Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc is named in a federal lawsuit by a Québec Indigenous group over protection of fishing grounds. An attorney who filed the case said it is raises crucial questions on Fisheries Act enforcement: “There is a principle here.”
The Department of Social Development plans continuous polling of job seekers after a study found its Employment Insurance website is so convoluted, 1 in 4 had trouble filing a claim. Staff called the exercise a client experience survey: “Smooth movement is inhibited.”
The hiring of migrant labour lowered wages for Canadians in some jobs, says a government report. The 2016 Employment Canada research was obtained through Access To Information: ‘Temporary foreign workers had a negative effect on wages for a few occupations across the country.’
Environment Canada in confidential memos says it has no intention of banning toxic lead in retail products after decades of research. Staff blamed costs and jurisdictional issues with provinces: “Why has it taken so long?”
A group of 174,500 federal retirees has lost a Charter challenge of health plan cutbacks. A federal judge ruled former public servants had no claim to keep premium rates clawed back in 2014: ‘It was not guaranteed as a term of employment.’
The Standards Council of Canada says poor indoor air quality is costing employers billions a year in lost productivity. Researchers said sick leave attributed to allergies, headaches and other ailments is expensive: ‘It’s amazing that small improvements can make a difference.’
Parks Canada is to unveil a commemorative plaque to former Governor General John Buchan, a Nazi appeaser who described critics of Neville Chamberlain as “donkeys” and said Hitler’s 1938 occupation of Austria was “very largely our own blame”. Members of the Historic Sites & Monuments Board that approved the honour yesterday could not be reached for comment: “It is possible to overdo it.”
Department of Public Safety roadside tests for drug-impaired drivers failed 13 percent of the time, according to in-house research obtained through Access To Information. Even police officers tested positive for drugs. Authorities withheld the data in touting the program as a success: “Malfunctions were reported.”
A Court has ruled travelers who suffer lost luggage cannot sue for the loss of vacation time. The judgment came in the case of a St. John’s couple that accused Air Canada of spoiling a ski holiday: ‘Damages for loss of enjoyment are not recoverable.’
The Public Prosecution Service has given up on piracy after reporting few copyright and trademark investigations in past years. An attorney with the Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Network described the government’s record as scandalous: “Prosecutors aren’t interested.”
Finance Minister Bill Morneau says cabinet must shield taxpayers from “potential excess housing market volatility”. Morneau in a letter to the Commons finance committee said a severe shock, though unlikely, could sink homeowners with high mortgage debt: “Rule changes are having their intended effect.”
RCMP maintained a network of labour informants for 40 years, according to declassified files from the Mounties’ Security & Intelligence Branch. Unions under surveillance included CUPE and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers: “Communists intend to bring about an economic crisis which would result in the eventual collapse of capitalist society.”
A compensation fund intended to save taxpayers the cost of cleanup from a catastrophic rail oil spill totals just $8.3 million after its first year. The fund was prompted by $409 million in claims from the 2013 Lac-Mégantic disaster: “We have taken the first step.”
Government salary disclosures under the nation’s newest sunshine list were so broad they breached privacy law. Newfoundland & Labrador Privacy Commissioner Donovan Molloy said staff were too enthusiastic in disclosing pay: “These lists elicit strong reactions.”
Cabinet in 1956 feared specially-trained Chinese saboteurs would parachute into the Arctic. The threat is detailed in declassified Cold War documents released by Library & Archives Canada: “I don’t know what they would have hoped to achieve.”
