Luther King. Love and nonviolence is the way.” On this day in 1960, at about 12:40 p.m., 124 college students walked into Kress, Woolworth’s and McClellan stores, made some purchases, then sat at the lunch counters. They were refused service. So the demonstrators sat there quietly and left after a couple of hours. The scene would be repeated several times over the next few months, sometimes met by violence from angry white customers. The discrimination caused national and local outrage. By June, justice prevailed, the lunch counters were desegregated and the Nashville sit-ins became a model for peaceful civil-rights demonstrations. Philip King
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