Environment Canada is again accused of breaching its own Species At Risk Act. The department was cited in a 2014 Federal Court ruling for failing in its public duty: “There is no sense of urgency.”
The Canada Revenue Agency confirms it continues to catch employees snooping through individuals’ personal tax files. The Agency launched an integrity campaign three years ago to halt the practice: “The Agency has increased privacy training.”
Firefighters, police and prison staff in Canada are more likely to report symptoms of mental distress than army combat veterans, says new research. The federally-funded survey led by the University of Regina noted civilian employees are also likelier to report symptoms than front-line workers: “It is surprising.”
Environment Canada yesterday struck a national climate change panel to monitor preparedness for flooding and other impacts. The appointment came as the Department of Natural Resources predicted Atlantic and Pacific coast sea levels will rise up to a metre this century: “We will have to adapt to extreme weather.”
In a back to school ruling, a Court of Appeal has upheld a six-month suspension for a teacher cited for grade fixing. A Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation ethics committee said the misconduct “tends to harm the standing of the profession.”
The industry department in a memo says cabinet must address the effect of a carbon tax on vulnerable groups. The tax to be phased in next year will add up to 12¢ a litre to the price of gasoline: ‘Governments have to address the impact.’
Health Canada is hiring tutors to teach staff to master English. The department did not disclose the number of employees who cannot carry on an English conversation: “Most federal employees are already English speakers.”
A federal judge has awarded a Canadian firm $30,000 in damages for infringement of its stork-and-baby trademark. The ruling ends a six-year feud between rival lawn sign companies: “I am conscious that they are not unique in their association of an image of a stork.”
New Statistics Canada data confirm Canadians remain exposed to lead, arsenic and other toxins, but at levels rated safe by the Department of Health. Staff said it would be premature to draw conclusions on long-term trends in human biomonitoring: “They’re still out there.”
A cabinet-appointed Indigenous healer is being paid $55,000 a month to speak with former Indian Residential School students. The contract is nearly double the salary paid the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: ‘I have signed a contract to deliver some programming as well as community visits.’
The CRTC turned a 20 percent profit on the sale its national Do Not Call List to telemarketers last year. The federal regulator would not say if it will lower fees: “It’s essentially functioning as a loan to the CRTC.”
The Canada Border Services Agency faces a $6 million racial profiling lawsuit by a former employee. The staffer in a Federal Court application accused managers of discrimination and nepotism: “When I needed somebody to help me there was nobody, so go to hell.”
Federal prosecutors confirm they did not open a single new piracy case last year though copyright and trademark counterfeiting is estimated in the billions. One senator described the track record as inexplicable: “Are they looking in the right places?”
A federal tribunal says sharp comments in the House of Commons are no cause for human rights complaints. The ruling came in the case of an MP accused of hurtful remarks in debate: “Freedom of speech is not confined to popular points of view.”
Statistics Canada has released a catalogue of public complaints against some of its 25,000 Census enumerators. Records detail home visits that “did not go well”, including allegations part-time staff drove across lawns and threatened householders with fines or jail time: “I’m from the Census and I can stay if I want.”
