The Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board has overturned the firing of a prison guard for marijuana use. The Board said the employee, though lacking in common sense, did not deserve dismissal for carrying cannabis in a government vehicle: “I think this is a serious lack of judgment.”
Marine shippers yesterday applied for an exemption from the national carbon tax, one day after MPs voted to exempt 46,000 commercial fishermen. A lobbyist told the Senate energy committee the tax will cost shippers millions: “There’s a lineup at the door for everybody who wants to be exempted.”
Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould yesterday criticized senators for deleting what she called the “centrepiece” of a cabinet bill on impaired driving. The Senate legal and constitutional affairs committee voted down random roadside testing as unconstitutional, a position endorsed by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and advocates representing 36,000 lawyers: “I think it’s irresponsible.”
The Commons finance committee last night voted to exempt Canada’s 46,000 commercial fishermen from paying the national carbon tax. The vote on a snap amendment followed “unrelenting pressure” against the tax, said one MP: ‘There is a possibility we might go further.’
Cabinet predicts taxes on legal marijuana will raise more than $400 million next year, with three-quarters of revenue earmarked for provinces. “It’s a little bit challenging to determine what the market is today,” Liberal MP Bill Blair told the Senate national finance committee.
The Senate legal and constitutional affairs committee last night vetoed a cabinet proposal for random roadside alcohol screening. Senators said the bill is likely unconstitutional and would mire courts in costly litigation: “Explain the logic.”
The Canada Revenue Agency in a Commons report will not say what, if any, discipline was imposed on two employees named in the malicious prosecution of a small business. One agent was faulted for misleading statements; another wrote an email suggesting the business owners deserved to be guillotined: “Where is the Minister?”
The Senate yesterday took up a usury bill with calls to further reduce the criminal interest rate. The debate follows 2018 court rulings in British Columbia and Ontario on exorbitant charges on small loans: “We must do better.”
Parliament should tightly restrict cannabis advertising if legislators repeal a 95-year ban on recreational marijuana, a University of Waterloo professor has told the Senate social affairs committee. Advocates urged senators to regulate cannabis as strictly as tobacco: “Pound for pound, cannabis smoke is just as toxic as tobacco.”
Environment Minister Catherine McKenna yesterday told the Senate energy committee a national carbon tax is not intended to hurt Canadians, but acknowledged there will be losers. McKenna would not disclose estimated costs of the tax on households: “My goal is to reduce emissions; it’s not to hurt people.”
One in four Canadians surveyed admit to stealing copyright material online, according to Department of Industry research. The unpublished findings were disclosed yesterday at the Commons heritage committee: “They go to find anything they can without paying for it.”
The Commons justice committee yesterday proposed that provinces raise pay and offer free counselling to jurors. The recommendations followed tearful testimony from jurors who complained of mental anguish from attending gruesome criminal trials: “It’s like a plane crash.”
A federal consultant yesterday said Parliament should rewrite its Pilotage Act to cut labour expenses. The statutory review cited a “commonly-voiced industry perspective that pilotage costs in Canada are too high.”
The Commons finance committee by a 5-4 vote yesterday rejected a proposal to maintain tax-free medical marijuana for 270,000 registered users nationwide. A cabinet bill to legalize cannabis would tax medical marijuana at the same rate as recreational drugs: “It will have a very negative effect.”
The Senate in a 41 to 31 vote yesterday accepted a final Commons rewrite of a transport bill. Senators had attempted to expand rail shippers’ rights and faced “near instant rejection” by the Commons, said the chair of the Senate transport committee: “Take heart.”
