Parliament has again bypassed combat veterans in hiring a chief of security, despite a bill on preferential hiring of ex-military. Authorities declined comment. Past security chiefs included two Victoria Cross winners: “These are men and women who served our country.”
The finance department withheld climate change documents from the Auditor General after censoring numerous public reports on its carbon tax plan. Cabinet yesterday said it won’t happen again: “Canadians want to know this.”
A first-ever air passenger rights bill to be introduced in the Commons shortly must mandate compensation for travelers, say critics. Canada is the only G7 country that obliges passengers to file unresolved compensation claims with a federal regulator: “We need teeth in the legislation.”
An internal Parks Canada audit has found widespread breach of federal contracting rules. Auditors complained contracts were not let in an “open, fair and transparent manner” as required by the Treasury Board: “There’s not an accountant in their right mind who would approve of this.”
MPs are questioning taxpayers’ exposure to loan guarantees under a new $35 billion Canada Infrastructure Bank. Members of the Commons finance committee yesterday sought assurances the public will not pay in case of loan defaults: “Who will repay taxpayers? Is it a) no one; b) the tooth fairy.”
Cabinet has “tough decisions” to make after federal advisors urged a radical overhaul of Canada’s oil and gas regulator, says Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr. An expert panel cited complaints the National Energy Board is secretive, Alberta-centric and beholden to industry: “Many Canadians simply do not trust the Board.”
The Coast Guard rates its fleet of icebreakers and heavy-duty vessels as unreliable, according to an Inquiry Of Ministry tabled in the Commons. An MP who requested the data described it as frightening: “We look like a Third World country.”
Access To Information memos suggest a federal agency funded human experiments with radioactive material. Cold War-era memos released by the National Research Council detailed grants paid to a University of Toronto lab for secret research: ‘Developments shall not be divulged.’
Cabinet is attempting to strike two Senate bills as unconstitutional. Both passed the Senate after lengthy debate and public hearings. One bill appoints an independent complaints investigator at the Canada Border Services Agency, the other mandates call-before-you-dig systems for federally-regulated utilities: “The two Senate public bills should be ruled out of order.”
Cabinet has reintroduced an RCMP union bill a year after the Senate amended terms to give police more bargaining powers. The Treasury Board proposed more rewrites, further delaying passage of the bill past two Supreme Court deadlines: “It created a significant period, still ongoing, of legal uncertainty.”
The Canada Revenue Agency is expanding its probe of Canadians with offshore accounts. Auditors filed an application with Federal Court for an order compelling the Royal Bank to disclose more information on clients that benefited from Panamanian shell companies: “They can put the squeeze on them.”
The Senate without fanfare yesterday passed a bill to ratify a Canada-European Union trade pact. Final approval came nearly four years after former Prime Minister Stephen Harper signed the agreement in principle: “Some groups expressed concerns.”
VIA Rail reports its lowest deficit since 2011 but warns there is no room for improvement on revenues. Management said so many trains now run late there is little incentive for Canadians to buy a ticket: “We have reached a plateau.”
High school marijuana users have lower grades, says a University of Waterloo study. The research is the first of its kind since the Department of Public Safety noted it had no data on the impact of legal cannabis on school performance: “There is much less research in this area.”
A Commons committee on electoral reform cost taxpayers more than half-a-million dollars, according to newly-released accounts. The Special Committee on Electoral Reform outspent all other House committees last year. Its recommendations were never adopted: “Is this the right time for this discussion?”
