TORIES SAY NO TO COMPROMISE

 The Conservatives have rejected a proposed compromise to resolve a long-running dispute over the disclosure of secret documents related to the firing of two scientists at Canada's highest security laboratory.

Conservative House leader Gerard Deltell said Wednesday the government's proposal is "months late."

He pointed out that in the previous parliamentary session the Public Health Agency of Canada ignored multiple orders from a Commons committee and the House itself to produce unredacted documents that could shed light on the firing of scientists Xiangguo Qiu and her husband, Keding Cheng.

NAVY HAS LOST CLASSIFIED STORAGE DEVICES

 Two of Canada's frontline frigates lost electronic storage devices containing classified and top secret data — including electronic warfare material — according to security inventories conducted over the last two years, CBC News has learned.

The devices — USBs, DVDs and a backup hard drive — went missing despite an apparent tightening of security in the wake of a spy scandal almost a decade ago, and a separate internal 2013 board of inquiry which recommended measures to clean up the navy's handling of classified data.

In August 2020, according to documents obtained by CBC News, an inventory of the secure data account aboard HMCS Fredericton "discovered numerous classified and unclassified [electronic warfare] items" were missing.

FOOD PRICES CONTINUE TO RISE IN 2021

 Sky-high food prices were one of many negative impacts that Canadians felt during the pandemic-plagued year of 2021. And a new report suggests that problem is only going to get worse next year.

Canada's Food Price Guide, released today, is an annual report published by Dalhousie University and the University of Guelph that's the most comprehensive set of data currently available about a subject that all Canadians are impacted by: food.

As with everything else, supply chain issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on food prices and availability. Weather events such as the heat dome also didn't help put food on the table.

A GOVERNMENT BIDING ITS TIME

 Neil Oliver:   When the government decides what we shall do with our bodies.

MILITARY SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES SHUT DOWN

Two sexual assault complainants say they were denied a chance at justice when their cases against senior military officers were closed without charges laid — because the men accused of raping them declined to be interviewed.

In one of the cases, the complainant — a now-retired member of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) — said she was told that while investigators wanted to lay sexual assault charges, military prosecutors who reviewed the case recommended no charges because the complainant's testimony was the only evidence.

The second complainant — a still-serving CAF member — recently reported the closure of her case to the Military Police Complaints Commission (MPCC), a civilian oversight body.

"The [sergeant] stated that the case 'hinged on hearing from him that something happened,' indicating that because they did not compel the perpetrator to an interview that the case was not viable," her complaint reads.

CSIS WARNING TO TRUDEAU RE CHINA'S TACTICS

As Canada's spy agency warns that China's efforts to distort the news and influence media outlets in Canada "have become normalized," critics are renewing calls for Ottawa to take a far tougher approach to foreign media interference.

The warning is contained in briefing documents drafted for Canadian Security Intelligence Service Director David Vigneault in preparation for a meeting he had with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau earlier this year.

That meeting focused on the rise of foreign interference in Canada — something CSIS says has become "more sophisticated, frequent, and insidious."

GLOBAL AFFAIRS' $3MILLION TRIBUTE TO ITSELF

 Global Affairs Canada is going to spend $3 million tax dollars on a tribute to itself. I kid you not.

There is already a striking monument to fallen diplomats on an Ottawa parkway near the Champlain Bridge. Instead, the proposed one would “pay tribute to former and current employees and their families and friends who have supported them in their careers.”

In other words, according to the Ottawa-insider newsletter Blacklock’s Reporter , the planned monument would be a “lasting tribute” to our foreign ministry staff simply for doing what they’re paid to do.