The Commons transport committee yesterday urged that Parliament pass a bill to protect war graves at sea. MPs counted 19 Canadian warships and merchant vessels sunk in coastal waters and the St. Lawrence River, and at least 50 military wrecks of foreign vessels: ‘There is growing concern about looting and desecration.’
Senators today are expected to rewrite a bill to legalize marijuana. Two Senate committees recommended numerous changes, including a delay in the bill’s passage and a revision allowing provinces to ban home cultivation of cannabis plants: “This is all too fast.”
The Bank of Canada says nearly a third of $100 banknotes have vanished from the regulated economy. The data suggest a thriving black market, said one former banker: “That’s a proxy for the underground economy.”
The Canada Revenue Agency in Access To Information memos says Indigenous people are more likely than others to avoid filing a tax return even if they live off-reserve. Records disclosed federal agencies have spent four years attempting to gauge tax filing by First Nations: “There is a gap.”
Prisoners have lost a Federal Court challenge of bank fees. A judge dismissed one inmate’s complaint he was charged $7 to pay a Court filing fee by money order: “All members of society when seeking bank services must pay,”
Gun clubs are protesting a federal bill that would subject owners to lifetime background checks by police. Further regulation of firearms is unnecessary, advocates told the Commons public security committee: “There’s nothing in this bill that will affect the behaviour of criminals.”
Anti-terror surveillance is so haphazard one Liberal MP yesterday said his fiancé was flagged after wiring funds to India to buy a traditional wedding dress. The Commons finance committee earlier heard testimony from a University of Waterloo researcher that banks have also targeted depositors for wearing hoodies and sunglasses: “Why?”
Parliamentary Budget Officer Jean-Denis Fréchette says he fears fake news peddlers will spoil new legislation permitting first-ever costing of party election platforms. The 2019 campaign will be the first under rules allowing the Office to calculate expenses of campaign promises: “What I am afraid of is third parties, like media.”
The Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board has overturned the firing of a prison guard for marijuana use. The Board said the employee, though lacking in common sense, did not deserve dismissal for carrying cannabis in a government vehicle: “I think this is a serious lack of judgment.”
Marine shippers yesterday applied for an exemption from the national carbon tax, one day after MPs voted to exempt 46,000 commercial fishermen. A lobbyist told the Senate energy committee the tax will cost shippers millions: “There’s a lineup at the door for everybody who wants to be exempted.”
Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould yesterday criticized senators for deleting what she called the “centrepiece” of a cabinet bill on impaired driving. The Senate legal and constitutional affairs committee voted down random roadside testing as unconstitutional, a position endorsed by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and advocates representing 36,000 lawyers: “I think it’s irresponsible.”
The Commons finance committee last night voted to exempt Canada’s 46,000 commercial fishermen from paying the national carbon tax. The vote on a snap amendment followed “unrelenting pressure” against the tax, said one MP: ‘There is a possibility we might go further.’
Cabinet predicts taxes on legal marijuana will raise more than $400 million next year, with three-quarters of revenue earmarked for provinces. “It’s a little bit challenging to determine what the market is today,” Liberal MP Bill Blair told the Senate national finance committee.
The Senate legal and constitutional affairs committee last night vetoed a cabinet proposal for random roadside alcohol screening. Senators said the bill is likely unconstitutional and would mire courts in costly litigation: “Explain the logic.”
The Canada Revenue Agency in a Commons report will not say what, if any, discipline was imposed on two employees named in the malicious prosecution of a small business. One agent was faulted for misleading statements; another wrote an email suggesting the business owners deserved to be guillotined: “Where is the Minister?”
