Provisions buried in a 375-page omnibus budget bill may undermine Parliamentary control of user-fees and create a conflict of interest for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, claims an industry group: “The agency will be looking for ways to impose fines”.
A federal judge has upheld Transport Canada’s right to strip an airport employee of security clearance on rumours of criminality. The judgment came in the case of an Edmonton woman accused but never charged with drug crimes: “That is not the issue”.
A Conservative MP is claiming a partial win in a clean-up campaign on tax amendments. An omnibus budget bill takes a step to corralling orphan tax amendments introduced and then forgotten in Parliament: ‘It is just indefensible’.
Dramatic plans for a national monument to Cold War victims of communism include an 800-seat amphitheatre in downtown Ottawa, complete with a 9/11-style beacon. However federal documents suggest the monument itself may already be over-budget: “There will be a beam of light coming up from the ground”.
A bill to place federal tribunals under cabinet supervision is a “cost-savings measure” and not a scheme to extend cabinet control, says the Attorney General. However Peter MacKay evaded reporters’ questions for a second day and left the Commons by a back corridor: “Why?”
A Supreme Court ruling likely dooms a Commons bill that would disqualify unilingual lawyers from appointment, analysts say. Legal scholars said the Nadon ruling makes it clear MPs cannot arbitrarily change the rules for Supreme Court nominees: “How can you have a federal institution that is not bilingual?”
Whistleblowers who face reprisals for exposing government wrongdoing deserve greater protection, says the sponsor of a reform bill. MP Mathieu Ravignat cited the case of an employee fired for disclosing payment of bonuses to Employment Insurance managers who achieved quotas on benefit cuts: ‘The law is not sufficient’.
Railways facing new regulations say private grain brokers must take their share of blame for delays in deliveries. The finger-pointing came as Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz accused industry across the transport sector of holding growers hostage, he said: “Come with your cheque books”.
Maritime fisheries are plotting new marketing schemes amid dramatic declines in exports to Europe, the world’s largest buyer of fish and seafood. Newly-released figures show sales to the E.U. are down in every province but New Brunswick: “We are all negligent”.
There is no evidence federal radiofrequency limits endanger public health, concludes a Royal Society of Canada panel. The finding commissioned by Health Canada followed public complaints of illness caused by wireless: “It doesn’t surprise me”.
The Bank of Canada is trying to recover a fortune in funds held in trust that it mistakenly paid out to an unnamed charity. The central bank declined to say if any employees had been fired. Authorities refused an interview but provided details to Blacklock’s on condition that all questions and answers be exchanged in writing: “We can’t address this publicly”.
Cabinet won’t say how much it proposes to charge employers who abuse the Temporary Foreign Worker program. The Department of Employment would not disclose details of penalties proposed in an omnibus budget bill: “It is going to have to serve as a deterrent”.
Transport Canada is accused of a “sneaky” bid to conceal new rail regulations from municipalities and the public. Caucus members said they were never told of the repeal of a federal law requiring 90 days’ advance public notice of key regulatory changes: “It’s sneaky”.
The Supreme Court in a 7-0 decision has ruled federal employees are subject to provincial law in workers’ compensation claims. The judgment came in the case of a national park warden who argued he was unfairly denied benefits under narrow terms of Alberta law: ‘Benefits will vary from province to province’.
Canadians today begin paying among the highest postal rates in the world with the price of a domestic letter stamp now double what it cost in 1994. The $200 million rate increase will sharply impact independent businesses and charities, critics said: ‘We are not an unlimited pot of money’.
