Environment Canada managers yesterday declined to release actual costs of the national carbon tax despite being asked 15 times in the Commons finance committee. “I’m afraid we can’t tell you that at this time,” said John Moffet, associate assistant deputy minister.
Federal aid for corporation totals $5.5 billion this year, Industry Minister Navdeep Bains yesterday told the Commons industry committee. Bains said subsidies generally benefit Canadians, but did not detail the number of jobs created: “How can you manage?”
Cabinet’s cannabis bill yesterday hit its first Senate roadblock with a committee report to delay implementation for up to a year. The Senate aboriginal peoples’ committee complained of “an alarming lack of consultation” on the bill to legalize recreational marijuana: “People are entitled to a say.”
Environment Commissioner Julie Gelfand yesterday said findings of an aquaculture audit were the worst she’s seen in four years in office. The April 24 audit concluded the Department of Fisheries failed to protect wild fish species from salmon farmers: “I found the most number of gaps in any audit I’ve ever done.”
The Commons health committee yesterday recommended research on the number of hospital deaths in Canada due to antimicrobial resistance. Health Canada has no data on patients who die from illnesses that can’t be treated with antibiotics: “It’s a big deal.”
Environment Canada research obtained through Access To Information anticipates a $75 national carbon tax scenario, equal to an 18¢ rise in the cost of a litre of gas. The department yesterday confirmed for the first time its $50 per tonne tax will not meet emissions targets: “It’s quite clear there is a gap.”
A bill to ban junk food advertising to children yesterday passed the Commons health committee. The private Conservative bill, already approved by the Senate, would outlaw marketing of unhealthy foods or beverages to children under 13 by 2020: “It raises my eyebrow.”
Legal marijuana may run afoul of bank and mortgage insurance rules for homebuyers, the Senate social affairs committee was told yesterday. The Federal Court of Appeal in 2017 cited one bank’s mortgage ban on licensed marijuana users who grow plants at home: “Who knows what is going to happen when it is legal?”
Hoteliers yesterday said they’ve won federal approval for a pilot project to fill labour shortages with new immigrants. Earlier cuts to hiring of temporary foreign workers left the industry with critical shortages, said the Hotel Association of Canada: “It’s very real.”
Top tax rates for high-income earners have become a competitiveness issue, the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada yesterday told the Commons finance committee. Seven of ten provinces – all but Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario – now tax top earners at 50 percent or more: ‘It’s the overlooked part.’
The Commons health committee yesterday considered regulatory curbs on the sale of caffeinated alcohol. The debate followed the March 1 death of a Québec schoolgirl: “We’ve been complaining about these products for 6 or 7 years.”
