A federal agency charged taxpayers $11,000 to fund a study program called “Understanding Canada” at the University of Michigan, a 40 kilometre drive from Canada. The program was intended to “develop greater knowledge and understanding of Canada,” located a short drive down Interstate 96.
Federal regulators are being petitioned against giving Air Canada another break on funding of its multi-billion dollar pension deficit. Competitors oppose any ad hoc regulation to favour the carrier that’s been struggling with pension liabilities since its 2003 bankruptcy.
The nation’s twin national railways propose a combined $3 billion in spending this year on new equipment and upgrades. Canadian National is allocating $1.9 billion in spending; Canadian Pacific $1.1 billion, figures show.
A defence agency raced through a multi-million dollar computer contract evaluation in 9 business days in an apparent outbreak of “March Madness.” It is the annual springtime burn of unspent funds before the expiry of the federal fiscal year at midnight on March 31.
One of Atlantic Canada’s top executives has lost a court challenge against Canada Revenue after trying to write-off cellphone charges and the costs of a trip to Vancouver as a business expense. “With all due respect,” ruled a federal judge, “being a lawyer is not in and of itself a business.”
Canada’s 3,700 golf pros have applied to the Department of Industry to trademark a fundraiser for the nation’s army, air force and navy veterans: “They are ecstatic.”
At least a fifth of dried teas sold nationwide fail to meet Canadian standards on pesticide contamination, according to federal inspectors. Fully 75 percent of oolong tea samples contained detectable levels of chemicals. The Canadian Tea Association declined an interview.
A federal board proposes $100,000-a day penalties for safety violations by oil and gas pipeline operators, a fraction of the penalties levied in the United States. Regulators are also rewording Canadian rules to avoid mention of “very serious” spills.
Canada’s cities and wireless telecom providers are making peace in a long dispute over aerial towers. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities and an industry group, the Canadian Wireless Telecom Association will detail “a tool to help municipalities in their planning.” Neighbours complain of four-storey eyesores regulated by Industry Canada.
Regulators propose gruesome new federal warnings on sunbeds amid protests from the $1 billion-a year tanning industry. The measure comes four years after the World Health Organization categorized tanning devices as a known carcinogen.
Productivity on the country’s 200,000 farms has defied national trends by rising nearly one-third in the past fifteen years, according to a sector report. Analysts noted fewer farmers now produce 30 percent more, with less help: “Remarkable.”
A company that wants to sell Thalidomide, the drug that left hundreds of Canadians with birth defects in the 1960s, won’t be given protection for their product as an “innovative drug.” Thalidomide was banned in Canada for all medical use in 1962.
The lifting of a tax on imported freighters is credited with the major introduction of new Great Lakes vessels this spring for the first time in a generation. The first of 20 new vessels will ply the lakes this spring following the 2010 repeal of a 25 percent tariff.
A federal commission mandated to promote Canadian tourism has cut staff to its lowest level in six years, records show. The Canadian Tourism Commission currently has 90 employees, the fewest since 2006. “This year we are staying the course,” the CEO told Blacklock’s in a statement.
A federal agency that announced new austerity “job cuts” Wednesday confirms it actually increased its staff in five of the past six years. The National Capital Commission confirmed to Blacklock’s it hired more employees year-over-year in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.
