The longest accounting liability case in Canada has ended at the Supreme Court. Justices declined to hear further appeals in the collapse of Castor Holdings Inc. The Montréal-based investment firm in its heyday reported $1.87 billion in assets with the Chrysler Canada pension fund among its investors. Lawsuits took so long the lead plaintiff died: “I was not surprised”.
Canada’s Official Languages Commissioner is pressing for fluently bilingual services at all national airports in a campaign the industry called impractical. Commissioner Graham Fraser said services including auto rentals and restaurants must welcome guests with bilingual greetings: ‘That’s unrealistic’.
The Department of National Defence is appealing for help in preserving its famed bearskin hats, though experts warn that care of genuine bear fur is a vanishing art. The army served notice of a two-year contract to any furrier to repair and maintain its stock of more than 600 bearskin caps, a ceremonial fixture since 1831: “Fur wears out.”
The federal Competition Bureau will review two major takeovers within the trucking industry, but it’s not likely to hear many complaints from shippers about the buy-ups. The deals leave a single firm, TransForce Inc. of Montréal, with a leading share of the $30 billion-a year industry: “The takeovers aren’t an immediate concern.”
Canada must gauge the impact of a landmark U.S. study proposing major engineering changes in the Great Lakes area to stem the spread of Asian carp. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is conducting hearings on its plans, including one scheme to electrocute fish: “They are very aggressive”.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is promising to try harder after visiting U.S. officials cited select processors for rusty pipes, unclean equipment and mistreatment of cattle. The audit followed the shutdown of XL Foods Inc., the nation’s biggest beef processor found to have distributed E.coli-tainted meat.
Winter is not in fact the bleakest season for Canadians, according to a year-round log of calls for counselling by federal employees. Help calls by anxious workers at the Government of Canada, the biggest employer in the country, typically decline in the coldest months but rise in spring and autumn: “There are seasonal changes”.
Environment Canada is conducting mercury tests on hundreds of sediment samples from lakes across five provinces. Core samples will be analyzed from 20 lakes near mines, smelters and power plants: “It winds up in the fish and food chain, and that’s a real concern.”
The tree-killing Asian beetle that devastated Ontario ash trees has now spread to the suburbs of Montréal, confirms the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Authorities said winter cold appeared to have no impact on the emerald ash borer blamed for $2.2 billion in damage: “Weather isn’t going to stop the spread.”
Canada must treat immigrants as “customers” if employers are to ease labour shortages, says the Ontario Chamber of Commerce. The group representing 60,000 members proposed substituting the first-come, first-served system with speedy approvals for skilled foreigners recruited by employers: “We want a system that works quickly”.
The Canadian Shipowners Association is suing the U.S. government in federal court over new environmental rules feared to restrict trade. In application in New York’s Second Circuit court, shipowners are pressing against regulations that would prohibit some Canadian vessels from entering U.S. ports: “Why did it come to this?”
A pioneering foundation created to combat gang violence in Toronto is surrendering its federal charter. It follows new data indicating Toronto has one of the lowest homicide rates in urban Canada. The Argos Foundation, established in 2005 as a registered charity by the football club, is quitting its charter under the Canada Corporations Act.
The RCMP are seeking more leeway in hiring outside experts as “temporary civilian employees”. Mounties have applied for an exemption from labour regulations that limit the hiring of temporary staff to 90 days a year: ‘The RCMP would require flexibility’.
The Department of Fisheries is auctioning another piece of maritime history: an aging Coast Guard vessel that once made transatlantic headlines by confronting the Jacques Cousteau Society. The L’Isle-Rouge achieved fame off P.E.I. when it intercepted French movie makers trying to film feeding whales: “Bizarre”.
Canada Revenue Agency has misplaced thousands of tax returns, cheques and documents mailed by taxpayers, confidential records show. In a string of incidents one official rated “embarrassing”, even registered letters appeared to vanish within the department: “This really doesn’t make Canada Revenue Agency look very competent”.
