The Canadian Labour Congress is crediting the Senate with blocking quick passage of a contentious labour bill now deferred for months. Sixteen Conservative dissenters – most of them appointed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper – voted with Liberals to prevent passage of Bill C-377. Another six Conservatives abstained from supporting their own Senate leadership: “This was a bad bill.”
A federal judge has faulted the Department of Aboriginal Affairs for misunderstanding its own policies and broadcasting “incorrect” information in a centuries-old land dispute. The rebuke came over inflammatory remarks regarding a claim affecting prime property deeded to Mohawks and “their heirs forever” in 1793.
Trade Minister Ed Fast is declining comment after releasing a report that praised cocaine-producing Colombia for its impressive “agriculture”. The lapse came in a 27-page report in which Fast’s department was to account for human rights conditions in the republic under a 2011 commercial treaty.
Canada faces a “chronic” shortage of young tradespeople nationwide, according to new research. Shortfalls in qualified trades include a looming shortage of 37,000 mechanics and technicians: “It’s a chronic situation; it’s simple math,” said Michael Atkinson, president of the Canadian Construction Association.
A revolt by Conservative senators has blocked passage of a contentious labour bill, handing the government its heaviest legislative defeat of the year. Twenty-two Conservatives today bolted from their own leadership on Bill C-377, effectively stripping provisions that would compel unions to publish confidential data on a government website: “The bill is gutted.”
Cabinet will miss its target of making the nation PCB-free — by 32 years. Environment Canada confirmed it is again extending its deadline for removal of industrial electrical equipment with high levels of toxic polychlorinated biphenyls: “By 2025 you can bet there will be people who still won’t meet that deadline.”
Tax Court testimony has revealed new details of a fraud ring that falsified millions of dollars in claims. The revelations came in the case of a Toronto-area payroll clerk who unsuccessfully sued Canada Revenue Agency over credits a judge dismissed as unreliable: “Her testimony has no credibility at all.”
Canada’s telecom regulator is raising rates on 1-800 calls from payphones for people who still do that. The charge is the so-called default rate, a toll paid to a payphone provider for toll-free calls that access a long-distance network. There are still 167,000 payphones in service nationwide.
Homeowners face new warnings on indoor exposure to naphthalene under proposed Health Canada guidelines. Regulators noted the chemical most commonly associated with mothballs is used in scores of products: “Indoor air is one area where people may have higher exposures than they expect.”
Railways and shippers await new regulations under first-ever legislation on freight service. Bill C-52 will be signed into law this week, though both railways and shippers fault the legislation: “What is the point?”
Criminologists say they are unsurprised by a ten percent decline in delinquency last year, with youth court caseloads hitting their lowest level since record-keeping began in 1991. The caseload fell in every province and territory, and in almost every category of youth crime: “It is not getting worse.”
Recidivism rates in federal prisons have remained unchanged for more than a decade despite evolving crime legislation, records show. Correctional Service documents indicate 26 percent of new inmates already served time, unchanged from 2000: “The rate is not as high as we’ve been led to believe.”
Parliament is reviewing legislation to tighten scrutiny of funds used to restore and maintain the nation’s forts, canals and other historic sites. Bill C-528 requires that Parks Canada and registered charities keep careful accounting of restoration budgets and donations they receive: “There is no way of defining where your donation is going to go.”
Advocates are protesting a multi-million dollar increase in fees by a federal grain agency. The Canadian Grain Commission has doubled and tripled inspection fees that were frozen since 1991, as MPs broke for summer recess: “What we want to know is why.”
Canada’s banks are now forbidden from mailing unsolicited credit card cheques to customers. It comes more than two years after the Department of Finance said it would ban the practice: “These cheques were ubiquitous.”
