An Alberta inventor is patenting a locking device for bicycle seats after his own bike was cannibalized by thieves in Calgary: “It was a huge pain. I always wanted to invent this.” Estimates of bicycle thefts nationwide range as high as 200,000 annually.

Cabinet is lifting a ban on the sale of automatic firearms to Colombia though activist groups petitioned against the move, and a leading Canadian manufacturer of weaponry says it is at a loss to explain the policy change: “We never asked for a license to sell to Colombia; it’s just not part of our scene.”

Sky-high debt levels that have ballooned over the past three decades “have little to do with economics” or the recent recession and simply reflect new “social behavior,” accountants warn. Federal data show typical Canadians now owe more than they own.

Travel advertisers face maximum fines of $25,000 under new federal regulations on full price disclosure of air fares. “We are among the last countries to get on board,” said one industry association, noting the European Union and United States already enacted full-fare disclosure requirements to benefit travelers.

The Federal Court has ruled smokeless electronic cigarettes remain a licensed drug, citing medical evidence they deliver enough nicotine to alter brain waves and raise the heart rate. One importer unsuccessfully argued that e-cigarettes contained so little nicotine they were exempt from licensing.

China is to be stricken off an obsolete list of preferential tariff traders after running up an export surplus with Canada that is now into its third decade. The move will raise taxes on thousands of Chinese goods shipped to Canada, from cutlery and kitchen appliances to luggage, spices and even caskets.

Non-union contractors are hiring a public relations manager to foster “positive relationships with national media” in anticipation of a Parliament Hill showdown over unprecedented labour legislation. The public relations campaign comes as the Senate prepares for final debate on a bill that would force union organizers to publish their pay, activities, health benefits and other personal data on a federal website under threat of $1,000-a day fines.