Transport Minister Marc Garneau says cabinet will restrict access to workplace cameras mandated for locomotives nationwide. Unions object to a cabinet bill that exempts train crew from privacy laws: “Only certain people will have access to the data.”
Airline executives are appealing to the Commons transport committee for limits to a passenger rights bill. Neither Air Canada nor WestJet detailed the number of complaints they receive each year: “We don’t need to be regulated to tell us to do the right thing.”
Property owners predict endless squabbles between condo and apartment renters under a federal bill sanctioning home cultivation of marijuana. Landlords in at least two provinces will be unable to write a cannabis ban into existing leases: “Landowners will essentially lose the rights to their own property.”
Parliament will see a “Wild West” in maritime shipping with further deregulation detailed in a federal bill, the Commons transport committee was told yesterday. Legislation would expand the rights of foreign vessels to ply Canadian ports: “What does this mean for the future?”
Air passengers have lost another legal challenge of fuel surcharges. The British Columbia Court of Appeal dismissed a proposed class action lawsuit against Air Canada and four other carriers over fuel “taxes” charged through travel agents: “Airlines are legally entitled.”
Police are pleading for time with amendments to a cabinet proposal to legalize recreational marijuana. Law enforcement yesterday told the Commons health committee police are unprepared for the impact of the legislation, and lack necessary funds and training: “It’s impossible.”
Union executives yesterday protested a bill to exempt railroaders from federal privacy law. Legislation would allow live streaming video and audio of locomotive crews: “It’s easy to give away someone else’s privacy.”
Railways claim a federal bill promising competitive freight rates will cost Canadian jobs. Executives yesterday appealed to MPs to reconsider amendments to shippers’ regulations: “This takes jobs away. “
Cabinet is seeking candidates with experience in labour relations as new directors of Canada Post. The current 10-member board is comprised of Conservative appointees faulted in Parliament for cutting home delivery, raising stamp prices 35 percent, and advocating 2011 back-to-work legislation later found unconstitutional: “It’s like they’re running a candle factory after lightbulbs were invented.”
The Canada Revenue Agency says it’s losing nearly $9 billion a year in unpaid income tax, not including unreported billions squirreled in offshore accounts. Long-sought data on the “tax gap” still fails to capture all losses, said a Liberal senator: “That’s a guesstimate.”
The Canadian Transportation Agency says it is now averaging 20 to 40 complaints a week from airline passengers. The regulator fields more complaints in a month than it did in entire years due to introduction of a passenger rights’ bill: “It’s lunacy.”
Railways may randomly listen to recordings of employees at work under a federal safety bill, says the chair of the Transportation Safety Board. Unions oppose the mandate to install video and voice recorders in locomotives nationwide: “Railways have often demonstrated a very rules-based punitive culture.”
The Department of Health says Canadians may see a patchwork of provincial marijuana laws under repeal of a 1923 ban on recreational cannabis. There is nothing to stop legislatures from tightening legal limits on possession, said a senior department lawyer: “Provinces have the flexibility.”
Transport Canada in what it calls a “sensitive” project is reviewing costs and benefits of an expanded St. Lawrence Seaway. Any expansion should alarm environmental groups, said a former Conservative senator: “Hopefully there will be public consultation on this.”
Veterans Affairs Canada spent more than $10 million on ceremonies marking the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge. The budget included a quarter-million dollars to send 39 RCMP officers to France, according to Access To Information files: “I recall you mentioned $12 million.”
