Access To Information memos disclose federal trade commissioners were advised to help with “problem solving” for Canadian marijuana exporters a year before cabinet introduced a bill to legalize recreational cannabis. “There is a risk,” one executive cautioned in an email.
Federal agencies did not initiate a single prosecution last year in Canada’s $30 billion piracy racket. The Public Prosecution Service dropped all mention of enforcement of the Copyright Act and Trademarks Act in its latest annual report: “Canada is a great place to be a white-collar criminal.”
One in five Canadian travelers complain of unfriendly border agents, according to in-house research by the Canada Border Services Agency. Typical complaints involved rude treatment depending on the personality of the Customs officer: ‘Few felt these qualities were typical.’
The Public Health Agency of Canada in new research counts hundreds of serious lawn mower accidents. Injuries to homeowners included amputation of fingers and toes: “Fatal injuries are also under-represented.”
Credit checks on federal employees have cost millions, according to Access To Information records. The Treasury Board in 2014 mandated credit reports on hundreds of thousands of workers to test for “reliability”.
Canada Post yesterday estimated an arbitrator’s ruling in a pay equity case will cost about $242 million. Cabinet has proposed this October to introduce a Pay Equity Act for all federally-regulated employers: “The corporation does not know the final outcome.”
Marijuana advocates yesterday appealed to legislators to set aside public areas for cannabis smoking. Cabinet left regulation of public marijuana use to local authorities under Bill C-45: “It’s my right to be able to consume the product.”
A federal judge has dismissed a discrimination claim against the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority. The complaint was filed by an ex-employee of the Canada Border Services Agency who filed a separate $6 million racial profiling lawsuit against her former employer: “Those are very serious accusations.”
Federal agencies should pay small business to hire immigrants, says a Privy Council think tank. Authorities yesterday would not comment on the proposal by Policy Horizons Canada to have taxpayers subsidize entry-level jobs for foreigners.
Staff in a report Feminist Government suggested cabinet fund a so-called Social Impact Bond to award cash grants to small and medium-sized sized businesses that give preferential hiring to immigrants and refugees. “The team decided on a focus that would reduce the number of immigrant and refugee women who are not making use of their qualifications and skills in their working lives in Canada,” wrote a ten-member panel that authored Feminist Government.
The study did not calculate the cost or benefits, or impact on young Canadian unemployed. Authors of the self-described “feminist government team” included employees with the departments of Foreign Affairs, Indigenous Affairs, Infrastructure and Labour, the National Research Council, Office for the Status of Women and Shared Services Canada.
“Working with our stakeholders including input from within government, the Feminist Government Team developed a primary intervention, a Feminist Newcomer Talent Hub for women, trans and non-binary people,” wrote staff.
“The Government of Canada could promote supporting newcomers with various skills and abilities by providing small and medium-sized businesses with financial incentives for hiring newcomers and supporting their professional development,” said Feminist Government. “An approach using Social Impact Bonds targeting small and medium-sized businesses could be designed to promote two outcomes. Employers would collaborate with third parties such as employment agencies to prepare and match newcomers with job opportunities to increase hiring of newcomers by small and medium-sized firms.”
“Employers would facilitate work-related learning opportunities for newcomers in their employ to be ‘laddered’ into higher-skilled jobs, turning their entry-level positions into launch pads for career paths,” said the report; “A monetary value would be assigned to each outcome, to be paid to the employer on completion, and a third-party evaluator would monitor the number of successful outcomes.”
The proposal followed consultation with “over fifty experts”, said staff. None were named. The Privy Council yesterday would not say whether any business groups or taxpayers’ advocates were asked for comment.
The Department of Immigration in 2017 data submitted to the Commons immigration committee estimated 90 percent of Syrian refugees let into Canada remained unemployed. The per capita cost of government sponsorship was $26,000 compared to $13,500 for refugees with private sponsorships, by official estimate.
By Staff 
The Department of Natural Resources in a policy guide says homeowners must bring their properties “into the future” with a first-ever retroactive building code. The unpublished code to take effect by 2022 would cost homeowners up to $35,000, by official estimate: “Start adopting model energy requirements for existing homes.”
A federal agency mandated to promote “financial literacy” mistakenly claims Canadians need a bank account to cash a tax refund cheque. There is no such requirement under the Bank Act. The claim contradicted earlier statements by the same Financial Consumer Agency of Canada: “What if you don’t have an account?”
British Columbia’s highest court has upheld the Canada Labour Code firing of a call centre employee who blamed traffic for chronic lateness at work. The Court in a rare split decision ruled there are limits to excuses for tardiness: “Traffic was a bitch!!”
The RCMP spied on a former president of the Alberta Federation of Labour from as early as 1965, according to secret memos released through Access To Information. Police kept meticulous surveillance records on David Werlin, a 1990 candidate for presidency of the Canadian Labour Congress: ‘He makes frequent trips to Vancouver on CUPE business.’
A former government researcher alleges federal agencies concealed evidence of lead contamination from private homeowners in an Ontario community. The ex-staffer in a Federal Court lawsuit claims she suffered reprisal from management and was ultimately fired in 2017: “Management was concerned if residents were to be informed of contamination on their property they could sue.”
The Department of Fisheries is proposing first-ever national standards on coastal fish farms. The initiative follows a critical audit on environmental risks of salmon growers: “What are the gaps or weaknesses in existing management practices?”
