OTTAWA — The small business loan program the federal government rolled out during the COVID-19 pandemic wasn't managed with "due regard for value for money," auditor general Karen Hogan said Monday. The Canada Emergency Business Account program lent 898,000 small businesses $49.1 billion to help cover expenses such as rent and payroll during the pandemic. Hogan said while Export Development Canada, which was responsible for the program, acted quickly to get the loans out, it relied on sole-source contracts and a single vendor without strong checks and balances. Hogan's report says the Crown corporation gave that vendor, Accenture, "too much control over key aspects of contracts, such as the scope of work and pricing, and failed to exercise basic controls in contract management, such as monitoring that amounts paid aligned with the work performed." At the same time, it says the federal government didn't provide effective oversight to ensure the program was cost-effective. The report estimates $3.5 billion of the loans went to recipients that were ineligible. Hogan told reporters she is "concerned that EDC only partially agreed with our recommendation that it should carry out additional work to identify all ineligible recipients and recover the amounts involved." In an emailed statement, Export Development Canada said it only partially agreed because in "practical terms, implementing (the recommendation) would be challenging and may also come at significant cost." Todd Winterhalt, its head of communications and public affairs, said in the statement it would explore potential options to recoup the money. The auditor general's report outlined the example of a call centre that was set up to provide information about the loan program. "The initial contract awarded for the call centre was expected to last four months and cost $2.78 million. However, as of March 31, 2024, the call centre was still operating with a cumulative total cost of approximately $23.2 million," the report outlines. The costs per call, meanwhile, increased to $589 per call in the spring of 2023, up from $31 on average in 2020. Because Expert Development Canada didn't require timesheets, it didn't realize that the number of calls had dropped in 2022 and agents were answering six calls a day, while it "continued to pay for full-time work." Winterhalt said the organization was asked to "design, develop and launch the program within two weeks." He said the organization is "very proud of what we were able to accomplish on behalf of the Government of Canada for Canadian small businesses. This was a net-new program with no precedent or instruction manual to follow." The report found that as of March of this year, $8.5 billion of the loans hadn't yet been repaid. Hogan noted in the press conference that the program is ongoing. "Payments ... will be ongoing for several years while action on defaulted loans is just beginning," she said. "Value for money will be further compromised without better monitoring and improved plans to recover defaulted loans." This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 2, 2024. Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian PressHacks, phoneys and sex pests. Why Trump’s MAGA cabinet is the new normal
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Santa's sleigh has been cleared for travel in Canadian airspace, the federal government announced on Monday just ahead of the busy holiday season. In a press release Monday, Minister of Transport and Internal Trade Anita Anand said she engaged with her elves and reviewed several key documents including Santa’s flight plan. Anand also met with Santa for the first time since she became the minister of transport. “Transport Canada works to ensure safe and smooth travel across the country during this festive period and wishes all Canadians a safe and happy holiday season,” the release said. Children can track Santa and his reindeer on the North American Aerospace Defense Command’s website on Dec. 24, featuring a holiday countdown, games, music and more. This marks the 69th year that Norad has tracked Santa and his crew. Each year, at least 100,000 kids call Norad to inquire about Santa's location. Millions more follow online in nine languages, from English to Japanese. The tradition dates to the Cold War after a child accidentally called the Continental Air Defense Command, now Norad, and recited his Christmas wish list, sparking the annual tradition. Curious trackers can also call 1-877-HI-NORAD to ask live operators about Santa's location from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. ET. With files from The Associated Press Shopping Trends The Shopping Trends team is independent of the journalists at CTV News. We may earn a commission when you use our links to shop. Read about us. 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NoneATLANTA — Already reeling from their November defeats, Democrats grappled Monday with President Joe Biden’s pardoning of his son for federal crimes, with some calling the move misguided and unwise after the party spent years slamming Donald Trump as a threat to democracy who disregarded the law. The president pardoned Hunter Biden late Sunday evening, reversing his previous pledges with a grant of clemency that covers more than a decade of any federal crimes his son might have committed. The 82-year-old president said in a statement that his son’s prosecution on charges of tax evasion and falsifying a federal weapons purchase form were politically motivated. “He believes in the justice system, but he also believes that politics infected the process and led to a miscarriage of justice,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday. She, along with Biden and other White House officials, insisted for months that Hunter Biden would not get a pardon. That explanation did not satisfy some Democrats, angry that Biden’s reversal could make it harder to take on Trump, who argues that indictments and a conviction against him were a matter of Biden and Democrats turning the justice system against him. “This is a bad precedent that could be abused by later Presidents and will sadly tarnish his reputation,” Colorado Gov. Jared Polis wrote on social media. Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., posted: “This wasn’t a politically motivated prosecution. Hunter committed felonies and was convicted by a jury of his peers.” Certainly, the president has Democratic defenders who note Trump’s use of presidential power to pardon a slew of his convicted aides, associates and friends, several for activities tied to Trump’s campaign and first administration. “Trump pardoned Roger Stone, Steve Bannon, Michael Flynn and Paul Manafort, as well as his son-in-law’s father, Charles Kushner — who he just appointed US ambassador to France,” prominent Democratic fundraiser Jon Cooper wrote on social media. Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison said there “is no standard for Donald Trump, and the highest standard for Democrats and Joe Biden.” Harrison pointed to Trump’s apparent plans to oust FBI Director Christopher Wray and replace him with loyalist Kash Patel and suggested the GOP’s pursuit of Hunter Biden would not have ended without clemency. First lady Jill Biden said Monday from the White House: “Of course I support the pardon of my son.” Get local news delivered to your inbox!
