The Department of Agriculture in a draft report says researchers should examine insects as part of the nation’s diet. One Canadian cricket rancher said powdered insects are gaining popularity as industrial feed and supermarket additives: ‘It tastes like food.’
Employment Canada yesterday reported a 50 percent non-compliance rate in worksite inspections of employers who hire migrant workers. Staff told the Commons public accounts committee that breaches of regulations were commonplace, though all inspections were pre-arranged: “This does not look good on you or the department.”
A federal labour board has cited the Canada Border Services Agency for age discrimination. The Agency was ordered to pay $25,000 for its “humiliating” treatment of a longtime employee: “It was based on a stereotyped view unsupported by the facts.”
The Commons health committee will conduct hearings on national drinking water guidelines. Environmental groups have repeatedly faulted regulators for failing to monitor tap water for dozens of pollutants: “You might start to focus on some pesticides and pharmaceuticals that we see in source water.”
Shippers say a cabinet bill to limit Pacific coast oil tanker traffic may breach a United Nations treaty. The cabinet bill restricts tankers carrying more than 12,500 tonnes of crude oil from anchoring or unloading on the northern British Columbia coast: “This legislation sets a precedent.”
Two Senate bills have survived a cabinet challenge. Commons Speaker Geoff Regan yesterday ruled the bills – including one opposed by the Department of Public Safety – should proceed to debate and votes: “These bills may continue.”
A Nova Scotia court has rejected a traveler’s claim for $25,000 against Air Canada for alleged theft of jewelry in luggage. The release of the judgment came as MPs opened final debate on a bill mandating the nation’s first statutory passenger bill of rights: ‘This is really something I wish had been done about ten years ago.’
About 1 in 5 federal employees say they have been victims of harassment at work, according to a Treasury Board survey. Forty percent of public servants questioned said they found their jobs emotionally draining: “The results are troubling.”
Staff with two federal agencies yesterday complained to the Commons access committee of onerous public requests for documents. A cabinet bill would grant departments new powers to dismiss applications for records: “There should be some limit on that.”
Cabinet yesterday introduced legislation to force owners of all large ships to submit proof of insurance. The bill follows repeated attempts to clean Canada’s harbours of some 600 derelict vessels: “This has to stop.”
Regulators are proposing to expand an ethanol mandate that’s seen producers receive subsidies of up to 10¢ a litre. Independent economists have rated the program a costly failure in meeting climate change targets: ‘The cost has been very high.’
Access To Information records show the 2016 firing of a Crown corporation CEO followed a confidential probe of expenses and alleged “misappropriation” of travel rewards points. Authorities have refused to release details of an in-house forensic audit of the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation: “We ask that you not comment on whether there is an investigation.”
The Commons has passed a marijuana-impaired driving bill on warnings cabinet failed to address the impact on workplace drug bans. MPs approved the bill on a voice vote, with a formal recorded vote scheduled for later today: ‘They’ll blame the provinces when this thing becomes a complete national mess.’
A federal agency has disclosed a record $31 million payment by pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline for irregular pricing in Canada. The voluntary compliance agreement is detailed in the latest annual report of the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board: ‘It’s a record, one-time excess revenue repayment.’
A national panel of economists says cabinet should consider subsidies for industries hardest hit by the 2018 carbon tax. The Ecofiscal Commission warned of so-called carbon leakage that would see exporters having to “eat those costs” or move production out of Canada: “It’s a thing you want to avoid.”
