Media groups testifying at the Senate legal and constitutional affairs committee yesterday criticized a cabinet Access To Information bill as weak. The Halifax-based Centre for Law and Democracy earlier rated Canadian legislation worse than Bulgaria’s: “We recommend it be rejected out of hand.”
Dividing the old Department of Indian Affairs into two new agencies cost taxpayers more than $150 million, according to a federal report and financial accounts. Authorities had declined comment to date on the extra expense: ‘Some participants expressed concern it could result in confusion.’
Airport managers testifying at the Commons transport committee yesterday depicted noise complaints as overblown. One authority said just four people accounted for hundreds of complaints to the Vancouver Airport Authority. Calgary managers credited 2 people with logging 2,700 complaints: “Some feel they need to complain three times a day.”
The National Research Council yesterday said it will try to calculate costs and benefits of climate change upgrades to municipal infrastructure. The Council identified “knowledge gaps” that could cost ratepayers billions nationwide: ‘Consequences can be quite significant.’
The Department of Justice made a federal court case out of 10 apples, according to documents. Lawyers fought to uphold an $800 fine against a woman who carried fruit from her mother’s garden through Customs.
Elena Klevtsov of Toronto was fined in 2015 for failing to declare the fruit on her arrival at Pearson International Airport following a flight from Moscow. The $80-per apple penalty was issued under the Canadian Agricultural Products Act.
Klevtsov in 2016 successfully appealed the fine at the Canadian Agricultural Review Tribunal. “This is not a full murder trial,” the Tribunal wrote in its 2017 decision. Government lawyers successfully overturned the Tribunal’s dismissal in the Court of Appeal.
“The evidence before the Tribunal was that she ‘forgot’ the apples,” wrote Justice Donald Rennie. “Forgetfulness is simply a plea of mistake of fact, which is unavailable to her.”
Klevtsov could not be reached for comment. In an earlier submission, Klevtsov explained she was injured prior to boarding her flight in Moscow and was in pain and disoriented when questioned by Customs agents. “On October 8, 2015 my mother gave me snacks to eat on my way to the airport,” wrote Klevtsov. “Among them were some apples from Ukraine. I had them in my carry-on.”
“On the stairs to the airplane I was pushed by an unknown person from the back, and fell down the staircase,” Klevtsov continued. “I was found bleeding and could not stand up. I hit my head and nose. I had a concussions, scrapes and bruises.”
Klevtsov said she took painkillers during the flight to Toronto, and subsequently forgot about the apples stored in her luggage. “I did not mean to make a false statement in my declaration or lie about those apples,” she wrote. “If I had remembered them, I would have thrown them out. But at the time I was in serious pain, bleeding in my arm, and could not think properly.”
Klevtsov submitted four pages of medical records in evidence, including X-rays. Federal lawyers argued there was no proof she was confused. “The medical records relied on by the Tribunal do not qualify,” wrote Justice Rennie; “The records are not from psychiatric specialists.”
“The requirement of psychiatric evidence is critical,” wrote the Court. “It stems from the basic observation that courts, and most administrative bodies, are not comprised of medical experts.”
“She made the decision to board the plane rather than miss her flight,” said Justice Rennie. “On arrival at Pearson International Airport, she completed the Customs Declaration card, retrieved her luggage, and had a discussion with a Canada Border Services Agency officer. The officer’s notes of the conversation between her and the respondent do not indicate incoherence or disorientation.”
The department did not detail the cost of its appeal.
By Staff 
The CRTC yesterday revived a decade-old proposal to fine broadcasters rather than pull licenses for breach of regulations. No television station has ever had its license forcibly revoked by Commission, though five radio licenses have been pulled since 1970: “That’s not going to happen and we know it.”
Cabinet yesterday introduced a long-promised Pay Equity Act mandating compensation for underpaid women in federally-regulated workplaces. The law would not take effect until 2022 at the earliest. Estimating costs is impossible, said Labour Minister Patricia Hajdu: “It’s a very difficult thing to assess.”
Environment Minister Catherine McKenna yesterday would not disclose the impact of new carbon tax exemptions on federal emission targets. Cabinet’s plan was 29 percent short even before cabinet approved new waivers for greenhouse gas polluters: “It is hard.”
Copyright and trademark owners yesterday appealed to the Commons industry committee to tighten piracy laws. The Public Prosecution Service has not prosecuted a single counterfeiter since 2014: “If you look for it, you’re going to find it.”
The Senate banking, trade and commerce committee yesterday expressed dismay over RCMP inaction on cyber crime. The Mounties earlier testified corporate breaches of Canadians’ personal data are not a Criminal Code matter: “It is alarming.”
The Federal Court of Appeal yesterday upheld an ethics ruling one advocacy group called a charade. The Commissioner of Ethics was sued over a 2016 decision allowing then-Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc to endorse a so-called “conflict of interest screen” over dealings with a New Brunswick millionaire: “They are a reasonable exercise.”
Environment Canada in a rare emergency order admits it miscalculated greenhouse gas emissions by more than a million tonnes. Staff blamed a faulty survey that would have seen Canada violate a treaty to cut emissions of a common coolant: “Immediate action is required.”
Conservative MPs are appealing this week for a Commons committee hearing to examine cabinet’s carbon tax and rebate program. “Action on climate change is not a gimmick,” Environment Minister Catherine McKenna told reporters.
Cabinet says it has no plans to legislate an end to rotating Canada Post strikes now entering their second week. The Canadian Union of Postal Workers has scheduled a series of one-day strikes in cities following unsuccessful contract negotiations: ‘We believe in collective bargaining.’
The Department of Finance is formally repealing part of the Income Tax Act already struck down as an unconstitutional speech gag on Canadian charities. “This is a huge victory for the charitable sector,” said an Ottawa group that successfully challenged the law in Ontario Superior Court.
