The Canada Border Services Agency has asked travelers what’s in their wallet even if cash amounts were permitted by law, according to Access To Information records. Enforcing Acts of Parliament can be tricky, said one staff memo: “We have received a number of complaints.”
Federal regulations cost individuals and companies more than $2 billion last year, new data show. Costs were up 33 percent from the previous year despite a 2015 law that promised to cut red tape: “It seems to be arbitrary.”
Tariff layoffs threaten to number in the thousands, the Commons trade committee has been told. The chamber of commerce in one Ontario county said it faces 5,000 manufacturing job losses if cross-border duties on steel and aluminum are not repealed: “That’s 1 out of every 4 jobs in our market.”
Health Canada says it is now in full compliance with its own drug safety law after a federal judge faulted the department for misconduct. Staff breached a 2014 law opposed by drug companies that promised public disclosure of data to protect patients: “It was all a façade.”
Victoria has Canada’s lowest urban jobless rate and is near full employment, according to Statistics Canada data. The British Columbia capital’s rate approaches previous records set by two Prairie cities: ‘Restaurants have shortened hours because they can’t get staff.’
Villages burned to the ground.
Mass gang rapes.
Genocide in Myanmar.
In Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh,
close to a million Rohingya find refuge.
Among them, Unia,
a proud mother of four.
Today, a mother of two.
Her shelter,
two blankets tied with ropes
held by twigs.
She looks at the camera,
wonders if anyone cares.
Canada listens, responds.
In a unanimous vote,
the House of Commons
passes a motion
to revoke Aung San Suu Kyi’s
honorary citizenship.
Carleton University
even strips her
of honorary doctorate.
(Editor’s note: poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, examines current events in the Blacklock’s tradition each and every Sunday)
Cabinet is repealing a law affecting cross-border travelers after losing a landmark 2017 court case. Judges upheld rights for travelers subject to searches for unreported cash: “The Canadian government has turned the Act into a kind of lobster trap.”
Cabinet yesterday declared in force regulations that would see companies fined $100,000 for failing to report breaches of customers’ personal information. Critics cautioned the measure contains numerous loopholes: ‘If I’m a large organization $100,000 is much less of a risk to me than having to go out and disclose.’
A bill to proclaim a new federal holiday should prompt provinces to follow Parliament’s lead, the bill’s sponsor yesterday told the Commons heritage committee. New Democrat Bill C-369 would declare June 21 National Indigenous Peoples Day: “It holds a special significance.”
A cabinet bill purported to repeal an unconstitutional speech gag on charities may actually tighten restrictions, MPs yesterday told the Commons finance committee. The bill followed a July 17 court ruling that faulted the Canada Revenue Agency: “We will need to grill the CRA.”
Liberal and New Democrat MPs yesterday co-sponsored a private Conservative bill offering aid to jurors. The bill followed tearful testimony at the Commons justice committee that saw ex-jurors describe the trauma of attending gruesome trials: “You have no idea.”
Cabinet yesterday confirmed it will review “increases in stringency” of its 12¢ per litre carbon tax on gasoline. Proponents have said at least 22¢ is needed to meet federal emission targets: “The overall approach will be reviewed by early 2022.”
Union executives yesterday questioned a feared loophole in a long-promised Pay Equity Act. The labour department did not explain the nine-word reference on the 342nd page of Bill C-86: ‘Our lawyers are looking at that.’
The billion-dollar failure of a federal payroll system has now garbled cheques for 62 percent of employees, Auditor General Michael Ferguson yesterday told the Commons public accounts committee. Ferguson estimated workers this year were shortchanged by more than a third of a billion dollars: “How do we know this won’t be repeated over and over again?”
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers last night called for members to refuse all overtime just weeks ahead of the profitable Christmas parcel season. Canada Post has warned of a general slowdown nationwide due to a series of rotating strikes: “We’ve had it.”
