Few Canadians will work for a secretive federal spy agency, according to in-house research at the Communications Security Establishment. The agency is hiring, but found two-thirds of respondents aren’t interested: “I don’t want to work in Ottawa.”
The Commons access committee yesterday approved a bill narrowing Canadians’ ability to obtain government records. Opposition MPs noted cabinet had promised more disclosure in 2015: “This whole thing was a bad-faith process and a sham.”
Cabinet is noncommittal on an MPs’ proposal to issue fines for breaches of the Official Languages Act. Treasury Board President Scott Brison yesterday avoided comment in testimony at the Senate languages committee: “Who knows?”
A former Canadian Bar Association director has successfully fought a $25 parking ticket in appeal court. The Supreme Court of Newfoundland & Labrador noted a credit card meter was malfunctioning and “many individuals do not carry coins”.
Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc says cabinet will stand by a Crown corporation that failed three federal audits in 12 years. Members of the Commons public accounts committee earlier suggested closing the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corp. as an “absolute mess”.
Environment Minister Catherine McKenna yesterday said owners of older homes should welcome a chance to renovate. Regulators are drafting a 2022 energy code that would compel homeowners to upgrade furnaces, roofs, windows and insulation when they sell their property: “You didn’t answer my question.”
As many as 76 percent of teenagers and adults did not get a flu shot last year, says new Statistics Canada data. One MP said the low rate was unsurprising despite Public Health Agency ad campaigns: “We have a lot of work to do.”
Wholesale spam volumes have increased 350-fold in 20 years, a web security consultant yesterday told a Commons statutory review of anti-spam legislation. Internet spam filters, not regulations, were credited with blocking most unsolicited emails: “Ask yourself, did my spam volume go up that much? No, it didn’t.”
More than a million Canadians have signed electronic petitions since Parliament introduced the system two years ago. Officials yesterday told the Commons committee on House affairs that petitions on issues from Sharia law to electoral reform drew tens of thousands of signatures: “We should be as expansive as possible.”
Cabinet yesterday introduced a bill mandating that all federally-regulated employers, including Parliament, enact anti-harassment policies. Regulations would affect some 895,000 workers nationwide: “There will be laws in place.”
Canada Post is predicting a record 20 percent growth in parcel revenues this year. One executive yesterday told the Commons trade committee that parcel revenues will soon eclipse $2 billion annually: “Wow, there’s a lot of room to grow there.”
The Commons access committee yesterday rejected substantive changes to a bill restricting Access To Information disclosures. Opposition MPs described the bill as so flawed it is beyond improvement: “This bill takes us backward.”
Statistics Canada says it will undertake a national survey on a common household carcinogen, but not until 2020. The last cross-Canada study on radon gas in 2012 found about 7 percent of households are exposed to unsafe levels: “Attention to radon has lagged in this country.”
Cabinet yesterday rejected any revisions to bankruptcy law prompted by the collapse of Sears Canada. A second private bill was introduced in the Commons that would protect employees’ pensions in case of corporate insolvency: “Sears Canada is only the tip of the iceberg.”
MPs yesterday made short work of a bill to bury a historical controversy by proclaiming Charlottetown the birthplace of Confederation. The Commons approved the bill in principle at Second Reading without a dissenting vote after one hour’s debate: “We work together.”
