Federal trust-busters have interviewed executives of the nation’s largest hockey manufacturers in a probe of sporting goods retailing. The Competition Bureau’s secret investigation targets a bid by Canadian Tire to buy rival Pro Hockey Life, finalized this week. “At this point we can confirm the Competition Bureau is reviewing the proposed acquisition,” an official told Blacklock’s.
An omnibus budget bill that amended dozens of federal laws may end in the Supreme Court amid its latest legal contest, says a constitutional lawyer. Parts of the 452-page bill face new challenges before a federal judge: “This is the kind of case that can go to the Supreme Court.”
The Department of Fisheries has expanded its ban on the wild Pacific salmon catch in two famed British Columbia waterways amid alarmingly low fish populations: “We confirmed those numbers and they are real.”
The Department of Natural Resources faces a federal lawsuit over the constitutionality of limits on its licensing hearings. A Vancouver-based group is asking a judge to halt the vetting of witnesses by the National Energy Board: “This is a last resort.”
The Lac-Mégantic rail disaster is prompting a review of all train operators’ insurance requirements to account for “catastrophic events”, says the Canadian Transportation Agency. It noted the July 5 wreck marked the first time a federally-regulated railway faced claims that exceeded its coverage.
Broadcasters face stringent requirements on correcting even casual errors in news coverage under a ruling by regulators. The Canada Broadcast Standards Council said TV networks must issue on-air corrections for minor garbling in their reports: “This creates a precedent.”
Canada’s privacy commissioner is expressing unease over the findings of an internet audit that identified large gaps in consumer protection measures. Two in 10 websites and apps had incoherent policies: “It’s lame.”
A Department of Finance “test case” of the retail impact of tariff cuts is limited in scope and may not get the answers the government is after, says an industry group. The Retail Council of Canada questioned whether the federal study will “capture the full effect of the tariff changes”, an executive said.
Health Canada is denying a claim it’s delaying regulation of chemicals blamed for widespread damage to bee colonies. The department said it is “carefully examining” documentation of bee deaths attributed to pesticides, but planned no response till 2014 at the earliest: “Unacceptable.”
Telecom regulators have dismissed an appeal by Bell Canada over a ruling on wholesale internet charges. The Canadian Radio-Television & Telecom Commission reaffirmed wholesalers must provide standard rates to independent clients: “They’ve stuck to their guns.”
Federal revenue agents feared one of Ottawa’s most popular tax credits had become an “open bar” for Corporate Canada, according to an unpublished government report. Canada Revenue Agency commissioned the study but withheld it from MPs and initially declined to release it to the Department of Finance: “This is odd.”
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency proposes more deregulation of the fertilizer industry, including repeal of a ban on misleading claims by manufacturers. The “red-tape reduction” proposals are to be drafted following the close of public consultations Sept. 17.
A First Nation suing cabinet over an investment pact with China says it fears “future generations” will be tied to the far-reaching deal. The Department of International Trade signed the agreement 11 months ago, but has yet to ratify it.
A two-year noise complaint against one of the nation’s biggest railways has ended with a Canadian Transportation Agency order that’s cheered residents of a Prairie neighbourhood. Investigators ruled the CPR broke federal law that requires noise be kept to “reasonable” levels: “It became hell.”
New Department of Immigration rules that target the hiring of foreign workers who speak neither French nor English do not go far enough in curbing the practice, says a union that challenged the department in Federal Court: “It should be French and English, period.”
