A Tax Court judge has dismissed a five-figure claim by a wine connoisseur for the value of vintage labels donated to a food bank fundraiser. The true value of wine is no more complex than putting a price on a snowsuit, the Court ruled: “It appears very clear.”
Transport regulators have denied compensation to a Muslim Canadian who cancelled Air Canada flights for fear of being stranded in the U.S. by an Executive Order. Parliament on March 29 passed a bill mandating Canada’s first statutory compensation for air passengers: “We will move quickly.”
The Department of Health has gone on a hiring blitz in anticipation of legal cannabis, according to Access To Information records. The department spent millions on new staff to license and monitor marijuana sales: “This is the tip of the iceberg.”
MPs are expressing frustration after Deputy Public Works Minister Marie Lemay pled ignorance of key details in the Phoenix Pay System failure, expected to cost taxpayers $1 billion. Lemay in testimony at the Commons public accounts committee said “I wasn’t there” seven times: “I remain underwhelmed, Madam.”
Government agencies went on an Amazon shopping spree in the dying hours of the last fiscal year, according to newly-disclosed accounts. So-called “March Madness” sees federal departments rush to spend unused funds before the expiry of the fiscal year at midnight each March 31: “Many expenses do occur at the end of the fiscal year.”
A majority of Canadians complain that “too many minority groups are seeking special treatment these days”, according to in-house research by the Privy Council Office. The findings followed earlier federal surveys that concluded nearly 6 in 10 would exempt citizenship to children born here based on the immigration status of their parents: “I feel like I no longer know what it means to be Canadian.”
Nearly 1,800 bank branches have closed nationwide since 1990, according to research by Canada Post unions advocating for a revival of postal banks. Closures have left hundreds of small towns without a storefront bank or credit union, officials said: “There is no reason why Canada Post cannot go ahead.”
Detroit International Airport,
flight delayed.
Need something to do.
Across the hallway,
guards in tactical gear.
One holds a German Shepherd.
I consider pulling the fire alarm,
test their preparedness.
Ms. Frizzle would approve.
(Editor’s note: poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, examines current events in the Blacklock’s tradition each and every Sunday)
Cabinet must examine ways of making it easier to fire incompetent federal employees, a senior Treasury Board official yesterday told the Commons public accounts committee. MPs have questioned the government’s powers as an employer in the wake of the $1 billion Phoenix Pay System failure: “Are there enough consequences for poor performance in the public service?”
Environment Commissioner Julie Gelfand yesterday said she will audit cabinet’s carbon tax as early as 2019. Environment Canada has acknowledged neither the $50 per tonne tax nor other regulations to date will meet 2030 emission targets: “What is the plan? Let’s see some details.”
Hundreds of taxpayers a year are mistakenly declared dead by the Canada Revenue Agency, say newly-disclosed records. The data follow Department of Employment complaints that nearly $2 million a year is mistakenly paid to federal employees who really are dead: “I don’t know why it is so hugely difficult to efficiently manage a data system.”
Public institutions must lead in protecting copyright for Canadian creators, the Library of Parliament committee was told yesterday. “Traditional media are dying,” said Senator Michael Duffy (Independent-P.E.I.).
“I want to flag for you the fact that at a time when traditional media are dying for lack of revenues, there is a lawsuit against the Library of Parliament for the breach of copyright,” said Duffy. “I would urge you to make it a priority that the Library get its house in order as it relates to copyright.”
“We have people who generate copyright material who are dying or making a pittance because of abuse of copyright,” said Duffy. “I would urge the Library to be a leader in that field in observing copyright and protecting the works of our creative artists.”
Heather Lank, nominee for the $201,000-a year post as Parliamentary Librarian, replied: “Certainly, that’s an area where I will need to become more well-informed. Certainly I’ve made a note of the importance of that.”
The Library of Parliament is named in a federal copyright lawsuit by Blacklock’s after staff purchased a single $157 password and distributed works without payment or permission. Blacklock’s attorneys have attempted to bring the case to trial since filing the lawsuit in 2015.
“I think libraries are more important than ever because we are overwhelmed with information,” said Librarian Lank. “There is so much information out there that individuals – be they parliamentarians or Canadians – might have very easy access to information through Google and other mechanisms, but do you know that information is quality information that you can rely on?”
Eighty percent of the Library’s $48 million yearly budget is spent on salaries, by official estimate.
Canada Like North Korea?
Newspaper publishers in May 29 testimony at the Commons industry committee said free copying has damaged the industry. “Press freedom is not just a function of law,” said John Hinds, CEO of News Canada, a publishers’ trade group. “It depends on a market that can generate sufficient returns on the huge financial investments required to cover the large legal and commercial risk of the news business.”
News Canada estimates 16,500 journalism jobs have vanished in the past decade with the closure of dailies including the Barrie Examiner, Guelph Mercury, Halifax Daily News, Kamloops Daily News, Lindsay Daily Post, Moose Jaw Times-Herald, Nanaimo Daily News, Orillia Packet & Times and Prince Rupert Daily News.
MPs are currently conducting a statutory review of the Copyright Act, the first since 2012. Music executives yesterday urged the Commons industry committee to rewrite provisions that permit free use of creators’ material.
“The Copyright Act always has and always will be the keystone for the entire Canadian creative sector,” said Eric Baptiste, CEO of the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN). “Copyright royalties have always represented an essential part of the livelihood of our creators. This is the case more than ever today.”
SOCAN said copyright protection should be extended from the current 50 to 70 years past a creator’s death, similar to regulations in the United States and European Union. Music publishers have described copyright fees on popular older titles as an essential revenue source to fund new artists. “Canada is one of the laggards at the international level,” said Baptiste; “Does Canada want to continue to be in the same category as countries like North Korea or Afghanistan?”
Gilles Daigle, general counsel for SOCAN, said extending copyright would benefit creators’ heirs and their publishers. “We’re essentially asking for the same treatment for our members who ask, ‘What is it about us Canadian creators?’” said Daigle. “Are we not as worthy?’”
By Staff
Taxpayers now have a 22 percent chance of being misinformed when calling Canada Revenue agents. Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier in a report to MPs claimed progress from an average 29 percent error rate last year: ‘We will make call centres more agile.’
Federal inspectors in a costly admission yesterday said an unlicensed strain of genetically-modified wheat has been found in Canada. An earlier proposal to license herbicide-tolerant wheat prompted mass protests by leading Japanese buyers of the Canadian crop: “There are huge stakes at play.”
Cabinet yesterday rejected a key Senate amendment to its cannabis bill. Senators had sought to give provinces protection from legal challenges in enforcing local bans on home cultivation of marijuana: “Do I understand the Government of Canada would leave it totally to the courts?”
