Canada Revenue Agency says it’s received 120 calls to date on a new snitch line to track offshore tax cheats. However authorities acknowledged it will be years before informants ever see their promised rewards: “It will be sort of hit and miss”.
In a surprising outcome 22 Senators have voted against proclaiming a national day for Pope John Paul II as one Catholic legislator expressed dismay over church sex abuse scandals. The Senate voted 47-22 to refer the bill to full committee hearings with nine lawmakers including Conservatives abstaining: “Was he immune to the charges? Did he ignore them? Was there a cover-up?”
“Consultation” on new Canadian Food Inspection Agency fees consisted mainly of sending out 12,000 emails and drawing five replies, says the agency. Authorities acknowledged consultations did not involve physically meeting or speaking with anyone: “We did feel very successful”.
Mandatory rail safety data remains too secretive and inaccessible to employees and the public, says one of the nation’s largest railway unions. Teamsters Canada said Safety Management Systems required of 35 federally-regulated railways should be public information: “MPs, the public, even we can’t see them”.
A 205% increase in U.S. commercial border fees will drive many small Canadian trucking lines out of business or block them from shipping to American destinations, says an industry group. Some 29,000 trucks cross the border daily: “The proposed increases are ludicrous”.
An unhappy taxpayer who took Canada Revenue and other officials to court again and again and again has lost a bid for one last appeal to the Supreme Court. Justices declined to hear the case after a chief clerk described the tax-filer as a “vexatious” litigant: “Most people do get the message”.
The latest rail reform bill should “put more teeth” into service requirements for shippers, says Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. However critics replied the legislation deserved a “whole mouthful of teeth” to improve rail performance: “This should have been done a year ago”.
Fish farmers face a “long process” in enacting a federal aquaculture law that complies with the Constitution, says a Conservative senator. Aquaculture companies have appealed for an Act of Parliament that would standardize industry rules: “It is different in every province”.
A federal consumer protection agency that draws most of its budget from banks is more carrot than stick, says an MP. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada yesterday reported it is so flush with industry funding it didn’t spend half the grant it received from Parliament: “I think it should be illegal”.
Nearly two-thirds of Canadians surveyed oppose privatization of the post office, according to a poll commissioned by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. Suggestions cabinet would sell the Crown mail monopoly follow a Canada Post plan to charge customers 35% more for less service: “They are preparing the ground”.
A federal board is reviewing standard-issue wire mesh safety glass installed in public buildings nationwide for generations. The review comes amid injury claims and a $5 million civil lawsuit. The Canadian General Standards Board confirmed it’s reviewing standards on wire mesh glass for the first time since 1990: ‘It can cause horrible injuries’.
A federal commissioner says Agriculture Canada’s new royalty system for plant breeders will not punish growers with higher costs or onerous restrictions. Critics charge Bill C-18 will impose unprecedented patent costs on growers: “There’s lots of choice out there”.
A federal probe of dramatic hikes in propane prices has ended with a finding of no proof of collusion or price-fixing. The Competition Bureau concluded there was no evidence of unfair trade practices as prices rose as high as 71.5¢ a litre: “You can imagine my shock”.
Parks Canada counted phantom schoolchildren in misrepresenting the success of a $1.6 million promotion, documents show. The agency claimed tens of thousands of teenagers as participants in a program though Statistics Canada reported the students don’t even exist: “That’s ridiculous”.
Made In China – and Bangladesh and Mexico – is the label on apparel purchased by most federal departments and agencies, records show. Of all Crown buyers free to contract uniforms, shirts and jackets offshore only three bought a majority of Canadian-made clothing: “The lowest cost wins the bid”.
