A federal judge has ruled the Canada Border Services Agency unfairly revoked a traveler’s Nexus card for a trivial breach of the Customs Act. The plaintiff accused Customs officers of racial profiling: “We are treated like some kind of culprits.”
The military is launching a cannabis prevention campaign in anticipation of legalized marijuana. One-fifth of soldiers, sailors and air crew are cannabis users, a rate the Department of National Defence fears will increase if Parliament passes a marijuana bill: “It’s not a good sign.”
Flooding is a greater threat to home values than rising interest rates, the Senate energy committee has been told. The chair of a federal Expert Panel on Climate Change Adaptation said homeowners face high costs from lack of preparedness: “Every day we don’t adapt is a day we don’t have.”
The Department of Finance says reforms will be made at a federal agency responsible for tracking money laundering. Courts have repeatedly cited the Financial Transactions & Reports Analysis Centre for hectoring small businesses over minor breaches of the law: “It made no sense.”
Health Canada proposes to cut consumers’ sugar and salt consumption by a third. The targeted reductions still exceed World Health Organization guidelines to combat obesity, hypertension and chronic diseases: “It’s a start.”
Cabinet did not spend a penny on mass media health warnings for tobacco smokers in 2016, according to newly-released accounts. Health Canada has not commissioned any anti-tobacco campaign on TV or radio since 2007: “It’s unacceptable.”
The Senate fisheries committee has approved a bill to ban shark fin imports. Regulators said the measure may have trade implications, drawing a sharp response from the bill’s sponsor: “If we are to wait for the Department of Fisheries assessment, we won’t have any sharks left.”
New data show it takes Canadian courts twice as long to clear drug-impaired driving cases as offences involving alcohol. Members of the Senate legal affairs committee yesterday predicted courts will be flooded with costly trials and appeals if Parliament legalizes marijuana: ‘It will cripple our court system.’
An Indigenous lawmaker says racial profiling is so commonplace he’s been pulled over by police three times since being appointed to the Senate in 2016. “Profiling is an issue of concern,” said Senator Murray Sinclair (Independent-Man.).
A Senate panel yesterday voted to rewrite a federal usury law for the first time in 40 years. The banking committee agreed to lower the criminal interest rate from 60 percent to 45 percent plus prime: “This should compel the Department of Finance to take note.”
New oil and gas projects must include a federal assessment of cumulative effects on the environment, says a government bill introduced yesterday in the Commons. Cabinet’s 351-page rewrite of regulations stopped short of moving National Energy Board directors from Calgary to Ottawa as recommended by a 2017 panel: “You can’t get projects through if you don’t have the trust of the public.”
Canada Revenue Agency call centres are so dysfunctional, management has a dedicated tax line for federal employees with payroll problems. One official told the Senate national finance committee that answering tax questions should be “as easy as possible” for staff: “We serve our employees as best we can.”
The Department of Justice says random workplace testing for legalized marijuana is a labour relations issue to be decided by unions and employers. Courts and arbitrators nationwide have issued conflicting decisions on enforcement of workplace policies: “We are going to have to amend this bill.”
Railway executives last night appealed to the Senate transport committee to quickly pass a bill mandating workplace surveillance cameras. Liberal and Conservative senators questioned the bill to exempt locomotive crews from federal privacy law: “Your unions are pretty strong in their opposition.”
Bankers, credit unions and other lenders yesterday appealed to senators to oppose revisions to Parliament’s usury law. The Criminal Code permits up to 60 percent annual interest: “It’s not just a matter of handing over the money.”
