A cross-boundary dispute over a fish dubbed a nuisance species is ending after nearly two decades. Advocates question whether the resolution comes too late for one of Canada’s heritage waterways, the St. Croix: “It is a river that has so many challenges.”
Front-line guards with the Canada Border Services Agency have no electronic method of instantaneously flagging “armed and dangerous” travellers at U.S. crossings, according to court testimony. A federal judge noted computerized background checks would slow cross-border traffic to a crawl.
Canada Post inspectors have seized loads of contraband from drugs to guns, including hundreds of kilograms of marijuana, cocaine, hashish and khat, and 356 bottles of vodka: “It’s unfortunately a reality.”
Newly-appointed Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq took office as an advocacy group warned federal policies imperil the national parks system. It follows enactment of a bill to permit oil and gas exploration in one national park, and a proposal to drill within metres of another.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has sacked one-fifth of his cabinet, in the largest shakeup of its kind since the 2011 election. The Prime Minister today dismissed eight ministers, including fisheries minister Keith Ashfield who is undergoing cancer treatments. Harper in appointing new advisers also expanded the total size of cabinet from 36 to 38 ministers.
A businessman who was once the king of grey market TV has lost a bid to take Canada Revenue Agency to the Supreme Court for purported bullying. The former Saskatchewan TV dealer alleged he was threatened with prosecution if he didn’t plead guilty to tax offences dating back 15 years — yet was never charged.
Newly-released Health Canada records document incidents of what’s become an urban legend: exploding cookware. The Department of Health documented at least 21 complaints over a ten-year period from Canadians who reported they were injured by flying glass from cookware, including consumers so badly hurt they required medical attention.
The National Energy Board has been hit with protests after proposing regulations that would prohibit farmers from wheeling grain carts over buried pipelines. Among the board’s suggestions — that landowners call each time they wanted to cross the right of way: “The whole purpose was to solicit feedback.”
Federal intentions on TV policy remain vague despite a new ruling upholding Canadian programming, says one of the nation’s largest media unions. Regulators rejected a bid by The Comedy Network to run more American-made films and cartoons: “What they were asking for was shocking.”
Mounting losses in the honey industry are prompting renewed investigation on links between pesticides and bee deaths. Agriculture Canada credits bees with contributing more than $2 billion to the nation’s economy: “Everybody is working on finding out what solutions are required.”
Police have privately warned Health Canada its planned privatization of marijuana production for medical use may lure organized crime. Details of confidential meetings indicate police told the health department they were wary of the plan: “Public safety is an enormous concern.”
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency, implicated in the sale of tainted meat to consumers, is inviting the public to comment on food safety. The agency said it welcomes input on new measures to prevent food poisonings. Federal investigators earlier cited the agency as slow in protecting Canadians in the XL Foods incident.
The Coast Guard is auctioning a relic of the cod wars, an aging Coast Guard patrol boat once used to lob tear gas at fishermen in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The vessel is up for bids with a reserve of $90,000 by the same federal agency that sells all surplus government property, from desk lamps to shell casings.
“We are being inundated with horrific media scenes from Syria,” writes anthropologist Ed Hedican; “But are we, in Canada, any different when dealing with internal dissent?” To suggest Canada’s aboriginal policy is the equivalent of Syrian atrocities is an extraordinary claim that requires extraordinary evidence. The author does not meet the bar. Occasionally he does not even bother with footnotes.
Chinese are “inscrutable”, enjoy drinking, and don’t like being touched, according to Department of Foreign Affairs protocol notes obtained by Blacklock’s. In advice to cabinet and staff, the foreign ministry also warns visitors to China must never wrap gifts in blue paper or reveal the soles of their shoes: “I didn’t know about the shoes.”
