MANDATE MISFIRE — We knew it smelled fishy. A federal spokesperson reversing a high-profile federal vaccine mandate late on a Wednesday, a matter of hours after Cabinet ministers refused to back down at a presser, seemed too bizarre even for a government that's no stranger to communications snafus. Everyone reported it. As it turned out, a Canada Border Services Agency comms flack didn't have it right when she told a long list of national reporters that the feds were granting cross-border truckers an exemption from a mandate set to take effect Saturday. But then reporters called industry sources on Thursday morning. No one had heard a peep about the apparent flip flop. Nineteen hours after those first reports, the official word came from three ministers. The mandate remained intact. "Let us be clear: This has not changed. The information shared yesterday was provided in error," said a statement attributed to Health Minister JEAN-YVES DUCLOS, Transport Minister OMAR ALGHABRA and Immigration Minister MARCO MENDICINO. Unvaccinated Canadian truckers will have to follow the direction of border guards on Covid testing and quarantining. Americans who can't prove they're double-vaxxed will be turned away. When Politico heard back from the CBSA, the agency referred questions to the Public Health Agency of Canada. — Exporters are scared: Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters CEO DENNIS DARBY pleaded with the government Tuesday to delay the mandate and help vaccinate truckers. In a letter to Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU, Darby cautioned that a mandate could reduce the available workforce by 20 percent — and exacerbate existing shortages he claimed had risen to 23,000. — What's next: Conservatives like ERIN O'TOOLE and (d'uh) PIERRE POILIEVRE will not let this one go. Welcome to the new front in the Vaccine Wars. MEDITATION ON MOBILITY — The House Ethics Committee agreed Thursday to pull out its microscope for a closer look at the Public Health Agency of Canada's harnessing of anonymized mobility data. This is device-specific location data that is, unbeknownst to most of us carrying cell phones, captured by cell towers and aggregated by third parties. — The issue: PHAC publishes weekly reports on mobility data as part of a broader dashboard on Covid data trends. A disclaimer says the government buys the data from "companies who specialize in producing anonymized and aggregated mobility data based on location-based services that are embedded into various third-party apps on personal devices." The feds say no individual person can be tracked. PHAC's program recently made headlines when the agency published a request for proposals that would extend its mobility analysis program until at least 2023. The RFP went online on Dec. 17, just as Parliament was adjourning for the holidays. The deadline for bids was originally set for Jan. 21, but was extended Wednesday until Feb. 4. — The study: Tory ethics critic JOHN BRASSARD led the charge on the study. He raised legit concerns about PHAC's internal processes, as well as those of the companies contracted to supply the juicy data. Brassard also tossed in a little hyperbole for good measure, worrying that Ottawa was using the pandemic as a "means and a cause for massive overreach into the privacy rights of Canadians." — The motion: Brassard wanted to hear from three key officials: Chief Public Health Officer THERESA TAM, Indigenous Services Minister PATTY HAJDU, and Duclos. The committee agreed to drop Hajdu, the former health minister, from the list. But they passed the motion unanimously. — Wait, there's more: Bloc Québécois MP RENÉ VILLEMURE , an accomplished ethicist before he was first elected last year, tabled a second motion that would move to suspend PHAC's request for proposals. Villemure said the agency's goals were "laudable," but cautioned that he was unconvinced that measures were in place to prevent "de-identified" data from being "re-identified." The committee ran out of time before it could vote on Villemure's motion, which will be the first item on the agenda at the next meeting — likely early next week. — The watchdog's view: Privacy Commissioner DANIEL THERRIEN's office is looking into PHAC's conduct. "We will turn our attention to the means chosen to de-identify the data mobility information relied upon by the government for public health purposes," spokesman VITO PILIECI said in a statement. The commissioner's office published advice in the pandemic's early days on how the feds could use data to fight Covid without endangering privacy. One of the key recommendations: Use de-identified or aggregates data wherever possible. PHAC has had regular meetings with Therrien's office about Covid-related programs, Pilici said, but didn't seek advice on whether or not the mobility data program "provided adequate safeguards against re-identification. "The government relied on other experts to that end, which is their prerogative." — What MPs didn't talk about: Not a single MP expressed interest in hearing from the companies that supply the actual mobility data to the committee. ALEX BOUTILIER, the Global newshound who has led the reporting on this file, pointed out that "the private sector companies that sell this data will continue to collect it with or without PHAC." They would have insight into all kinds of interesting questions. | 
