But the Navy has bigger problems Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up here to get it delivered weekday mornings. Admiral Art McDonald was barely settled as Canada's chief of the defence staff before he stepped aside. Just after 11 p.m. on Tuesday, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan had released a statement confirming that McDonald was under investigation and appointing Lieut.-Gen. Wayne Eyre, the commander of the Army, on an interim basis. CBC News first reported that McDonald faces allegations of misconduct. Earlier this week, retired Supreme Court justice Marie Deschamps told a parliamentary committee investigating misconduct allegations into McDonald's predecessor, Jonathan Vance, that the military appears to have moved slowly to implement some of the recommendations she made in an explosive 2015 report on sexual misconduct. Hogan's heroes: The auditor general's first tranche of 2021 reports went live yesterday afternoon. Karen Hogan's office examined information technology procurement, the national shipbuilding strategy, safe drinking water for First Nations people, the Canada Child Benefit and rail safety. The audits on IT, the CCB and railways registered only minor seismic readings—but the other two deserve a closer look. Hogan's team pinpointed the deficiencies in the Liberals' plan to make good on their marquee election promise in 2015 to eliminate long-term drinking water advisories in Indigenous communities. Two problems: Indigenous Services Canada hasn't updated its operation and maintenance funding formula since 1987, and no regulatory regime is in place to ensure clean drinking water—15 years after the auditor first recommended that measure. The story on shipbuilding is the same as it ever was. Hogan's audit cautioned that delays could lead to ships in the Navy's fleet "being retired before new vessels are operational." The AG explained exactly why and how things got this bad. One problem: The Navy's approach to risk management included a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and a "2-page Microsoft Word document" for each risk. The AG said those particular documents "produced too many human errors." It's time to ban made-in-Canada warships: That's Scott Gilmore's conclusion after this week's annual reminder that new ships are over budget and behind schedule. He argues in Maclean's that Canada can't be relied on to get the job done: Every Canadian government, as far back as the 1960s, has dealt with a procurement scandal. And every single Canadian has picked up the tab, year after year after year. It’s long past time we put an end to this insanity. Let’s accept the fact, proven repeatedly for decades, that Canada is simply incapable of building ships for our navy. And then, let’s just buy the damn things from the French, get them years earlier, and save ourselves $66 billion. MPs go after China: Only days after the House of Commons voted to declare a genocide in China's Xinjiang province, the parliamentary Canada-China committee recommended that Canada work with allies to apply "targeted sanctions" against "those responsible for or complicit in gross violations of human rights, freedoms and the rule of law in Hong Kong." China's foreign ministry had harsh words for the genocide motion. Expect something similar for this new report. There's an app for that: As of this morning, MPs can vote remotely using a new app that's months in the making. The Commons published an extensive explainer on how it'll all work—and this video shows the interface. The Tories once worried that such an app would reduce their votes to an experience "almost like Tinder, where they swipe right or swipe left." The Department of Finance published an annual list of estimated tax expenditures that gives a sense of just how many Canadians are taking advantage of the hundreds of tax breaks for which they might be eligible. More than 28 million taxpayers claimed the basic personal amount in 2018, worth a combined $36.4 billion. About 44,000 volunteer firefighters ticked that box the same year, which took $20 million out of federal coffers. And more than 150,000 political donors claimed the corresponding tax credit, worth about $30 million. Finance vs. PBO: The parliamentary budget office published a review of its own economic and fiscal projections, and compared those results to the federal department's best guesses. The verdict: Finance consistently bested the parliamentary number-crunchers. One explanation: Finance employs more than 800 people. The PBO's org chart lists 40 staff. The PBO also calculated the cost savings of a potentially permanent hybrid parliament: $6.1 million. The reduced travel would also cut carbon emissions by an estimated 2,972 metric tonnes. Duly noted: The Hill Times reports that four prominent Conservatives failed to nab delegate spots at the party's upcoming policy convention: Irving Gerstein, the former head of the Conservative fund; James Dodds, the current head of the fund; Mark Mulroney, the son of former prime minister Brian; and Stephen Lecce, Ontario's education minister. Every weekday, some combination of federal officials hold a press conference. Today's gaggle is significant: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will join Health Minister Patty Hajdu, Procurement Minister Anita Anand, Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin, and public health officers Theresa Tam and Howard Njoo. Sounds like news is afoot. This is clickbait: But you will love watching this viral TikTok video that features an extreme skater, an ice ramp and a basketball net. Robin Worling, an Ottawa-based athlete and video editor who has competed on the Red Bull Crashed Ice circuit, was instantly celebrated as a Canadian hero. The accolades missed a key point: Worling competes for the United Kingdom. 222-TIPS needs your help: Because somebody stole Jagmeet Singh's bike. —Nick Taylor-Vaisey | 
