Cabinet proposes to list a common soap additive as environmentally toxic. Manufacturers import 100,000 kilograms of triclosan annually, by official estimate. Environmental groups and the Canadian Medical Association have sought a triclosan ban since 2009: “Triclosan meets the environmental criterion for a toxic substance.”
Cabinet in an unusual concession is offering to delay full enactment of a budget bill amid Senate protests. Lawmakers yesterday threatened to remove a clause exempting banks from provincial consumer protection laws. The Senate hasn’t defeated a budget bill since 1993: “We are trying to find a way forward.”
The Commons last night unanimously passed a motion to investigate pornography, the first federal initiative of its kind since 1985. Proponents said Parliament should be prepared to regulate the internet: “It has to stop.”
MPs have completed a report on whether to mandate labeling of Canada’s first genetically-modified animal protein. A final decision will rest with Health Canada, said the chair of the Commons agriculture committee: “My personal opinion is eventually it will be.”
A bill to raise Canada Pension Plan premiums is closer to law following endorsement yesterday by the Senate social affairs committee. Union executives and the National Pensioners Federation support the bill; a small business group called it a “bulldozer” that will hurt employers: “Nothing is perfect.”
Cabinet continues to ignore the Fisheries Act by licensing new pipelines and advocating hydroelectric dams to meet climate change targets, says a leading Canadian researcher. The remarks came on the last day of Commons fisheries committee hearings on a new Act to be introduced in 2017: ‘It’s business as usual.’
Senators are considering amendments to a bank-friendly budget bill that exempts the nation’s largest financial institutions from provincial consumer protection laws. The Senate will also vote on whether to investigate the bank-funded Financial Consumer Agency of Canada: “We know about the power of the banks in this country.”
Cabinet will not meet its greenhouse gas emission targets without damaging the economy, says a federal scientific panel. The forecast came in testimony at the Senate energy committee, the only parliamentary panel examining the impact of a national carbon tax: “We tend to first set the targets and then stumble to try and figure out how to achieve them.”
Cabinet will “have to see” the impact of a 20 percent increase in Canada Pension Plan premiums, says Finance Minister Bill Morneau. The rise in mandatory payments takes effect in 2019: “Deal with it.”
Cabinet is repealing a little-used law threatening jail for Canadians who boycott the Census or submit false information on government surveys. The last prosecution was in 1983: “I want to see the list of Canadians who support putting people in jail for not filling out forms.”
The RCMP will not mandate the use of body-worn cameras by front line officers. The Mounties blamed costs and mechanical issues in concluding mini-cams are not feasible: ‘If taxis can do it, how dare the RCMP say they can’t do it.’
Cabinet should be stripped of its automatic veto over new licensing of interprovincial pipeline projects, says the Senate transport committee. Senators yesterday said pipeline approvals were too politicized: “We want to build pipelines.”
Senators are protesting a cabinet bill to exempt banks from provincial consumer protection laws. Legislators warned bank-friendly amendments will weaken customers’ rights. MPs last night passed the bill by a vote of 168 to 129: “Certainly the banks will love this.”
Foreign investors have attempted illegal purchases of Prairie farmland using local agents as fronts, says Saskatchewan’s agriculture minister. The testimony last night at the Senate agriculture committee came as lawmakers consider U.S.-style regulations to monitor foreign investment in farmland: “We’ve pretty well stopped any underground foreign transactions.”
Employees at three federal agencies quietly billed taxpayers more than $13,000 for GoodLife gym memberships in the past four months, records show. A budget line item described the spending as “corporate wellness”.
