A marijuana smoker has been acquitted of impaired driving after a judge ruled prosecutors failed to prove the user was reckless. The ruling by a Newfoundland & Labrador court is the first since the Commons passed new legislation on drug-impaired driving: “The test for impaired driving by alcohol is well known.”
Retiring Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson says Parliament should have enacted a 2013 Senate bill amending the Conflict Of Interest Act. The private Liberal bill sought to repeal a loophole that allows legislators to conceal large gifts from lobbyists or contractors they consider personal friends: “It’s sort of embarrassing.”
A federal agency counts nearly half a billion dollars’ worth of contaminated lands in the nation’s capital, including abandoned industrial sites and the gardens of one official residence. The National Capital Commission counted 228 toxic sites with unsafe levels of contamination: ‘There is a lot of work to do.’
A federal judge has rejected a claim for unpaid interest and compensation by a government employee whose bonus was processed six months late. The Court heard the paperwork for more than $8,000 in performance pay was misplaced in a filing cabinet: ‘I want a full explanation.’
Transport Canada yesterday enacted new regulations to curb environmental risks from Arctic shipping under threat of $1 million fines. The department in earlier Access To Information documents rated the chance of a major Arctic spill as negligible: “The Canadian government is all talk and no walk.”
Newly-released data confirm Vancouver International remains the slowest major airport in the country. Travelers reported an average wait of more than 13 minutes to check baggage through security: “We do everything we can.”
A federal agency says it will release its first-ever review of bank sales practices by April 1. Consumer advocates said they do not expect hard-hitting results from the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, which is funded by banks: ‘There is a significant lack of horsepower in consumer protection agencies.’
Cabinet yesterday named a new Procurement Ombudsman to a five-year term. The officer assigned to handling contractors’ complaints should more closely monitor work awarded without competitive bidding, said the chair of the Commons ethics committee: “Competition is a great thing for everybody.”
The Canadian Coast Guard is working up “good news” TV coverage to lobby for a bigger budget, according to Access To Information records. Authorities have described the Coast Guard as chronically underfunded: ‘This will inform the public of the benefits of investing in the Coast Guard.’
The Department of Finance in a secret memo says a $50 per tonne carbon tax is only the start of rising fees on fuel. The Access To Information document said higher taxes are planned after 2022. The memo warned of “continued increases in stringency in future years”, but withheld actual figures.
The Governor General’s office is boasting of its rating on a U.S. travel website as proof of popularity. Rideau Hall announced it now ranks 15th out of 255 things to do in Ottawa on TripAdvisor: “Interesting, but not too much.”
Telecom regulators are threatening six small companies with hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines for alleged technical breaches of the Telecommunications Act. The six ignored requests to register with a little-known federal ombudsman mandated to take customer complaints: “I told them I don’t have the money.”
The Department of Canadian Heritage is cutting the budget for Canada Day festivities on Parliament Hill this year, and avoiding any mention of legal cannabis. Cabinet earlier drew criticism for fixing July 1 as the deadline for repealing a 95-year ban on recreational marijuana: “There are 365 days in a year, and it chose Canada Day.”
The Department of Finance is reviewing credit card fee regulations introduced in Australia and the European Union, says a confidential memo. Staff noted some wholesale fees actually increased after cabinet introduced a voluntary Code Of Conduct for the industry: “A number of other jurisdictions have intervened.”
Employment Canada faces a constitutional challenge of its 2018 hire-a-student program criteria. A charity filed a federal lawsuit in Calgary accusing the department of attempting to gag free speech: ‘Compelling you to repeat what the government wants you to say is sinister.’
