Canada could become a preferred destination for climate change refugees, says a government think-tank. Officials in a policy statement described the prospect as an economic opportunity for the nation: “It’s pretty bizarre, really”.
MPs fear cabinet will amend a DNA anti-discrimination bill despite unanimous support on Second Reading in the Commons. Supporters expressed alarm the bill would be rewritten to protect insurers: “We have started to hear rumours the government may have reservations about this bill”.
A bill to rewrite the national anthem faces serious opposition in the Senate after speeding through the House of Commons. Revising the anthem with gender neutral lyrics is “tinkering with history”, said Senator Nicole Eaton (Conservative-Ont.): “Let’s not tamper with iconic pieces of our historic past”.
Cabinet is promising answers on whether it contemplates cuts to Crown pension plans. The finance department in 2014 began drafting proposals to strip retirees’ benefits to save costs: “You see a trend to moving away from defined contributions to targeted benefits as a cost-cutting measure”.
Federal agencies in the past year have charged taxpayers nearly a quarter-million dollars in penalties for failing to pay their phone and cable bills on time. Late fees at the CBC cost nearly $12,000. The government’s IT department billed more than ten times as much.
The finance department in a secret memo warns Canadians will see less take-home pay and fewer jobs with a planned 20 percent increase in Canada Pension Plan premiums. The “negative impacts” will last for years, the memo said: ‘It will reduce workers’ take-home pay and increase employers’ wage bills’.
Senators are questioning a cabinet bill that allows automakers to negotiate out-of-court settlements for selling defective vehicles. The Department of Transport could not name a single criminal prosecution of any automaker in Canada, including cases linked to deaths and injuries: “There has to be a fail-safe here for the protection of consumers”.
Cabinet within weeks will outline new proposals on employers’ use of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, says Labour Minister MaryAnn Mihychuk. Migrant hirings fell 23 percent last year following curbs on permits: “It’s very close”.
Natural Resources Canada will spend $200,000 on a fire preparedness program for communities and homeowners. It follows a department warning of more catastrophic wildfires in future years: “They will be more expensive to manage”.
Legislation to create a first-ever RCMP union has “disappeared” in Parliament, say Senators. The bill has yet to be reintroduced since the Senate amended terms last June 21 to widen police bargaining powers: “I wonder what happened”.
A derelict freighter in the St. Lawrence River has cost taxpayers more than $4 million, new data show. Disclosure of ongoing costs of the abandoned vessel follows MPs’ approval of a motion to federalize clean-up of hundreds of derelict boats nationwide: ‘It’s getting worse and worse’.
Parliament should restore habitat protections under the Fisheries Act, environmental and fisheries groups have told MPs. Witnesses at the Commons fisheries committee complained of political influence that prompted 2012 amendments to the law: “There is essentially no federal protection for fish habitat or water in Canada”.
A federal agency will spend $3.78 million to encrypt government-issue mobile devices. Cabinet has not addressed concerns that private messages transmitted by 98,000 government BlackBerry devices are exempt from public scrutiny: “The secrecy loopholes are huge”.
Cabinet is endorsing a Conservative proposal for the first federal investigation of pornography since 1985. MPs from all parties yesterday expressed support for a Commons committee probe of explicit internet content: “This is an issue close to the hearts of many Canadians”.
Parks Canada has not reviewed the effectiveness of federal fines on scofflaws in years, records show. The Agency handed out fewer than 3,000 tickets in the past decade for a range of offences from illegal fishing to operating off-road vehicles in national parks: “Offences are way too common”.
