Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz is refusing comment on cuts to scientific research and other services amid protests from national farm groups. Ritz declined Blacklock’s repeated interview requests as layoff notices were sent to 350 senior staff, including biologists, engineers and research managers.
After eleven years of review and five national conferences, Health Canada is following the lead of Malta in regulating consumer protection of drug ingredients. “Canada is not particularly good at this,” said Dr. Sholom Glouberman, president of the Patients’ Association of Canada.
One of the biggest landlords in the country, Public Works Canada, should require its buildings to carry efficiency labels to “set standards for energy use,” says a national consultant. A Commons committee has been told Canada “is no longer the leader” in efficiency, with buildings that consume three times as much energy as those in Europe.
Canada assumes the chairmanship of the Arctic Council amid little-noticed passage of a federal bill that “tips the balance” in favour of mining and energy companies in the North, says an Inuit group. More than $38 billion in new mining projects are awaiting federal approval in the north, by official estimate.
More regulations are being repealed in the name of cutting red tape. Agriculture Canada is eliminating requirements that fertilizer manufacturers seek federal approval on safety, effectiveness and labeling before selling their products. “Nefarious,” said one MP. The agriculture minister declined comment.
Oil tankers can have a better than 9 in 10 chance of evading federal surveillance of spills under Transport Canada’s “sophisticated” air monitoring program, records show. In one month, aircraft assigned to spy spills made eight flights over more than 65,000 sq.km.: “What they’re doing is minimal.”
In a complex agreement that skirted a regulatory minefield, cheese-makers have reached agreement with restaurateurs to provide low-cost mozzarella for fresh pizzas. The deal followed months of negotiations. It takes effect June 1, but only on a trial basis.
Fully three-quarters of new jobs created nationwide in a four-year period were filled by temporary foreign workers, according to the Canadian Labour Congress. Economists documented the popular hiring of migrants as New Brunswick fish plant workers, Ontario nannies and Tim Hortons staff in Alberta.
A long-anticipated parliamentary report on invasive species in the Great Lakes is being panned as a compilation of recycled recommendations to stem the spread of Asian Carp. Experts fear the species could devastate the lakes ecosystem. “The U.S. does a lot more domestically than Canada,” said one analyst
Citing “misinformation” and “misunderstanding” on climate change, pipeline operators have appealed to Parliament for recognition of the “backbone of transport of energy.” One Alberta executive told MPs, “There is no hidden agenda.” The hearing followed testimony by a labour group that questioned the “army of lobbyists” pressing for the Keystone XL project.
Telecom giant Cogeco has lost a bid to skip payments on its contributions to Canadian programming. “It was just a procedural mistake,” said a Cogeco executive. Under federal regulations, companies are required to devote five percent of annual gross revenues to made-in-Canada shows.
The federal tax collector, Canada Revenue Agency, is refusing to name 44 people convicted of offshore tax evasion, though it routinely publishes the names and hometowns of domestic tax cheats. “Why the cone of silence?” said Senator Percy Downe. “What is so special about those 44?”
The Department of Agriculture is repealing decades-old regulations on the preparation of meats, fish and eggs amid concerns for consumers. Food inspectors say they will leave it to industry to comply with safety rules. The repeal will save producers and manufacturers $1.2 million a year.
The iconic Social Insurance Number card, the white plastic memento that marked passage to adulthood for generations of Canadians, will soon be a memory. The Department of Human Resources served formal notice, after 50 years of production, no new cards will be issued by the end of the fiscal year.
The Department of Immigration has set new restrictions on PhD students but will accept three times as many machinists, electricians and plumbers. And the department is waiving quotas on immigrants already hired by Canadian companies. The move “puts employers much more in the driver’s seat,” noted an economist.
