The foreign ministry solicited more than a quarter-million dollars from corporations to sponsor Canada Day banquets at a trade mission in Mumbai, say Access To Information memos. Staff even sought cash from a subsidiary of SNC-Lavalin Group Inc., though a federal ethics code forbids soliciting donations from companies “charged, convicted or sanctioned for bribery”.
The Department of Canadian Heritage in confidential memos warns that wolves are at the door of the nation’s largest daily newspaper chain, and its competitors are not far behind. The 2016 memos were obtained through Access To Information: “What is happening to Postmedia papers will now happen to the Globe & Mail and the Toronto Star in five years”.
Federal aid for social housing declined nearly eight percent last year, a cut of $17.7 million, according to accounts. The data follow remarks from the Minister responsible for Canada Mortgage & Housing Corp. that even additional funding will fail to meet demand: “Our aim is to hold the government’s feet to the fire”.
The Canada Revenue Agency must pay $25,000 in compensation for mistreating a longtime employee. A federal labour board ruled management was unfair and reckless in its dealing with a tax auditor made to wait days at his desk for instructions and denied permission to attend a Christmas party before he was finally fired in 2015: “The injury to his dignity and self-esteem was tremendous”.
A small-town pizzeria has won a Tax Court judgment against false claims it failed to pay the GST. The Court cited Revenu Québec for high-handed misconduct over a two-year audit that began with a take-out pizza: “This case highlights a serious flaw in our judicial system”.
Canada is being duped on climate change initiatives as polluting Chinese factories dump product here, says a Conservative MP. The remarks came as the Commons trade committee opened hearings on unfair trade practices by Chinese steel mills: “I can’t believe you’re not thinking about this”.
The Commissioner of Official Languages is spending nearly a quarter-million dollars on private investigators to probe bilingualism complaints. The office has 27 investigators on staff: ‘This is to handle 500 complaints?’
The Commons industry committee has rejected hearings on the impact of a $50 carbon tax on manufacturing. An ongoing Senate investigation has already heard testimony that 13% of factory owners surveyed will move investments out of the country if the tax is imposed as planned: “Why would I come to Canada?”
A human rights tribunal will investigate whether workplace drug bans discriminate against licensed marijuana users. The British Columbia case comes as cabinet drafts 2017 legislation legalizing cannabis nationwide: “We are entering a new era”.
A federal tax credit for transit users has not increased ridership despite costing more than $200 million a year, data show. Ridership is driven by unemployment rates, not the 15% tax credit, said the Canadian Urban Transit Association: “In the past year ridership has remained stagnant”.
Taxpayers who challenge city assessments face a risk of paying even more under a Supreme Court ruling, say a minority of justices. The Court in a 5-4 decision upheld a municipal tax agency’s right to raise an assessment 78 percent after the landowner complained: “The majority is what counts”.
Environment Canada will not require cosmetics companies to submit compliance reports over use of a banned additive. Scofflaws using environmentally toxic micro-plastics may receive a warning, officials said: “The onus would be on the importer”.
Conservative senators were pressured into passing two union bills in 2014 and 2015, says a former caucus member. The first-hand account yesterday in the Senate is the first public confirmation of lobbying to push the bills through Parliament: “That was a choice you made”.
Cabinet within months will introduce an airline passenger rights bill promising compensation for flight delays and lost luggage. Parliament twice rejected similar private bills in the past eight years: “The Americans are way ahead on this”.
More than 1 in 10 manufacturers surveyed will move investments out of Canada if cabinet imposes a 2018 carbon tax, a trade group has told the Senate energy committee. Taxes set at $10 per tonne of carbon emissions will rise to $50 per tonne by 2022: “There is nothing holding anyone here”.
