A “suspicious” federal agency watching out for money laundering and terror financing will now share data with the Canada Revenue Agency.
Little-noticed amendments to federal law disclosed in the Senate banking provide for greater sharing with the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre: “They’re going to be looking for more and more information so they can justify their existence”.

Public Works Canada should require that contracts for government-issue apparel prohibit bids from sweatshops, says an MP. At least five government departments purchase Bangladeshi-made apparel: “We have to know where these clothes are being made”.

The CBC is developing a “strategic plan” to be unveiled by summer that involves the sale of real estate and schemes to boost internet revenues, says the Crown broadcaster. The network already targeted the sale of 400,000 sq.ft. of realty by 2015: “The challenges that we are facing are severe”.

Atlantic fisheries ecosystems have altered substantially from the 1960s, says Fisheries & Oceans Canada. Authorities are tracking declines in the $350 million cold-water shrimp trade: “We’re looking at a very different environment”.

Parliament must restore the “pretty important” balance between security and civilian oversight of spy agencies, says a Conservative Senator. Security agencies have been found to spy on environmental groups, and even refuse MPs entry to their Ottawa headquarters.

Canada Revenue Agency says it’s received 120 calls to date on a new snitch line to track offshore tax cheats. However authorities acknowledged it will be years before informants ever see their promised rewards: “It will be sort of hit and miss”.

In a surprising outcome 22 Senators have voted against proclaiming a national day for Pope John Paul II as one Catholic legislator expressed dismay over church sex abuse scandals. The Senate voted 47-22 to refer the bill to full committee hearings with nine lawmakers including Conservatives abstaining: “Was he immune to the charges? Did he ignore them? Was there a cover-up?”

“Consultation” on new Canadian Food Inspection Agency fees consisted mainly of sending out 12,000 emails and drawing five replies, says the agency. Authorities acknowledged consultations did not involve physically meeting or speaking with anyone: “We did feel very successful”.

Mandatory rail safety data remains too secretive and inaccessible to employees and the public, says one of the nation’s largest railway unions. Teamsters Canada said Safety Management Systems required of 35 federally-regulated railways should be public information: “MPs, the public, even we can’t see them”.

A 205% increase in U.S. commercial border fees will drive many small Canadian trucking lines out of business or block them from shipping to American destinations, says an industry group. Some 29,000 trucks cross the border daily: “The proposed increases are ludicrous”.

An unhappy taxpayer who took Canada Revenue and other officials to court again and again and again has lost a bid for one last appeal to the Supreme Court. Justices declined to hear the case after a chief clerk described the tax-filer as a “vexatious” litigant: “Most people do get the message”.

The latest rail reform bill should “put more teeth” into service requirements for shippers, says Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. However critics replied the legislation deserved a “whole mouthful of teeth” to improve rail performance: “This should have been done a year ago”.

Fish farmers face a “long process” in enacting a federal aquaculture law that complies with the Constitution, says a Conservative senator. Aquaculture companies have appealed for an Act of Parliament that would standardize industry rules: “It is different in every province”.

A federal consumer protection agency that draws most of its budget from banks is more carrot than stick, says an MP. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada yesterday reported it is so flush with industry funding it didn’t spend half the grant it received from Parliament: “I think it should be illegal”.

Nearly two-thirds of Canadians surveyed oppose privatization of the post office, according to a poll commissioned by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. Suggestions cabinet would sell the Crown mail monopoly follow a Canada Post plan to charge customers 35% more for less service: “They are preparing the ground”.