A proposed Statistics Canada scoop of bank records of more than a million people is unjustified, unethical and unnecessary, the Senate banking committee was told yesterday. Senators expressed alarm the agency did not disclose the program until it was leaked to media: “Why should we trust Statistics Canada?”

Cabinet is considering all options to end 18 days of rotating strikes by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, officials said yesterday. “Obviously we are preoccupied with the situation at Canada Post,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters.

An employers’ group yesterday told the Commons finance committee a “flexibility” clause in cabinet’s Pay Equity Act poses no harm to underpaid women. A coalition of unions has predicted lengthy court battles if Parliament does not delete the reference: “I’m concerned about potentially over-dramatizing this.”

Parliament should proclaim two federal Indigenous holidays instead of one, the Commons heritage committee was told yesterday. A New Democrat MP expressed caution: “What I’ve learned is that better is the enemy of the good.”

The Commons human resources committee yesterday approved a bill to mandate barrier-free access to federally-regulated workplaces including airports, banks and railway stations. Critics noted the bill does not fix firm enforcement deadlines: “They take what they can get.”

Parliament must correct unconstitutional loopholes in cabinet’s Pay Equity Act or face court challenges, the Commons finance committee was told yesterday. One part of the bill is similar to a Québec law struck down 14 years ago: “We will end up before the courts if this section remains.”

Statistics Canada yesterday defended a proposal to collect personal banking information on 500,000 households – the equivalent of more than a million people – without individuals’ consent. “We have to have high-quality data,” Chief Statistician Anil Arora told the Commons industry committee.

Cabinet has awarded more than $24 million in low-interest corporate loans for electric car recharging stations though few Canadians use them, accounts show. A third of loans went to a single Québec company: ‘It is to increase awareness.’

Election Commissioner Yves Côté says he could prosecute media for breach of federal law in a case similar to the National Post’s defamation of an Alberta Conservative candidate. The newspaper paid $650,000 for publishing a mid-campaign commentary by then-columnist Don Martin, now host of CTV News Channel’s Power Play program: “A charge could be laid.”

The Senate transport committee last night expressed support for a federal bill to clear Canadian harbours of wrecked and abandoned boats. Transport Canada counts some 500 derelict freighters, barges, fishing boats and other vessels with millions in environmental clean-up costs: “It’s not fair to put that load on the taxpayer.”

Canadians rich or poor will receive identical carbon tax rebate cheques next year, officials yesterday told the Commons environment committee. The Department of Industry in an Access To Information memo earlier warned of greater impact on “vulnerable groups”.

A federal Pay Equity Act allows cabinet to exempt whole industries from correcting wage rates, says the labour department. Officials told the Commons finance committee the provision was intended to promote flexibility: “I’m just reading what’s on paper.”

Union executives yesterday urged the Senate national finance committee to quickly repeal curbs on federal employees’ right to strike. The Supreme Court in 2015 struck down a similar Saskatchewan law as unconstitutional: “This must be taken off the books once and for all.”

Trends in drug prices are unsustainable, a federal regulator yesterday told the Commons health committee. Canadians spent $16.8 billion on brand-name medicines last year: “The best drug in the world won’t bring value to society if no one can afford it.”