News
Foreign interference: Johnston recommends public hearings
|
|
OTTAWA –
A public process is required on the issue of foreign interference, special rapporteur David Johnston says, but not in the form of a public inquiry.
Instead, Johnston announced Tuesday that he plans to hold “a series of public hearings with Canadians” to shine more light on the “problem of foreign interference” and inform the public and policymakers on the threat it poses, and ways to address it with urgency.
After months of political scrutiny from an opposition united in their calls for an independent and open airing of the facts, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has come out in full support of Johnston’s decision to sidestep an inquiry, continuing to assert his government has, and will continue to handle the issue with the seriousness it deserves.
“Foreign governments are undoubtedly attempting to influence candidates and voters in Canada,” Johnston writes in his first report in the role of special rapporteur. “Much has been done already, but considerably more remains to be done to strengthen our capacity to resist foreign interference.”
Rather than advising the federal government to strike a public inquiry and appoint someone else to lead it, the former governor general intends to do the work himself in the five remaining months of his mandate.
During these hearings Johnston says he plans to speak to and hear from Canadians — particularly those in diaspora communities — as well as current and former government officials, knowledgeable experts, and “other interested parties” about foreign interference and ways to improve Canada’s response to it.
“This will be a public process, but not a public inquiry, as I do not need the subpoena powers provided by the Inquiries Act to gather this information and encourage public attention on these matters,” Johnston wrote in his report.
Speaking to reporters following the report’s release, Johnston acknowledged his conclusion would be met with skepticism by some, but said the challenge is that what allowed him to determine whether there has been interference “cannot be disclosed publicly,” Johnston said. “A public review of classified intelligence simply cannot be done.”
Johnston said his conclusion that a public inquiry is unnecessary was informed by speaking to dozens of high-level federal officials both in PMO and the public service, cabinet ministers and MPs, as well as examining first-hand thousands of pages of classified and unclassified documents. Trudeau sat down to speak to Johnston as part of this work, on May 9 after much of his information had been collected — timing Johnston said was “intentional.”
And while there appears to be a “lack of accountability” around who receives certain pieces of intelligence that needs addressing, despite what Johnston characterized as “too much posturing, and ignoring facts in favour of slogans,” he said he couldn’t identify any instances of the prime minister negligently failing to take the issue seriously.
As a result, he said a public inquiry at this stage would “not advance the goals of transparency or trust any further than I have taken them, and raise expectations that will ultimately be disappointed.”
Johnston’s intention with the hearings is not to focus on “who knew what and what did they do about it” because he feels these questions are covered in this initial public report, as well as a confidential annex provided to the prime minister, cabinet, and security-cleared opposition party officials.
Johnston was tapped in March by Trudeau to examine whether a public inquiry or other “mechanisms or transparent processes” such as a judicial review were necessary.
This move stemmed from heightened public concerns over alleged election meddling by China during the last two federal campaigns, prompted by reporting largely based on intelligence leaks.
Noting the mixed views among Canadians and experts around a public inquiry, Trudeau had vowed that the Liberals would “abide by” Johnston’s guidance around whether an inquiry was needed, and respond to any other recommendations.
Responding to the report on Parliament Hill Tuesday, Trudeau said he welcomed Johnston’s hearing plans, and confirmed he won’t be launching a public inquiry as he has “total confidence” in Johnston continuing.
Trudeau said he’s reached out to the opposition party leaders offering them security clearances to review the relevant intelligence on which Johnston has based his findings.
“I think everyone can agree with the? former governor general’s assessment that all leaders must work from a common understanding of true facts,” Trudeau said.
“Every one of us has a responsibility to stand up for our democracy, and undermining it for political gain is wrong and damaging. Rigorous debate is a pillar of democracy, absolutely. So is interrogating our institutions, and holding all elements of government to account,” said the prime minister. “But democracy is not a game. There are lines we must not cross. We must never play into the hands of those overseas, or at home, who want us to lose faith in our democratic institutions.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino (centre) and Minister of Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair arrive to hold a press conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, May 23, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
WHAT CONCLUSIONS DID JOHNSTON REACH?
In addition to the question of an inquiry, Johnston’s 55-page interim report dives into the issue of foreign interference more broadly, examines what was alleged and the voracity of related reporting in nine specific cases, what he learned from speaking to those involved, and steps taken to counter and communicate about foreign interference.
In Tuesday’s report, Johnston includes four additional initial conclusions:
- More needs to be done to counter the unquestioned attempts by foreign governments to interfere in Canadian affairs;
- When viewed in full context with all relevant intelligence “several leaked materials that raised legitimate questions turn out to have been misconstrued in some media reports”;
- There are “serious shortcomings in the way intelligence is communicated and processed from security agencies through to government,” but no examples of ministers or the prime minister “knowingly or negligently failing to act” have been identified; and
- His findings should be referred to and reviewed by the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) and the National Security and Intelligence Review Committee (NSIRA), and both oversight bodies should report publicly if they disagree.
“What I’ve tried to emphasize in the area of intelligence, one is dealing with different pieces of information. We used the analogy of painting a picture. It’s a number of different brushstrokes, you must have most or all of them together before you have picture,” Johnston said. “Those leaks were based on partial information and in our investigation… based on open information and more particularly, classified information, we came to the conclusion that there was not negligence on the part of any of the ministers or the prime minister, nor malfeasance in the sense of attempting to twist this for partisan advantage.”
“What there was, is a system that is not functioning effectively and how we manage that intelligence, how it crystallizes into something… and then into some recommendation for action. Our system was not producing that in the way it should… We have much to do to be much more effective, much more professional, much more harmonized. And that’s where we hope to spend a good deal of time—including [during the] public hearings—in the second part of our mandate,” Johnston continued during his Tuesday press conference.
Responding to Johnston’s report, the Chinese embassy in Ottawa restated that the allegations of Beijing-backed interference “are purely groundless” claiming that it has been proven “time and again that none of these accusations are based on facts.”
WHY NOT A PUBLIC INQUIRY?
Johnston revealed Tuesday that when Trudeau appointed him, his “preliminary view” was that he was “very likely” to recommend a public inquiry.
After considering whether a public inquiry would enhance public trust in Canada’ electoral process, Johnston said the sensitive material and information that would “lie at the heart” of whether the federal government did enough to confront the claims of interference, cannot be aired publicly.
While noting the value public inquiries can and have had — pointing to the most recent Public Order Emergency Commission focused on the “Freedom Convoy” — Johnston said, in this case, it would not be able to provide the benefits of a full airing of the facts as others have.
“Instead, I would be handing off a problem to someone else, without solving it, or even providing a process by which the problem could be solved. This would prolong, but not enhance, the process,” Johnston said.
Over the last six months, a series of senior federal security officials have testified publicly before parliamentary committees that while attempts were made to meddle, the integrity of Canada’s elections were upheld, while expressing the limitations of what they’d be able to say in an open forum.
Reporters look over David Johnston’s first report as Independent Special Rapporteur on Foreign Interference during a lock-up in Ottawa on May 23, 2023. (Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS)
Johnston said that as a result of these well-founded and required national security constraints and secrecy oaths, any “credible” inquiry would not be able to be public at all, calling what the leakers have done “wrong” and “damaging” to the confidence Canadians are supposed to have in those entrusted with this information.
Asked a few ways by different reporters whether his public hearings will be just as constrained in substantive outcomes as an inquiry, and if he’s essentially asking Canadians to take his word for what he’s found while looking behind closed doors or at secret documents, Johnston pointed to the ongoing work of the parliamentary probes and other intelligence bodies examining the issue.
“This is a problem in that one can’t divulge everything that Canadians would like to know,” Johnston said.
OPPOSITION STILL WANT INQUIRY
Deciding against recommending a public inquiry, and further, deciding to take on the public hearings himself — given the heightened politicization surrounding his appointment — was quickly met with considerable ire from the opposition parties who have ardently been pushing for an independent airing of the facts.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre panned Johnston’s findings, and said he doesn’t trust Johnston to conduct the public hearings.
“He has no business in this job because it is a fake job that he is incapable of doing impartially. None of his recommendations can be taken seriously because he’s in a conflict of interest,” Poilievre said, adding Conservatives will continue to push for a public inquiry, and a foreign influence registry.
Johnston did not meet with Poilievre over the course of his probe, but Johnston did meet with former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole — who led the party during the 2021 general election.
O’Toole wrote Tuesday morning that his meeting with Johnston last week left him with the impression that the interaction was “nothing more than a box checking exercise.”
But, Johnston said Tuesday he reached out to O’Toole for a meeting after several failed attempts to sit down with Poilievre, and that the former Conservatives leader’s contributions were considered “with care.”
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Johnston’s decision to not call for a public inquiry was “incredibly disappointing,” and said he will continue to push for one.
“We thank Mr. Johnston for his investigation but there are still unanswered questions that could be responsibly addressed by a public inquiry,” Singh said. “While public meetings can be useful, the powers of a public inquiry are more rigorous… We firmly believe Canadians would benefit from a fulsome, public investigation that maintains the integrity of our intelligence that must be kept confidential.”
Bloc Québécois MP and democratic institutions spokesperson Alain Therrien told reporters Tuesday it’s a “big day for the Chinese government, and a big day for Justin Trudeau, a sad day for Quebec and Canadian democracy.”
Therrien questioned Johnston for largely laying the blame at the feet of the media and CSIS for allegations of foreign interference, while absolving the Liberal government. He said his party is still calling for a public inquiry, and that Johnston’s claims it would be too difficult to hold such an inquiry without divulging classified information are “false.”
Johnston’s appointment has been controversial from the outset, with opposition parties questioning the former debates commissioner’s impartiality and potential conflict of interest given his long-standing close connection to the Trudeau family and his past membership status with the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation that’s faced scrutiny over a China-linked donation.
Addressing these concerns head-on on Tuesday, Johnston sought to clarify the “basic facts” about their relationship and the extent they’ve been in contact since Trudeau took office, as well as his involvement with the Trudeau Foundation.
Johnston said Tuesday that he’s been appointed to dozens of public leadership positions on boards and such over the years, by politicians across the political spectrum, noting that the current fervour around his role if it continues, may have a chilling effect on other publicly-minded individuals from stepping into similar positions in the future.
“I’ve been fortunate in my public life to have served as chair of, or a member of an advisory committee, or task forces, on probably two to three dozen different occasions over the years… and in none of those previous occasions has my impartiality or integrity ever been questioned. This is the first time it has happened. And let me simply say that’s very troubling for me, because this kind of baseless set of accusations diminishes trust in our public institutions,” Johnston said.
David Johnston, Independent Special Rapporteur on Foreign Interference, middle leaves after presenting his first report in Ottawa on Tuesday, May 23, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
WHAT’S NEXT FOR JOHNSTON’S WORK?
Tuesday’s report from Johnston was not meant to be the end of his work on the file. He was already mandated to spend the months ahead continuing to take a more all-encompassing look at the issue of foreign interference and the integrity of Canada’s democracy and report on his further findings.
Johnston said he hopes to begin the hearings “at the earliest possible date” and plans to issue a second report based on what he hears, while taking on “a number of critical issues” up until Oct. 31, 2023.
In addition to the hearings, Johnston said he wants to look into the challenges of using classified intelligence in law enforcement, and how it might be addressed. He will also review the role and structure NSICOP, the way intelligence is funneled to top officials, and will suggest amendments to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act “that might assist in fighting foreign interference.
“I will also review the merits of a government-led process for declassification of information to enhance transparency and look at the case for a national security committee of cabinet,” Johnston added during his press conference. “And I will examine the issue of how the government deals with threats against elected officials. Canadians need to understand the threat this issue presents and the mechanisms needed to address it.”
With files from CTV News’ Spencer Van Dyk
News
Just bought a used car? There’s a chance it’s stolen, as thieves exploit weakness in vehicle registrations
|
|
The fight against Canada’s worst-ever auto theft epidemic has largely focused on ramping up inspections at shipping ports, where organized crime groups have exported the overwhelming majority of stolen vehicles.
But criminals are adapting, police say, by increasingly selling hot vehicles in Canada to unsuspecting buyers with little protection, exploiting a weakness in provincial registration systems that veteran investigators argue needs to be fixed.
“The market is so lucrative it’s easy cash,” said Det. Sgt. Greg O’Connor of Peel Regional Police, west of Toronto.
While it is impossible to know what criminals do with all stolen cars and difficult to track shifting trends, police now estimate nearly one-third of stolen vehicles are being resold in Canada, marking a significant increase from just six months ago when the vast majority of vehicles were believed to have been exported.
And often, buyers have no idea.
Derek Crocker bought a used Ford F-150 pickup truck from a dealership in Toronto in 2022. Just a few months later, his own investigation revealed the truck’s vehicle identification number — or VIN — had been replaced, mirroring the VIN of a similar truck registered in Utah.
“The whole reason you buy it from a dealership is so you don’t have to worry about dealing with that sort of thing,” he said.
In retrospect, there were small tells.
After Crocker entered what should have been the truck’s unique VIN in Ford’s app, the function to remotely start the vehicle never worked. The app also listed the vehicle as being located in the United States and indicated a different amount of fuel than his own vehicle tank was holding.
But it wasn’t until his F-150 was in an accident and required body work that the problem with the VIN was revealed. The repair shop ordered parts based on the VIN it saw on the dash. But the parts did not match.
“So I Googled the VIN number that was on my truck, and I found a truck for sale in Utah,” said Crocker.
It turns out that was the true VIN, which thieves had cloned, placing fake VIN stickers with the Utah truck’s VIN on top of the true number for the truck Crocker bought.
VINs are most prominently displayed on a vehicle’s dashboard, as well as on the ownership title. When a vehicle is stolen, the VIN is flagged across North America to prevent it being sold.
But criminals are replacing the VIN plate, often with one from a comparable vehicle that has been totalled, legally exported or one registered in another province or U.S. state. They may go through junkyards, export records or simply walk through a mall parking lot to find a VIN to clone.
In doing so, they re-VIN or “wash” the vehicle of its stolen status.
Crocker called police, who seized the vehicle and returned it to the insurance company of the original owner.
Crocker’s own insurance would not cover his loss because he’d — albeit unknowingly — purchased a stolen vehicle. After a long discussion with the dealership that sold him the stolen truck, his money was returned.
“They did nothing extra,” Crocker said. “They didn’t help me at all.”
How could 2 cars with the same VIN be registered?
Provincial centres that administer vehicle registration, such as ServiceOntario, do not have a system that checks if VINs already exist in other jurisdictions.
“You can have a vehicle registered in one province and the same VIN on a different vehicle registered in another and we need to stop that,” David Adams, president and CEO of Global Automakers of Canada, told a recent auto theft summit in the Greater Toronto Area.
Neither Canada nor the United States has a national vehicle registry. Multiple police agencies are urging federal and provincial governments to create one.
“The reality is this is a national issue. And that’s why a national registry that moves itself beyond any sort of provincial jurisdiction is important in all capacities,” Nick Milinovich, deputy chief of Peel Regional Police, said in an interview.
CBC News asked Ontario’s Ministry of the Solicitor General why the province’s database can’t detect whether the same VIN is actively being used in another province or state.
“If changes to the provincial registration process are required, we won’t hesitate to make them,” it responded in a statement.
How to spot a potentially stolen car for sale
While it is impossible to know precisely how many fraudulently registered stolen vehicles are back on the road, recoveries have surged.
“The number of re-VINS is just blowing through the roof right now,” said O’Connor. “It’s costing drivers, banks, insurance companies big money. It’s a massive problem.”
It is impossible to know the full extent of the illegal economy and the proportion of vehicle exported versus those kept in the country. But police forces across southern Ontario have reported a surge in recoveries of vehicles that have had their VINs altered.
Car buyers are being advised to look at the VIN on the dashboard and the pillar between the front and back driver’s side doors to see if the numbering is bubbling, a sign there may be a sticker on top of the real VIN.
Running the VIN through a paid service like Carfax could also yield key warning signs. For example: a vehicle that records show has been declared salvage after a crash later reappearing undamaged. Or a VIN with a sales and registration history almost exclusively in one province or state suddenly being for sale in another.
If an insurance company discovers a vehicle has a fraudulent VIN, the policy is voided. When police seized Crocker’s truck, insurance would not pay to replace it. He was only able to recover his money when the dealership that sold the stolen truck paid him out.
But police and insurance investigators have begun to warn of a proliferation of re-VINed vehicles being sold exclusively through social media platforms like Instagram.
“If you’re paying cash for that vehicle [in a private sale] or you do a bank transfer,” said O’Connor, “there’s no recourse.”
WATCH | A stolen car is found in Ghana:
CBC’s David Common informs Len Green that his stolen car has been found in Ghana, 8,500 kilometres from Toronto, where it first went missing a year ago.
Registry employees alleged to be in on the crime
Police also allege organized crime has recruited employees at ServiceOntario, the registration centres operated on behalf of the province that offer an array of services, including issuing licences and managing the database of registered vehicles.
At the end of 2023, Toronto police charged seven ServiceOntario employees with a collective 73 charges, including fraud over $5,000, tampering with a vehicle identification number, breach of trust by a public officer and trafficking in identity information.
They allegedly provided an auto theft ring with registered addresses for specific vehicle models. Once stolen, the same employees assisted the ring in “re-VINing” the vehicles.
Fraudulent VINs may never be detected, although Peel police alone have seized more than 50 such vehicles in 2024 alone.
At other times, employees at ServiceOntario have flagged suspicious activity, such as when the same person shows up dozens of times to register different vehicles. That was allegedly the case with Milton Hylton, who was charged with 168 counts of various Criminal Code offences in March.
He was released on bail, pending trial. No charges are yet proven.
WATCH | An alleged repeat re-VINer is arrested:
CBC News takes you inside a police surveillance operation, witnessing an auto theft takedown connected to a growing aspect of the billion-dollar crime. Criminal rings are increasingly selling stolen cars in Canada to car buyers who often have no idea.
According to the warrant used to search his home and requested by Peel Regional Police Const. Gurinder Athwal, the 24-year-old travelled to “multiple ServiceOntario locations throughout the province and fraudulently registered vehicles.” Police say more than 100 vehicles were involved, and describe stolen Dodge Rams, Dodge Durangos and BMWs among them.
CBC News was present at the moment of Hylton’s arrest in Mississauga as multiple undercover police vehicles conducting surveillance moved in.
As investigators searched and then towed his silver Mazda, they say they found documents to register even more vehicles inside.
Hylton had just a few weeks earlier been banned from entering ServiceOntario locations without an appointment, because of suspicions. He was in the company of a woman he identified as his girlfriend. His sister was also arrested days later and now faces 36 charges of uttering forged documents and trafficking of stolen goods.
3rd-party registration being exploited
In a news release, Peel police describe Hylton as using “loopholes in the ServiceOntario procedures that allow ‘authorized’ individuals to conduct third-party transactions.”
While third-party registration is intended for car dealers, provisions for it mean nearly any individual can transfer registration of a vehicle or register a vehicle in another person’s name.
This process is typical in other Canadian provinces, too.
“It’s a huge problem,” said O’Connor. “And that’s how a lot of these vehicles are getting through.”
For instance, the warrant in the Hylton case alleges he transferred vehicle ownerships to both a speciality tool shop in Etobicoke and an automotive exporter in St. Catharines. Neither business authorized the transfers, and both insist Hylton is neither an employee nor known to them.
Were the vehicles in question stolen, the new registration would have detached them from their previous owners. Anyone buying the vehicles would be none the wiser and would have no insurance or other protection if the vehicle’s stolen status was ever uncovered.
Peel police say Hylton sold dozens of vehicles over a year through social media under the Instagram handle “Royalty in the Building.”
That name is associated with Facebook and Instagram accounts where apparent car buyers offer testimonials.
“I called up Milton. I told him I got my money up, I need plates, I need a car. And he got it just like that,” a person said in a testimonial while standing in front of a Honda Civic.
“Got my new SUV, fully loaded. Tints, light, rims, inside’s clean. Everything’s legit,” another person said in a testimonial.
“You give him your cash. You’re on the road. You ain’t got to go to ServiceOntario. You don’t got to do no running around,” said another.
WATCH | Inside a weeks-long auto theft investigation:
CBC’s David Common gets exclusive access inside an auto theft surveillance operation, targeting a suspect who allegedly re-vinned more than 100 stolen vehicles to be resold, sometimes to unsuspecting buyers in Canada.
CBC News spoke with several police and insurance officials from across the Greater Toronto Area about third-party registrations.
Each insisted the loophole needed to be closed to prevent illegal transfers. But none wanted to speak on the record, citing the provincial Ministry of Transportation as a good partner they did not want to publicly besmirch.
Meanwhile, the auto theft problem continues to grow.
In 2022, an unprecedented $1.2 billion worth of vehicles were stolen across the entire country. By 2023, more than $1 billion was lost in just Ontario alone, according to the Équité Association, the national organization charged with reducing insurance fraud.
“It’s one of the top three revenue generators for organized crime,” said Milinovich. “It’s high reward, low risk, and an easy crime.”
|
|
OTTAWA –
A new poll suggests the Liberals have not won over voters with their latest budget, though there is broad support for their plan to build millions of homes.
Just shy of half the respondents to Leger’s latest survey said they had a negative opinion of the federal budget, which was presented last Tuesday.
Only 21 per cent said they had a positive opinion, and one-third of respondents said they didn’t know or preferred not to answer.
Still, 65 per cent of those surveyed said the plan to spend $8.5 billion on housing, aimed at building 3.9 million homes by 2031, is good for the country.
Leger’s poll of 1,522 Canadians last weekend can’t be assigned a margin of error because online surveys are not considered truly random samples.
People in Alberta were most likely to say they had a very negative impression of the budget, with 42 per cent selecting that option compared to 25 per cent across the entire country.
More than half of the people who took the poll said they are in favour of the government’s plans to spend more on energy efficiency, national defence and student-loan forgiveness for health care and education workers.
And 56 per cent said they think the increase to the capital gains tax inclusion rate — a move that’s estimated to raise another $19.4 billion in revenue over the next four years — is a good thing.
The Liberals are billing the change as critical to their plan to improve generational fairness by taxing the ultra-rich.
It has drawn criticism, including from the Canadian Medical Association, which warned on Tuesday that it could affect the country’s ability to recruit and keep physicians.
The budget proposes to make two-thirds of capital gains — the profit made on the sale of assets — taxable, rather than half. For individuals, this would apply to profits above $250,000, but there is no lower threshold for corporations.
The medical association said many doctors will face higher taxes because they have incorporated their practices and used those companies to save for retirement.
While the Liberals are aiming changes to the capital gains tax at younger Canadians including millennials and gen-Zers, Leger’s poll found it had the support of 60 per cent of respondents over the age of 55 — the highest among any age group.
People between 18 and 35 were least likely to support the Liberal plan to spend another $73 billion on defence in the next two decades. Just 45 per cent of respondents in that age group said ramping up defence spending is good for the country, compared with 70 per cent of people over the age of 55.
Leger also asked questions about the country’s fiscal future.
Almost half the respondents, 47 per cent, said they want to see the government cut back on spending and programs to get the budget balanced as quickly as possible.
Just 16 per cent said spending more and running large deficits is the best plan for the next five years, and 14 per cent want to see the government increase taxes to bring the deficit down.
|
|
Alberta’s health ministry says an audit has determined that more than 40 medical clinics in the province are advertising membership fees for services, nearly a year after one such plan landed a Calgary clinic in hot water.
The audit was launched last December. In July, CBC News reported that a medical clinic in Calgary’s Marda Loop district was moving to a membership system and planned to charge $4,800 a year for a two-parent family membership, covering two adults and their dependent children.
The next day, Health Canada said the arrangement at the Marda Loop Medical Clinic equated to patients purchasing “preferential access” and warned Alberta that it could face cuts to federal health transfers if the situation wasn’t handled.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange directed Alberta Health to investigate, and the clinic halted its plan for membership fees shortly after.
In December, LaGrange told CBC News that “appropriate action” would be taken if audits determined that violations were found, adding the province would do whatever it took to ensure clinics were in compliance.
The province promised the audits early in the new year. Now, the health ministry says it has conducted interviews to gather information on operations and business models of the clinics, adding this work is ongoing.
“Over 40 clinics in the province [advertise] a membership meant to pay for a defined set of uninsured services, while also providing insured services covered under the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan at no cost to Albertans,” wrote spokesperson Andrea Smith in a statement.
“Once this review is completed, its findings will be used to inform next steps. Alberta’s government will also determine if additional audits of more membership clinics is required.”
In July, Health Canada said executive and primary health clinics charging patients enrolment and annual membership fees exist in a number of provinces. Generally, investigations have indicated that clinics provide members with an variety of uninsured services, such as life coaching and nutritional services.
“However, in some cases … these fees are also a prerequisite to accessing insured services at the clinic (i.e., medically necessary physician services). Mandatory fees to access or receive preferential access to insured services are contrary to the Canada Health Act,” the government department wrote in a statement.
A spokesperson for LaGrange told CBC News in July the ministry wasn’t aware of any other clinics offering services for membership fees that didn’t align with legislation.
What comes next for those 40 clinics is a murky grey area, said Fiona Clement, a professor at the University of Calgary in the department of community health sciences. Much of it has to do with the exact language being used when services are outlined as parts of packages.
“We’re on the razor’s edge of exact wording there that runs them afoul. Really, I think it will come down to what the government is willing to fight with these clinics about,” she said.
CBC News asked the provincial government for a list of the clinics identified, but did not receive it by publication time. A spokesperson with the province said if any clinics are found to be non-compliant with legislation, appropriate action would be taken.
Report had identified 14 clinics
Clement said the big issue that got the Marda Loop Medical Clinic in hot water was the concept of guaranteed access.
“That’s the problem that Marda Loop got into, because there you are charging access to medical care, which is the part that contravenes the Canada Health Act,” Clement said.
At the time the Marda Loop clinic fell under scrutiny, it was clear there were other such clinics providing membership programs, in Calgary and Canada.
In 2022, researchers from Dalhousie University and Simon Fraser University released a paper tracking the number of clinics taking private payment across the country. Between November 2019 and June 2020, the period of the analysis, there were 14 private clinics in Alberta with a range of membership fees and private payment.
“So, 40 is a larger number than I was expecting. And I think it speaks to growth in this area, the number of clinics that are charging fees for different parts of care,” Clement said.
“I think it underscores the lack of stability, and the need to really think about how we’re funding primary care, because more and more clinics are turning to this private charge as a revenue source to keep the doors open.”
Provinces that allow private health-care providers to charge patients for medically necessary services have dollars clawed back by the federal government under the Canada Health Act.
According to Health Canada, Alberta was subject to a $20,450,175 deduction to its Canada Health Transfer payment in March 2024 under the diagnostic services policy. That’s up from $13,781,152 last year.
But the province received $20,538,796 in partial reimbursements tied to its March 2023 and 2024 deductions, which represents actions that Alberta Health has taken to limit patient pay for publicly funded goods or services, according to Clement.
“I guess we’re making some progress. But it’s still a big number, which says there’s still a lot of patient billing going on,” she said.
Germans Debate Longer Hours and Later Retirement as Economic Growth Falters – Bloomberg
Meet Shannon Waters, The Narwhal’s B.C. politics and environment reporter – The Narwhal
Deutsche Bank's Investment Bankers Step Up as Rate Boost Fades – Yahoo Canada Finance
Silver investment demand jumped 12% in 2019
12 Bizarre Things People Did Just To Make Social Media Content
Global Media Markets, 2015-2020, 2020-2025F, 2030F – TV and Radio Broadcasting, Film and Music, Information Services, Web Content, Search Portals And Social Media, Print Media, & Cable – GlobeNewswire
-
Art22 hours ago
The unmissable events taking place during London’s Digital Art Week
-
News24 hours ago
What is a halal mortgage? How interest-free home financing works in Canada
-
Politics17 hours agoOpinion: Fear the politicization of pensions, no matter the politician
-
Economy22 hours ago
German Business Outlook Hits One-Year High as Economy Heals
-
Media15 hours ago
B.C. puts online harms bill on hold after agreement with social media companies
-
Politics16 hours ago
Pecker’s Trump Trial Testimony Is a Lesson in Power Politics
-
Business15 hours ago
Oil Firms Doubtful Trans Mountain Pipeline Will Start Full Service by May 1st
-
Science16 hours ago
NASA Celebrates As 1977’s Voyager 1 Phones Home At Last
