Government Corruption
On the menu today: An examination of former president Barack Obama’s assessment that “massive concentrations of wealth” threaten democracy, and his wildly inaccurate assessment of what drives populists, Donald Trump supporters, and the MAGA movement. Oh, and the king of the gerrymanderers now laments that the political opposition has learned the same tricks.
The obvious criticism of Obama here is that he and his wife are walking, talking, “massive concentrations of wealth.
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Read MoreA U.S. judge has rejected Apple’s (AAPL.O) bid to throw out a class-action lawsuit that accused Chief Executive Tim Cook of defrauding shareholders by concealing falling demand for iPhones in China.
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U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers’ decision late Monday night clears the way for shareholders led by a British pension fund to sue over a one-day plunge that wiped out $74 billion of Apple’s market value.
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Read MoreFederal Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez is vowing more resources for reporters if Google and Meta follow through with threats to block Canadian newsfeeds from their sites in response to Bill C-18, which became law last week.
On Tuesday the Canadian Press reported the minister had “constructive, but tough” conversations with Google regarding implications of the Online News Act which would charge social media giants for news content they repost or share on their sites.
The bill cleared the Senate last week to become law. Immediately after it passed, Facebook’s parent company, Meta, announced it would remove Canadian news from its site by the end of the year.
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Read MoreDavid Johnston concluded his tenure as special rapporteur by submitting his last report on foreign interference to the prime minister Monday evening. The report was marked as confidential.
Earlier this month, Johnston said he resigned because of the increasingly partisan atmosphere surrounding his work.
Johnston committed to delivering a final report to the government by the end of June.
Instead of publicly releasing his last report, a brief cover letter consisting of two paragraphs was released and addressed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
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Read MorePrime Minister Justin Trudeau has been put on blast for not cooperating with the ongoing investigations into Chinese election interference.
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Read MoreTucker Carlson blasted the establishment’s narrative that American support for the Ukraine war effort is about “democracy,” and claimed that “wars for democracy always cancel democracy in the process,” during the latest installment of his Twitter show.
In an episode titled “Irony Alert: the war for democracy enables dictatorship,” Carlson played several clips of politicians like Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and Rep. Mike McCaul (R-TX), who claimed supporting Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukraine in the fight against Russia is about upholding “democracy.”
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Read MoreDuring the pandemic, governments around the world spent a significant amount of taxpayer money in an effort to support their economies. This was particularly true in Canada, with hundred billion-dollar programs such as the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) and Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), and in the United States, with nearly trillion-dollar programs such as the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Economic Impact Payments, and expanded and extended unemployment programs. Given the significant cost of these programs, it’s important to assess their efficiency or, rather, the degree to which they were excessive, poorly targeted, or simply wasteful.
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Read MoreFashion influencers with big followings on social media came under fire this week for praising the supposedly humane working conditions of a Chinese clothing brand notorious for being a sweatshop after visiting its factory for a documentary.
Dani Carbonari, AuJene Butler, Marina Saavedra, and Destene Sudduth toured several Shein facilities in Guangzhou, China, and recorded happy, healthy employees there for a film.
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Read MoreCanada’s largest newspaper chain is asking suppliers to volunteer for 12 percent price cuts, according to a confidential email from its chief financial officer. The executive did not respond when asked to confirm the urgent appeal. It follows the resignation of the executive chair of Postmedia Network Incorporated.
“What percentage in cost savings are you willing to offer?” asked a Vendor Questionnaire. “Are there any additional incentive programs that you would be willing to offer?”
Postmedia lost $74.7 million last year despite millions in federal subsidies, according to company records. Its current financial year expires August 31.
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Read MoreLess than half of billions paid out under a corporate subsidy program will ever be recovered, says the Department of Industry. The $7 billion Strategic Innovation Fund was launched six years ago by then-Industry Minister Navdeep Bains on a false claim it would create 56,000 jobs.
The industry department in a submission to the Senate national finance committee said of billions spent under the program less than half was repayable. “To date of the total Strategic Innovation Fund investments approximately 40 percent are repayable and nearly 60 percent are non-repayable,” it said.
A disproportionate amount of funding went to Québec, figures showed. “Of the 110 agreements so far the Fund is supporting 31 projects in Québec, over a quarter of the program’s portfolio,” wrote the industry department. “Investments have been directed to key sectors such as aerospace where funding is aiding recovery.”
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