Health Canada is promising the public cheaper prescription drugs with the first major revisions under the Patent Act since 1987. The proposals are not retroactive, and would not take effect until 2019: “Canadians are not getting value for money.”
A single federal agency is budgeting nearly $400 million to clean up contaminated Crown lands. The cost of remediating all known contaminated sites is estimated at ten times as much: “There is never any guarantee we won’t find more.”
Legislation to exempt train crews from federal privacy law is a “perfect storm” on workplace surveillance, says a senator. The cabinet bill would mandate locomotive video and voice recorders sought by railways: “They are important issues.”
An 1874 provision of the Canada Elections Act requiring candidates to post cash deposits is dead. Cabinet confirmed it will not appeal an Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench ruling that struck the law as unconstitutional: “More Canadians, not fewer, should be able to participate.”
The Canada Revenue Agency admits it knowingly misrepresented public data by claiming a 6 percent inaccuracy rate in answering taxpayers’ questions at federal call centres. Internal reviews showed the rate was at least 20 percent. Auditors said the actual fail rate went as high as 84 percent: “There hasn’t been an apology.”
Long-promised reforms to an Arctic food subsidy must wait another year, says Northern Affairs Minister Dr. Carolyn Bennett. The department’s own research shows Northerners don’t trust the program that costs taxpayers $78.3 million annually: “What would it look like if it actually met the needs?”
New data suggest elimination of a costly tax credit for public transit users had no impact on ridership. Statistics Canada yesterday released figures indicating ridership was stable or actually increased despite loss of the 15 percent Public Transit Tax Credit: “This was never going to work.”
The Department of Industry will not disclose if it imposed any climate test on Canadian corporations that receive millions in federal aid. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation yesterday released Access To Information records it requested indicating all emissions analysis data is “fully excluded from disclosure”.
Passengers trapped inside two grounded Air Transat flights for up to six hours must individually negotiate compensation with the company. Federal regulators yesterday fined the airline $295,000 but ruled travelers were entitled only to refunds for out-of-pocket expenses: “Where does the money go?”
The army yesterday said there is no evidence suicide rates are higher in the military than the general public. Even combat veterans who served in Afghanistan are no more likely to commit suicide than civilians, said researchers: “Our organization to some degree is a reflection of the general population.”
Lobbying Commissioner Karen Shepherd says a single lawsuit over a Liberal fundraiser threatens the viability of her entire agency. Shepherd yesterday pleaded with the Commons ethics committee for special funding to hire counsel: ‘If the office does not have the financial capacity to meet the legal challenge, future enforcement of the Lobbying Act is in jeopardy.’
A Crown lender is blaming oil prices for a 12 percent rise in loan defaults. The Business Development Bank said Prairie borrowers accounted for most credit losses: “This has a domino effect.”
MPs have amended a Pacific oil tanker ban to limit cabinet’s powers to quietly issue confidential waivers to individual shipowners. Transport Minister Marc Garneau had pledged there was nothing “sneaky” in the original bill: “It is so they’re not operating in secrecy.”
Members of the Commons ethics committee yesterday approved extra funding to clear a backlog of thousands of Access To Information Act complaints. Even more requests for help are expected under a cabinet rewrite of the Act: “There is an appetite among Canadians for having more information from their government.”
The Senate yesterday opened debate on a tax evasion bill with criticism of the Canada Revenue Agency as ineffectual and untrustworthy. One Senator complained an Agency employee called his office posing as a concerned citizen to obtain a copy of the legislation: “Canadians can’t trust them.”
