The Department of Agriculture is giving itself new powers to amend regulations without public notice or parliamentary scrutiny. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz’s office would not comment on terms of a new omnibus farm bill: “There has to be care given to that.”
MPs have quietly concluded a probe of the wealth gap with a report that reaffirms existing federal policies. The Commons finance committee proposed no new initiatives following a year-long study of income inequality: “Life isn’t fair.”
The Senate is to study fish farming amid industry complaints a “patchwork” of regulations is hurting the trade. Senators voted to conduct a national probe of aquaculture involving species now regulated by the Fisheries Act: “It is a farming industry; we’re not fishing.”
The Supreme Court is to consider whether companies can force retirement of workers who aren’t necessarily protected by human rights law. The case involves a B.C. attorney who challenged mandatory retirement at 65: “Can you contract out your human rights?”
Public Safety Canada is studying the impact of fees on U.S. trade. The department said, while inspection charges and other fees comprise less than one-tenth of one percent of the value of imports and exports, the cumulative impact of fees is unknown.
The Senate is to hold hearings on the future of the CBC following its loss of lucrative NHL hockey rights to Rogers Communications Inc. Senators voted to conduct a national probe of the public broadcaster that draws $1.1 billion in annual subsidies: “Corporations can become complacent; was that the case at the CBC?”
Contractors are pressing Parliament for legislation requiring prompt payment of bills on construction sites. A coalition appealed to MPs to enact a federal version of an Ontario bill that mandates quick settlement of accounts by building owners and other debtors: “There are no strict timelines for payments.”
The Government of Canada spends nearly $840,000 a year on TV sets for daytime viewing by employees, according to spending records tabled in the Commons.
New televisions, the majority high-definition sets, cost taxpayers $6.69 million over the past eight years, documents show.
“We wanted to see how money is being spent,” said New Democrat MP Charlie Angus, who asked for the data. “The government is telling everybody the cupboard is bare, yet we see enormous amounts of spending within the bureaucracy that never seems to make it to front-line services.”
“You have to ask, why is there money to blow on TVs?” said Angus, MP for Timmins-James Bay, Ont.; “What kind of value are Canadians getting for their money?”
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation spent more on televisions than any other department or Crown agency, totaling $2.5 million over the period from 2006 to 2013-14.
Other enthusiasts for daytime TV included the Canada Revenue Agency, with $439,000 on new sets, followed by Canada Lands Company Ltd., the federal agency that owns Toronto’s CN Tower ($327,000); and the Department of Justice ($326,000).
The Department of Industry did not bill taxpayers for a single TV set over the eight fiscal years. Other leading agencies that do not watch television at work are Statistics Canada and the Standards Council of Canada.
Angus, a four-term MP, said he asked that his own government-issue TV be taken from his office months ago.
“I actually asked that the TV be removed,” said Angus. “In nine years of having it in my office I never turned it on. Never used it.”
By Staff 
The number of immigrants expelled from Canada has increased 80% since 2010, records show. Immigrants subject to “departure orders” for offences from falsifying papers to suspicion of terrorism totaled 17,882 last year: “They want a tough-on-crime image”.
Finance Canada would have a balanced budget today if the federal tax on large corporations had remained frozen at 2002 levels, according to figures from the Parliamentary Budget Office. The corporate rate has been cut by eleven points in the past decade: “Budgets are about choices.”
Police and border guards pledge to “game up” on security measures amid debate on a bill to intercept counterfeit goods. Security managers told a Commons committee that improvements must be made following criticism by the Auditor General: “I’m confident.”
Health Canada is being urged to include natural health products in the scope of new legislation fixing large penalties on distributors of unsafe medicines. An advocacy group Bad Science Watch urged that authorities amend a bill that targets dangerous prescriptions but exempts “natural” items: “This leaves users of natural health products out in the cold.”
The Department of Fisheries is being cited for failing to act on a worrying decline in the Arctic walrus population. The department acknowledged after five years it’s been unable to document walrus numbers amid concerns over a falling population: “We have woefully inadequate coverage”.
Parks Canada is being sued by a Rocky Mountain ski operator in a dispute over a parking lot deemed an avalanche risk.
Sunshine Village Corporation, operator of a well-known ski resort near Banff, Alta., is asking that a federal judge quash a government parking ban imposed due to hazard of falling snow.
“Clearly if skiers can’t park there it has a commercial impact,” said Kent Anderson, counsel for Sunshine Village.
The ski company has operated a resort on Crown-leased land in Banff National Park since 1981. Operators noted as many as 35 days every winter, often at Christmas and holidays, skiers fill overflow curb parking along a 7-km access road leading to the hill off the Trans-Canada Highway.
“On high-traffic days the parking lot at the gondola base does not have sufficient capacity to accommodate all skiers,” the resort owner submitted in court documents; “When the Sunshine parking lots are full Sunshine staff has directed the public to make a U-turn and park on the access road.”
The ski resort maintains regular parking for 1700 vehicles; the access road holds another 400 cars.
However the Banff Park superintendent last year banned parking on the road and installed “Avalanche Zone” signs.
Sunshine Village Corp. asks that a judge quash the road parking ban, claiming the park superintendent had “incorrectly inflated the calculated avalanche risk”; “acted beyond his jurisdiction”; “failed to observe the principle of natural justice”; and “based his decision on erroneous findings”.
Counsel for the Government of Canada did not comment.
The Banff ski season runs some 190 days a year from November till spring.
By Paul Delahanty
Food prices are forecast to rise again in 2014, but modestly following sharp spikes that saw the cost of groceries nearly double inflation in other household items. Seafood and oranges are up, beef and nuts are moderating: “You never know what is going to happen with the value of the Canadian dollar.”
