Tax Court has upheld a 50% penalty for gross negligence in the latest unraveling of a cross-Canada fraud. A now-defunct consultancy Fiscal Arbitrators Ltd. coached tax filers to claim cash refunds for non-existent business losses: “There was something seriously wrong.”
Environment Canada says it has yet to levy any fines under Administrative Monetary Penalties Regulations that took seven years to draft. The system was designed to avoid costly prosecutions of poachers and polluters: “We’re currently rolling out the regime.”
Canadians expect federal regulators to fine companies that sell customers’ personal data, says in-house research for the Privacy Commissioner. Parliament in 2014 rejected a private bill to levy $500,000 penalties for corporate breaches of individual privacy: ‘Information is being collected and shared without consent.’
The Department of Agriculture killed a “buy local” reference in the Canada Food Guide. Confidential memos and emails obtained through Access To Information detail heavy lobbying on behalf of food processors: ‘It might lend credence to criticisms the process was unduly influenced by the food industry.’
A federal agency on jobsite safety says the impact of legal marijuana is “unknown”. The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety advised employers to hire a lawyer: “Will provinces have to rewrite policies and regulations on workplace safety?”
Toronto has used an obscure provision of an Act of Parliament to permanently trademark itself as “Canada’s downtown”. MPs have debated repeal of the odd section of the Trademarks Act that allows public agencies to claim exclusive rights to ordinary words and phrases: “A lot of people are upset with this provision of the Act.”
The defence department has filed a lawsuit after being cited for mishandling a contract. The Canadian International Trade Tribunal on June 14 faulted the department for cancelling work it had already awarded to an Ottawa consultant: “It’s a pain, but it’s all part of doing business.”
Department of Justice research shows Canadian fear the crime rate’s higher than it really is. Department consultants blamed media: “You don’t know what the truth is when you are seeing it in the media.”
A federal employee denied access to personal records for nearly two years has filed a claim in Federal Court. Even a complaint to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada did no good, according to Court documents: “There are incredible delays.”
Natural wetland filters may save Canadian waterways from toxic farm chemical runoff linked to algae bloom, says University of Waterloo research. Environment Canada has attempted to curb phosphorous runoff under a cross-border treaty with the U.S.: “We have to protect these wetlands.”
Former employment minister Pierre Poilievre is declining comment after being cited for breaching federal law. The Commissioner of Elections said the MP for Carleton, Ont. sought to gain advantage for the Conservative Party at public expense. “We will not be giving interviews at this time,” said a spokesperson for the MP.
This rest area
by the nature trail
could use some clean-up.
Spotting what people left behind,
my mind reconstructs the narrative.
Here’s an apple core.
I imagine someone
biting into the fruit.
Over there, an empty can of Coke.
I can see someone
enjoying the drink.
Under the oak tree, a condom wrapping.
(Editor’s note: poet Shai Ben-Shalom is an Israeli-born biologist who examines current events in the Blacklock’s tradition each and every Sunday)
More than a third of Canadians, 39 percent, fear they will be personally affected by climate change disaster within their lifetime. The research was commissioned by Health Canada: “Do you think it is likely that a disaster caused by extreme weather will occur?”
The Federal Court of Appeal yesterday faulted the National Energy Board as “confused” and wrong in law when it failed to order hearings on a pipeline application. The Board was successfully challenged by a British Columbia contractor: “It’s the obligation of citizens to hold their feet to the fire.”
The Federal Court of Appeal has ordered a human rights investigation on whether a bank properly pulled a mortgage from a marijuana user. The judgment is the latest on far-reaching impacts of legal cannabis on property law, zoning and insurance: “The Bank does not allow marijuana in their communities.”
