The Department of National Defence has threatened to sue Canadians that make patriotic use of the Support Our Troops slogan, according to Access To Information records. The department trademarked the yellow ribbon emblem under an obscure provision of the Trademarks Act: “This ‘official marks’ category is weird.”
Canadian regulators are considering a national insurance pool for a million homeowners who live on flood plains, the Commons environment committee was told yesterday. The scheme would be cheaper than the current “ad hoc system of bailing out those in harm’s way with taxpayer dollars”, said an Insurance Bureau of Canada executive.
A Conservative MP who sponsored regulations to limit select accounting fees yesterday praised the Canada Revenue Agency for a $100 cap on consultants’ charges. MP Cheryl Gallant (Renfrew-Nipissing, Ont.) said tax consultants built a “cottage industry” by over-charging the disabled: “I think a hundred dollars is generous.”
The Commons industry committee yesterday recommended Parliament raise statutory damages for copyright theft, but cautioned against overly-restrictive limits on copying. MPs acknowledged their report would not satisfy creators or publishers: “No single stakeholder may find it entirely satisfactory.”
The Commons yesterday effectively killed an animal cruelty bill passed by the Senate last June 19. MPs adjourned debate without a Second Reading vote in the final days of the current Parliament: “I am really disappointed.”
The Canada Revenue Agency in an unprecedented regulation proposes to cap selective fees charged by private accountants and tax advisors at a hundred dollars. Consultants said the rule affecting more than 60,000 firms will drive many out of business: “What $100 will do is eliminate the industry.”
The Bank of Montreal has been fined $200,000 for breach of federal consumer protection regulations. It is the first scofflaw to be publicly identified under a 2018 Act of Parliament to name and shame violators: “That introduces an element of accountability that did not exist before.”
Access To Information records indicate public agencies awarded nearly $800,000 in subsidies to a private radio station to serve Edmonton’s French-speaking community, population 27,000. The city already has a French-language CBC Radio service: ‘Prairie residents are less enthusiastic about Canadian linguistic duality.’
Cabinet is amending its own budget bill to stipulate Canadians’ “right to adequate housing”. Advocates said it removes any ambiguity in the National Housing Strategy Act: “It is an historic moment.”
Human rights advocates have asked the Commons justice committee to revive a federal law repealed by Parliament six years ago as an infringement on free speech. Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act prohibited internet speech deemed likely to expose a person to “hatred or contempt”.
The CBC is a “beacon for truth” that does not require big viewership, its CEO yesterday told the Commons heritage committee. The network audience for local suppertime TV newscasts has declined 27 percent in two years: “Competitiveness: We don’t think of ourselves in those terms.”
The Senate administration is accused of contract splitting to evade fair procurement rules. Managers yesterday told the Senate budget committee they spent $95,000 to hire doormen and ushers without senators’ approval: “Rules were definitely bent if not broken.”
A sugar tax of as little as 20 or 30¢ on a litre of soda would encourage Canadians to curb consumption, says new University of Waterloo research. Data follow a 2016 Senate report Obesity In Canada that endorsed a sugar tax with consumption averaging 151 pounds a year per capita in Canada: “There is a price consideration.”
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board yesterday told the Commons finance committee it will no longer speculate in farmland. The Board’s earlier purchase of thousands of acres in Saskatchewan prompted a change in provincial law: “It seemed, theoretically, to be a very good idea.”
Cabinet yesterday said promised carbon tax rebates to small business will be detailed in June. Owners and operators will not receive simple refunds for higher fuel charges, said Environment Minister Catherine McKenna: “Too little, too late.”
