Employers’ groups are appealing to senators to retain a secret ballot provision of Conservative union bills slated for repeal. The 2015 ballot clause was written into legislation affecting 895,000 federally-regulated workers: ‘It is the most effective way to get a voter’s perspective.’
Contractors and tradespeople wait an average of nearly three months for payment on public works, says a Conservative legislator. The Senate trade committee yesterday opened hearings on a bill mandating prompt payment on government jobs: “They have absolutely no recourse.”
Painful waits on hold are the leading service complaint with the Canada Revenue Agency, says in-house research. Callers can wait up to 9 minutes on average to speak to an agent: “They would hang up and attempt to call again.”
The Senate yesterday passed an auto safety bill that allows manufacturers to negotiate out-of-court settlements over defective vehicles. Transport Canada has not launched any prosecution against an automaker since 1993: ‘The Act today does not provide Canadians with the same protection as Americans.’
Dozens of unfair labour practice complaints followed 2015 passage of a Conservative union bill, says the Canada Industrial Relations Board. Senators yesterday opened hearings on repeal of the bill mandating secret ballots for union certification in federally-regulated workplaces: “It did have an impact.”
Cabinet has gone too far in tightening restrictions on first-time buyers, says the nation’s largest private mortgage insurer. The finance department should “take a pause” before enacting any new curbs to cool speculation in hot markets, the Commons finance committee was told: “Study the impact.”
Publishing open court records on a for-profit website is a breach of privacy law, says a federal judge. The decision followed more than 200 complaints against a Romanian website that republished Google-searchable records from Canadian courts and tribunals: “The decision kind of muddies things.”
Most Canadians surveyed expect Parliament to regulate TV food ads targeting children, says the Heart and Stroke Foundation. The group cited private polling data that 70 percent of Canadians believe advertising is excessive and unhealthy: “Canadians want something done.”
Public Safety Canada has no reliable estimate on the scope and cost of organized crime, says new research. Ad hoc estimates put revenues in the tens of billions: “Organized crime remains underreported.”
The Senate has voted in support of a Canada 150 medal honouring Indigenous peoples as creators of a “better Canada”. Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly last year vetoed plans for a commemorative medallion marking the 2017 sesquicentennial: “What are we ashamed of?”
Federal agencies cannot define “green jobs” though they’ve promised to create thousands of them, says an Access To Information memo. “What is a green job?” said the 2016 report to the Minister of the Environment.
The Commons last night approved legislation to halt landfilling of mercury light bulbs within three years. The private bill passed without dissent after MPs deleted a requirement that Environment Canada mandate a safe disposal program on the provinces: “The bill provides guidance.”
Federal regulators know of at least 47 cases of lost or stolen radioactive devices since 2013, says the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. The “sealed sources” including gauges and meters containing radium, cesium, strontium and other materials: “Cesium is particularly long-lived and extremely dangerous if it is released.”
Parks Canada faces a $50,000 federal lawsuit by an ex-manager who alleges discrimination on the basis of bilingualism. The retired executive claims he was denied French training, then demoted: “He felt hopeless and betrayed.”
Federal agencies must review the impact of aquaculture on one of Canada’s iconic wild fish species, say MPs. The Commons fisheries committee yesterday said coastal fish farms may threaten Atlantic salmon. MPs also urged a government cull of grey seals in the name of conservation: “We were not going to tiptoe around the issue.”
