Canada’s landlocked submarine fleet will have spent more time in repairs than at sea by the expiry of the naval program, say defence analysts. In a critical review, researchers with the Rideau Institute and Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives faulted cabinet for its management of the fleet: “The submarines were badly flawed.”
Secret military documents withheld from Parliament show most Afghans rated Canada’s war mission a failure. Declassified research obtained by Blacklock’s and considered “invaluable” by military commanders documented growing opposition to NATO even as Parliament was assured the war was progressing.
Retailers are pressing the Department of Finance for a “line by line” review of tariffs to repeal unnecessary charges on consumers. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says he needs retailers’ help to see “if it works” to reduce tariffs. Budget plans propose to raise import taxes by $1 billion over five years.
Companies in transport, banking and other federally-regulated industries can more easily decertify unions under a private Conservative bill. C-525 permits as few as 45% of employees to disband a union local by secret ballot in any business under the Canada Labour Code: “They don’t want workers to organize.”
American furniture, housewares, fruits, vegetables and livestock are all candidates for retaliatory tariffs in a cross-border dispute over meat labeling. The Department of Agriculture reported it hopes to negotiate an end to the $5 billion feud: “This has been a difficult and costly fight.”
Afghans considered Canadian troops corrupt and ineffectual even as Parliament was assured it was “winning” the war, secret documents show. Declassified military research obtained by Blacklock’s show Afghan support for NATO was collapsing as Parliament voted to extend the Kandahar mission in 2008. There is no indication the secret data were disclosed to MPs or senators, though military commanders rated it “invaluable”.
RCMP recruitment is down more than two-thirds since 2009 despite a federal ad blitz. The Mounties expanded recruitment ads to the internet, movie theatres and “ethnic” media, yet saw the number of new cadets decline to fewer than 600 a year: “It’s like a ghost town.”
Animal welfare advocates and pork producers have drafted a new Code of Practice on the humane treatment of pigs. The code limits the use of stalls for piglets now confined for months at a time: “It’s like being stuck in an airline seat for your life.”
Canada’s Competition Bureau is taking three telecom giants to Federal Court in a probe over trading in spectrum licenses. The Bureau filed applications summoning Rogers, Shaw and Globalive Wireless to appear before a federal judge with confidential corporate records.
An exhaustive six-year probe of alleged price fixing in the candy trade was prolonged by changes in federal law, says senior counsel with the Competition Bureau. The first charges followed an investigation begun in 2007 with an unidentified whistleblower: “It takes a lot of time.”
Canada should be wary of Chinese state investment, says an economist in the heart of the country’s oil and gas industry. A research fellow at the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy warned state corporations are “a tool of the government.”
A federal probe of meat poisoning at Canada’s largest beef processor underscores the need for clear public information on food safety, says an Alberta analyst. The XL Foods contamination left consumers, distributors and media without “timely” news as tainted beef was sold and eaten, investigators found.
Millions of insurance policyholders and mutual fund clients face intrusive questions and publication of personal data on the internet under a federal bill, say industry executives. Insurers warn Bill C-377 will have “unintended consequences” for Canadians with benefit plans, funds and policies: “Would you want your next-door neighbour to know you are receiving reimbursement for cancer medication?”
The government is speeding passage of a bill to permit gas exploration at Sable Island, N.S. amid protests it sets a precedent for drilling in national parks. Bill S-15 permits horizontal drilling and seismic exploration at the island, famed for its wild ponies. “This is a Trojan Horse,” said Green Party MP Elizabeth May; “This is unprecedented.”
A wiretap case involving a federal probe of Quebec gas retailers is headed for the Supreme Court. Justices agreed to hear two appeals over use of criminal wiretap evidence in a subsequent class-action lawsuit. Retailers in four Quebec cities were convicted of scheming by telephone to fix pump prices.
