Blacklock's Reporter

A cabinet proposal to raise Canada Pension Plan premiums 20 percent has prompted the Commons finance committee to convene a rare special hearing. The committee meets tomorrow at Conservatives’ request to consider a study of proposed changes to the CPP: “We need to know exactly how much this is going to cost”.

Government employees should not need more than a few minutes to pull records for release to the public, a provincial commissioner has ruled. Saskatchewan Information Commissioner Ronald Kruzeniski ordered an 88 percent discount in fees charged for disclosure of public documents: “We go down to the records dungeon and it’s going to take hours and hours and hours”.

Cabinet and staff billed thousands in airline change fees over a five-month period, according to accounts tabled in Parliament. Extra costs to change ticket reservations included fees to have one cabinet minister’s director of communications “provide support” for a media interview: “These change fees apply to all passengers at all times”.

Health Canada in a pesticide alert is urging homeowners to discard old insecticide stocks containing malathion. The department said the product could “become a concern” if stored over a year: “It’s a big deal”.

Liberal MPs are awaiting a nod from cabinet before proceeding with a first-ever federal DNA privacy bill. The Commons sponsor of the bill, already passed by the Senate, said the Minister of Justice has given no indication whether cabinet will support the measure: “Free votes are not always really free”.

Canada Revenue Agency is right to fire a longtime employee for reading individuals’ private tax records, a federal labour board has ruled. The judgment follows Access To Information disclosures that privacy breaches of personal tax files account for nearly a quarter of all disciplinary action against Agency employees: ‘The right to privacy must be protected’.

An oil spill from an abandoned Atlantic trawler cost taxpayers more than half a million dollars, Court records disclose. The former navy dive vessel HMCS Cormorant sank at Bridgewater, N.S. last year: “We have little authority”.

One of Canada’s leading marijuana paraphernalia dealers has won another five-figure Federal Court judgment for breach of trademark. It is the third win for Trans-High Corporation in three years: “I understand the applicant’s frustration”.

Only 202 medically-released veterans have been hired under a federal “hire a veteran” bill in the past year, records disclose. Thousands more applied for jobs in the 493,000-member public service: ‘It is not a priority’.

A federal agency is in court with another small business alleging a technical breach of Parliament’s anti-terror law. The Financial Transactions & Reports Analysis Centre claims $13,000 in penalties from a jeweler for paperwork errors: “It’s almost as if they were nitpicking”.

In a proposal long sought by golfers, a private Conservative bill before the Commons would allow tax deductions for players’ expenses. A similar bill lapsed in the last Parliament: “It’s a matter of fairness”.

A 10-year dispute over trademark piracy has ended in a $316,000 judgment against a retailer selling fake Chanel products. The award is one of the largest issued by Federal Court in a counterfeiting case: ‘Malicious, oppressive and high-handed misconduct warrants a condemnation’.

Blacklock’s Reporter pauses today to observe the 122nd Labour Day in tribute to Canadian workers nationwide. We will be back tomorrow — The Editor

A new federal subsidy for families with children this year will cost $3.4 billion more than similar programs, says the Parliamentary Budget Office. Total cost of the tax-free Canada Child Benefit introduced July 1 is $16.9 billion this year: “The new program is certainly more generous”.