Only six months after claiming a “milestone” victory over the Asian long-horned beetle, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed the pest is back. Agency staff discovered the tree-killing bugs near an airport, where it’s believed they arrive in shipping crates.
Fewer Canadians than expected are buying new 10-year passports despite federal research that the $160 documents would be a hit with travellers. Passport Canada confirmed one-third of new applicants declined the 10-year documents since it introduced them last July: ‘Some Canadians are sensitive to an increase in fees.’
Retailers’ credit card fees must be capped by Parliament following a federal competition ruling upholding Visa and MasterCard practices, say MPs. Visa and MasterCard collect an estimated $5 billion a year in unregulated fees from retailers: “The costs have to go somewhere.”
A federal farm agency is privatizing pedigreed seed production for the first time since 1929. It follows privatization of national regulations on meat and fish inspection, egg processing and fertilizer labeling: ‘A public service is about to be transformed…’
Organizers attempting to unionize the RCMP must wait till 2014 to see their case in the Supreme Court. A century-old ban on a federal police union will be heard with a second landmark case on RCMP pay hikes: “It will affect workplaces throughout the nation.”
Manitoba’s First Nations high school graduation rate ranks below Botswana’s, according to Department of Aboriginal Affairs data. The drop-out rates were detailed as Parliament prepares to debate a First Nation Education Act: “The rates are appalling.”
Canada Revenue Agency has lost a fortune in “free money” by mismanaging a program of voluntary disclosure of IOUs, an analyst tells Blacklock’s. The agency did not comment on claims it makes eager taxpayers wait 18 months to write a cheque: “It’s insane.”
Pollsters must now phone more than nine households for every single Canadian willing to answer their questions, according to a Department of Finance study. One pollster dialed 29,552 phone numbers over two weeks to find enough respondents: ‘It may seem counterintuitive.’
Complaints over wireless service now outnumber grievances with telemarketers as the number one consumer protest to telecom regulators, according to data compiled by the CRTC: “I’ve never heard justification for that sort of thing.”
A bankrupt shipyard awarded millions in federal contracts and subsidies, including the refit of the destroyer HMCS Athabaskan, is seeking new buyers. The sale by trustees comes seven months after the Department of Finance pledged $5 million to upgrade the yard: “We have had considerable interest.”
The number of Canadian households relying on landline phones is below 20 percent for the first time in postwar history. The CRTC reported 19.9% of homes have only landlines compared to 45% a decade ago: “The most comprehensive view to date.”
The Supreme Court has put a halt to a P.E.I. woman’s campaign for free drivers’ licenses. The vexatious litigant has been to the Court five times with failed appeals on various complaints: “It’s like having a job as a crash-test dummy.”
Shortages of skilled workers remain chronic in the biotech sector despite a five-year plan to hire more talent, a national study shows. Fully 33% of Canadian companies say they can’t get the workers they need despite foreign recruitment: “It is clear reality exceeded expectations.”
Canadian debt is “not sustainable” and threatens to sink provincial programs for future generations, says the Parliamentary Budget Office. The dire forecast came in an “illustrative scenario” that projected spectacular growth in borrowing or dire cuts in services.
Expanding a federal fitness tax credit to benefit older adults would cost taxpayers as much as a quarter-billion dollars, according to the Parliamentary Budget Office. The calculation came at the request of a Conservative MP: “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
