A federal agency paid Bay Street rates to conduct phone interviews with bankers. The survey of a few executives cost the equivalent of more than $1,500 an hour. The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions issued the contract to research firm headed by a former Liberal campaign chair: ‘Satisfaction is widespread’.

Federal police and tax collectors have no immunity from a lawsuit by a First Nations tobacco distributor, a judge has ruled. The Federal Court said an Indigenous-owned Québec company is entitled to take the RCMP and Canada Revenue Agency to trial over the seizure of untaxed cigarettes: “The appeal should be allowed”.

A federal consumer commissioner has gone more than a year without issuing a single decision on lenders’ compliance with the Bank Act. An advocate said the lapse points to unfocused mandate and diminished responsibility: “We don’t even know what they’re doing”.

Canada’s monopoly on polar bear exports is costing taxpayers nearly $6,000 for every skin sold abroad, according to Access To Information records. Cabinet will oppose renewed U.S. attempts this fall to ban the trade: ‘Polar bear monitoring is costly’.

Prosecutions for piracy accounted for less than a tenth of one percent of federal cases last year, says the Public Prosecution Service. The agency opened 34 piracy cases under the Copyright Act, compared to just four cases the year before: “Incarceration is extremely unlikely”.

Mexican cocaine smugglers can see a 300 percent margin or more on narcotics smuggled into Canada, says a Border Services Agency report. The data obtained through Access To Information detailed a wide fluctuation in cocaine prices in cities nationwide: ‘It represents a premium’.

Canadian harbours are home to at least 550 derelict boats and “the actual number is expected to be higher”, says a cabinet report. MPs have proposed legislation to federalize all abandoned boats. The Coast Guard has ordered removal a British Columbia wreck that inspired the national clean-up bill: “There are no cost estimates”.

Canadians are deeply divided over Syrian refugees, according to in-house polling by the Department of Immigration. Cabinet has committed to adjusting immigration policies by “engaging with Canadians”: “How concerned are you about possible terrorist attacks?”

Parliament’s Budget Officer is proposing reforms that would make the office independent and answerable only to MPs. The watchdog has repeatedly complained of inadequate funding and federal stonewalling on the release of records: “It’s significant”.

Parks Canada is prepared to commission hundreds of statues of its little-known mascot Parka The Beaver in a bid to boost receipts. The agency in 26 pages of contractors’ specifications carefully explained the statues must be weatherproof and childproof: ‘The tail must be positioned in a way that makes it impossible for visitors to jump on it’.

Most Canadians couldn’t buy an electric car even if they wanted one, says a federal report. The Access To Information disclosure follows cabinet’s funding of $62.5 million for new electric recharging stations: ‘It can only be characterized as difficult’.

Taxpayers have offered Canada Revenue Agency employees wine, gift cards and jewelry, all returned under a cabinet directive against payola. Employees must decline gifts in the name of integrity, the Agency says: “Sometimes it is difficult”.

The Library of Parliament in two years has spent more than $100,000 on social media ads, though the public is not allowed to take out a book. The Library said it wanted to “build awareness” of services that are closed to the public: “Why?”

Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson faces a federal lawsuit on allegations she breached the Conflict Of Interest Act. The challenge by the advocacy group Democracy Watch asks that the Court of Appeal quash a Commissioner’s ruling as unlawful: “It’s a charade”.