The Trudeau government plunged Canada $371.5 billion further into debt in a matter of days.

According to Blacklock’s Reporter, the Commons finance committee was told that the government borrowed over a third of a trillion dollars between March 1 and March 26 to finance their coronavirus programs. 

“In total between March 1 and March 26 we’ve issued $371.5 billion in debt,” said associate assistant deputy finance minister Soren Halverson. 

Recent estimates by the Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux placed Canada’s federal debt at upwards to $1 trillion. 

Giroux earlier told the committee that the trillion-dollar size of the debt was both “realistic” and “possible.” 

He also claimed that the deficit could reach $252 billion, but he called the scenario “very optimistic” suggesting that the true size will be much larger. 

Last week Finance Minister Bill Morneau repeatedly dodged questions from Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre on the actual state of Canada’s balance sheet.

Morneau avoided giving any straight answer on Canada’s finances despite being asked for simple figures like the value of Canada’s assets, liabilities and equity. 

“So the minister has claimed that our balance sheet is strong. There are three components to a balance sheet: the assets, the liabilities and the equity. The minister doesn’t know any of the three, so clearly he doesn’t actually know anything about our balance sheet. That’s reassuring,” said Poilievre.

“Now, according to the auditor general, the net negative net worth of our government, of Canada, will be as much as a trillion dollars by the end of this fiscal year. Can the minister, if he’s familiar with any of these numbers, tell us: is it possible his government will hit a trillion dollars of debt this year?”

“Mr Speaker, I want to assure Canadians that our approach will be to continue to make investments on their behalf and that is available to us because of our strong fiscal position but we will continue to take that approach which we think is the appropriate approach,” replied Morneau.

The Communications Security Establishment (CSE) has released a damning report suggesting that foreign entities are seeking to disrupt Canada’s domestic supply chains and steal valuable coronavirus research. 

The report refers to the perpetrators only as “authoritarian states” according to Global News. 

“Ransomware attacks against health-care providers, research facilities, and medical manufacturers will have negative consequences on patient care and hinder the development and production of Canadian medical research and domestic supply chains,” claims the report. 

“State-sponsored cyber threat actors are increasingly targeting the health sector, including government health agencies, almost certainly to obtain intellectual property and other sensitive data pertaining to COVID-19 medical research.”

The agency also discovered 120,000 different coronavirus domains meant to spoof legitimate websites for malicious purposes. 

Of these webpages over 1,500 of them were made to look like official Government of Canada coronavirus hubs. They have since been taken down. 

In a prior statement, the CSE identified malicious cyber actors as being directed by the People’s Republic of China to “access to multiple client systems and large amounts of sensitive data, leading to loss of proprietary information, disruption to business operations, financial loss.”

The report also lays out several examples where research facilities or companies were targeted by foreign actors for the purpose of stealing their advancements. 

“In early-April 2020, individuals associated with a Canadian university engaged in COVID-19 research and a Canadian provincial government health agency were targeted by COVID-19-themed phishing attacks attempting to deliver ransomware,” writes the report. 

Universities have especially been targeted by malicious cyber activity. Earlier this month, York University reported that it had fallen victim to a ransomware attack shortly after announcing a $250,000 coronavirus research fund.  

The Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy has not helped nearly as many businesses as intended, the government says.

According to Blacklock’s Reporter, on Thursday night the House of Commons finance committee heard that only a fraction of the $76 billion budgeted for the subsidy has been claimed.

Senior assistant deputy minister in the Finance Department Andrew Marsland told MPs the department is still trying to understand why so few businesses applied for the subsidy. 

“We’re trying to understand how employers are viewing the subsidy,” Marsland said.

“I think there’s a range of factors, but it’s clear the cost of the program is somewhat less than the original estimate.”

Two weeks ago the federal government said only $7.9 billion had been claimed by businesses, or about 10.4% of the total amount budgeted.

The Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy covers 75% of wages, up to a maximum $10,164 per employee. Companies have had to show a 30% decline in revenue from the same period last year, which critics say is too high of a threshold to meet.

Employers have also criticized the program for having no effect on businesses that have had to shut down.

When announcing the program in April, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said a wage subsidy was necessary to keep people employed during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Right across the country, it’s going to keep businesses and workers connected,” Trudeau said. “That gives people certainty they’ll have a job now and in the months to come.”

When asked about the wage subsidy in the house human resources committee, Canadian Chamber of Commerce Senior Director Leah Nord believes the subsidy started far too late to make enough of a difference.

“I think the first would be timing. The program only started on May 1. It was about six weeks after the crisis,” she said.

Despite the wage subsidy, many businesses have still been forced to lay off staff, with Canada losing 3 million jobs since February.

Even as millions are left unemployed, the Liberal government has helped ensure temporary foreign workers can arrive in Canada, and has even allowed them to receive the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB). 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has condemned a post made on one of his own minister’s WeChat groups promoting a fundraiser to sue Global News for a report on interference by the Chinese Communist Party in Canada. 

The April 30 story detailed how groups with ties to the Chinese Communist Party were directed to hoard personal protective equipment stockpiles while China continued to downplay the severity of the virus. 

“Attacking the integrity of hard-working journalists is absolutely unacceptable,” said Trudeau during Tuesday’s question period.  

“The individual who posted this link on this particular group is no longer a member of this group and is not affiliated with the electoral district association in question.”

The fundraiser was shared in a WeChat group belonging to the Liberal Minister of Digital Government Joyce Murray. Murray made the account in order to keep in touch with Vancouver’s Chinese-Canadian community. 

According to her office, the posts in the group at-large “do not necessarily reflect” her views.

But the post promoting the fundraiser “was unacceptable and in no way reflects the MP’s views,” claimed a statement from Murray’s office.  

“Participation in this group is guided by posted guidelines and a disclaimer. In this case, guidelines were not followed and the individual who posted is no longer in this group.”

The fundraiser, created by the Maple Leafs Anti-Racism Actions Association, claims that the Global News report was “written to intentionally cause harm to the character of the Chinese-Canadian community.” The Facebook page of the Maple Leafs Anti-Racism Actions Association has only two “likes.”

Trudeau was forced to apologize after Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer called on the prime minister to take action on the matter. 

“The minister of digital government has been promoting a fundraising campaign to sue Global News for their story that criticized the Chinese Communist Party,” said Scheer.

“WeChat is a Chinese state-sanctioned social media platform that is monitored by communist state security…Clearly this is inappropriate. What action has the prime minister taken in light of these revelations?”

WeChat is known to censor and surveil content on their platform on behalf of the Chinese government. The chat service was involved in censoring whistleblowers who risked their lives to raise the alarm on the severity of the novel coronavirus.