The Senate is being asked to probe a secretive $372.5 million loan to Bombardier Inc. A senior Conservative senator yesterday served notice of a motion to have lawmakers examine private terms and taxpayers’ cost of the Bombardier concession. The company in the past has sued to block disclosure of detailed subsidies: “We can get to the bottom of this whole sordid affair.”
Senate Conservatives are waging a last stand to save a union bill slated for repeal. Conservatives yesterday proposed 11th hour amendments to maintain secret balloting for certification of new unions in any federally-regulated workplace: “Be careful.”
Bank of Canada lawyers in a vulgar email said media deserve a “kick in the knackers” on copyright. MPs and senators this year undertake a statutory review of the Copyright Act for the first time since 2012.
A partner at the Bank’s law firm Borden Ladner Gervais LLP of Ottawa wrote the December 22, 2016 email to government attorneys following a cost award against Blacklock’s Reporter in a Federal Court copyright case. The Department of Justice recently released the email under Access To Information.
“WOW! Very well done…” said the redacted note; “A wonder kick in the knackers for Blacklock’s.” The name of the Bank lawyer who sent the message is censored.
Blacklock’s earlier filed a copyright claim against the Bank for sharing password-protected news stories without permission or licensing fee. Evidence submitted to Federal Court shows Bank employees bought a single $157 password, then copied stories to more than 100 staff in 2013 and 2014 as well as the Royal Canadian Mint.
The Bank at the time collected $1.24 million in licensing fees on its own copyrights in the period from 2011 to 2015, according to an Inquiry Of Ministry tabled in the Commons. The Mint’s copyright license revenues over the same period totaled $1.23 million.
Parliament last revised the Copyright Act five years ago with amendments to “update the rights and protections of copyright owners to better address the challenges and opportunities of the internet”, according to a preamble to the Copyright Modernization Act. Changes included provisions for “technological protection measures” like passwords.
“Respect for intellectual property is absolutely non-negotiable,” Senator Réne Cormier (Independent-N.B.) earlier told the Senate. “The same must be true for the integrity of creative works. That is why this chamber will need to pay close attention to the review of the Copyright Act coming this fall.”
“Although Canada has important legislation on copyright and the status of artists, Canadian creators face many challenges when it comes to respect for their work,” said Senator Cormier.
Blacklock’s has filed copyright suits against several federal departments and agencies for knowingly sharing passwords and copying works without permission or licensing fees. The Department of Justice in Court filings claimed federal employees have a right to copy thousands of password-protected works without permission in the name of media monitoring.
“There was no profit involved in the sharing of these articles,” federal attorneys wrote in a statement of defence on behalf of Health Canada. “Articles were shared for a non-commercial research and review purpose.”
Health Canada in the period from 2013 to 2016 copied Blacklock’s stories to more than 1,000 employees after buying online passwords for as little as $148. The department at the time spent $289,000 for media monitoring licenses.
By Staff 
Federal departments last winter paid nearly $5 million in Christmas bonuses to a few hundred senior managers. MPs protested the payments at the same time cabinet ran a $23 billion deficit and garbled payroll records for thousands of government employees: “It’s ridiculous.”
Farm groups and supporters fear new regulations to prevent animal suffering will harm industry. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency proposes to rewrite animal welfare rules for the first time since 1977: “Don’t give in to the irrational objectives of the animal activists.”
Experts testifying at the Commons health committee say there is no clinical evidence pornography is damaging Canadians’ mental health. MPs are conducting the first parliamentary review of obscenity in 32 years: “Adolescents are not having sex any younger.”
MPs are citing Transport Canada for “shocking” conduct disclosed in an audit of auto safety regulation. Auditors found the department was too slow to enact reforms, and too close to industry lobbyists in considering the cost to automakers of necessary improvements: “This is what makes people cynical.”
Federal agencies grew the TV budget last year, spending more than $2.5 million on thousands of new sets for teleconferencing and daytime viewing. The spending was 200 percent higher than normal, according to an Inquiry Of Ministry tabled in the Commons: “That blows my mind.”
The fisheries department is expanding regulations against shark finning after acknowledging rules are inadequate. Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc signed the confidential order to have ocean trawlers stop removing fins from sharks caught in longline nets. The memo was obtained through Access To Information: “This responds to international calls.”
A Senate panel yesterday approved passage of a bill prompted by an international incident along the Canada-U.S. border. The bill curbs zealous Customs enforcement against boaters, fishermen and whale-watchers who unwittingly drift into Canadian waters: ‘This happens thousands of times.’
Cabinet will take steps this year to deal with a multi-billion dollar Canada Post pension shortfall, says a Department of Finance memo. A 2014 order allowing management to defer pension solvency payments ends December 31: “Existing funding relief will expire.”
A national carbon tax will cost production and jobs, say Canadian cement makers. Executives testifying at the Senate energy committee blamed British Columbia’s 2008 carbon tax for layoffs at three plants: “Climate change is not for the faint of heart.”
Home builders and buyers will face new national standards on flood prevention, says a University of Waterloo researcher. Waterloo and the Standards Council of Canada will develop guidelines on floodplain construction: “Are there some developers who will push back?”
Whales in captivity have little scientific or educational value, say researchers. Two scientists appealed to the Senate fisheries committee to approve a bill banning the practice: “Their contribution to the conservation of Canadian species has been virtually zero.”
Few young Canadians, about 24 percent, would take a job with the RCMP despite millions spent on recruitment campaigns, says in-house research. The RCMP is short more than 1,000 constables, by official estimate: ‘There is a general lack of interest followed by the feeling it is dangerous.’
