Protests over poor lobster prices hit Parliament as the Minister of Fisheries insisted processors’ rates are not his department. “It’s not the responsibility of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to set the pricing,” Keith Ashfield told the Commons. Lawmakers are awaiting a Senate study on the state of the billion-dollar export industry.
Government amendments to a Conservative bill will bar the “Sunshine List” disclosure of many six-figure salaries paid to federal employees. The proposed changes are “bucking the trend towards greater transparency,” the bill’s author, MP Brent Rathgeber, said in an interview.
Budget cuts have led Canada to quit its 20-year membership in a group assigned to curb the spread of terrorist weapons. The Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed it’s withdrawing from non-proliferation centres in the former U.S.S.R., the first country to do so.
Canadians’ participation in the national census is down 25 points amid concerns the results are compromised. Statistics Canada reported voluntary participation in its lengthy National Household Survey drew a response rate of 69 percent, compared to 94 percent compliance when the questionnaire was mandatory for selected families.
A British Columbian who became the only Commonwealth veteran to win a Victoria Cross while an MP will be honoured today at Parliament. Cy Peck, a Prince Rupert salmon broker, won the VC while serving as MP for Skeena in 1918. “He was not a man who sought recognition,” his son told Blacklock’s.
A contentious RCMP bill dubbed a “paramilitary” measure has cleared a Senate committee. Lawmakers defeated amendments to curb the RCMP commissioner’s powers to fire or suspend members without appeal. “There is a lack of fairness here,” said a senator.
Trespassing and traffic violations at train crossings are a greater threat to public safety than terrorism, say the nation’s railways. The cautionary appeal comes as MPs ponder an investigation of train security in the wake of arrests of two suspected VIA Rail bombers.
The Canadian Tourism Commission confirms it has eliminated all general advertising in the U.S. in the wake of budget cuts. The agency is also suspending its yearly evaluations of the marketing campaigns it still runs overseas. “There are a lot of people outspending us,” the CEO told Blacklock’s, “so we have to outsmart them.”
The foreign ministry told staff to stress “prudent financial management” even as it concealed records on expensive real estate holdings from taxpayers, records show. Documents obtained by Blacklock’s indicate the Department of Foreign Affairs went to intricate lengths to justify its realty portfolio, even hiding details from the public and media after it was ordered to cut back on spending.
A vague definition of what defines the word “serious” has prompted a national petition. Thirteen of the country’s largest conservation groups have appealed to cabinet for clarification of amendments to the Fisheries Act. “It’s kind of strange, really,” said one petitioner.
The Department of Finance is spending $10 million to promote its 2013 budget, though research shows two-thirds of Canadians cannot recall seeing the TV or internet ads. One official acknowledged data show the ad blitz appeared to have little impact on Canadians’ habits.
RCMP say they are being silenced from testifying before a parliamentary committee on new disciplinary legislation. “The fact I am speaking here to you, I am placing my own career in peril,” one Mountie told reporters on Parliament Hill.
The Department of Foreign Affairs ran up a property bill of $208 million a year to maintain overseas homes and offices for diplomats, including a $15 million mansion in Oslo and five apartments in Brussels, according to records obtained by Blacklock’s. Access to Information documents show the foreign ministry was perplexed when ordered to downsize its real estate holdings.
In a case that exposed the finances of parking, B.C.’s Simon Fraser University has successfully fought Canada Revenue in a dispute over taxes on fines. The University reports it actually loses $100,000 a year on enforcement, but convinced a judge it should not collect GST on fines to scofflaw drivers.
A Commons committee on income equality is being urged to reform or repeal two popular family tax credits if it wants to help the poor. The $220 million credits for children’s sports and arts programs “make no sense at all” for families that don’t earn enough to pay income tax, said a McMaster economist.
