Blacklock's Reporter

A Canadian university has received millions in U.S. grants to examine the unregulated e-cigarette market, the broadest research of its kind in Canada. The University of Waterloo study funded with $8.8 million from the U.S. National Cancer Institute comes more than a year after a Commons committee voted for quick regulation of electronic vaping: “When you don’t have evidence, then opinion fills the void”.

The Treasury Board is quietly disbanding a Conservative-appointed panel mandated to oversee red tape reductions. Members of the Red Tape Regulatory Advisory Committee are to be dismissed at month’s end: “We’re not surprised”.

The foreign ministry is placing a hefty order for new vehicles with no requirement that Canadian diplomats drive Canadian-made cars. The contract follows industry department memos that Canadian auto production is “relatively stagnant” and losing ground to Mexico: ‘It’s a competitive marketplace’.

The nation’s commercial fishing fleet faces millions in costs for safety upgrades under new Transport Canada regulations. It follows data that fisheries have a higher occupational death rate than policing or firefighting: ‘The number of accidents remains unacceptably high’.

A Prairie businessman has lost a federal lawsuit to retrieve nearly $68,000 in undeclared cash seized by the Canada Border Services Agency. The Court ruled the onus is on travelers to prove hidden banknotes are not the proceeds of crime. The Agency confiscates millions in undeclared cash each year: “This can hardly be characterized as unreasonable”.

Parks Canada is flouting a UNESCO deadline to report on the impact of oil sands mining and other industry on the world’s largest natural herd of wood bison. The Agency yesterday confirmed it will not meet a United Nations committee request for a “state of conservation of the property” at Alberta’s Wood Buffalo National Park: “This is shocking”.

Successful blood transfusions may be linked to the age and sex of the donor, says a new study by the University of Ottawa. Researchers tracked thousands of transfusion patients and donors in suggesting blood from women and younger donors resulted in poorer survival rates: “This should not deter people from donating”.

The Correctional Service committed “abuse of authority” in appointing a plumber to fill a job that required a post-secondary degree, says a federal labour board. An adjudicator ruled there was insufficient evidence to conclude the appointee had a “personal relationship” with a prison manager: “The appointment was not made on the basis of merit”.

Transport Canada for the third time in two years has been cited by a federal judge for improperly revoking security clearances for airport employees. Federal Court ruled the department got its facts wrong in stripping a Vancouver International Airport worker of his security pass: “The reasons conflict with the evidence”.

Fewer than 10 percent of nearly 12,000 people in Canada illegally were deported last year, according to new federal data. The chair of the Senate national security committee said the low rate is troubling: ‘Public safety should not be put in jeopardy’.

A justice department agency mandated to prosecute war criminals is down to a single Nazi-era file. The War Crimes Program has 30 employees and a $15.6 million yearly budget, but has not published an annual report in five years or convened a meeting of its research committee: “Canada’s visible leadership role is waning”.

A pledge by another province to disclose salaries for public employees paid $100,000 or more is prompting renewed calls for Parliament to publish its own so-called “sunshine list”. Newfoundland & Labrador’s promise to introduce a disclosure bill this fall followed a ruling by the island’s privacy commissioner: “The public should not be required to dig around to get this information”.

Travelers, airlines and transport companies could save millions with expanded pre-clearance of vehicles bound for the U.S., says Department of Public Safety research. The report put savings in the air sector, alone at more than $47 million a year: ‘Potential benefits are significant’.

The Coast Guard has been sailing on rationed fuel and ad hoc funding for decades due to chronic budget shortfalls, say Access To Information memos. Documents disclosed the emergency marine service missed revenue targets every year since 1998: “The Coast Guard was never able to achieve the fee amounts that would have allowed them to achieve their target”.

Transport Canada is under-reporting thousands of serious traffic injuries due to inadequate data, says a safety analyst. The department reported a 9 percent decline in serious injuries, according to the most recent annual figures: “We are not good at compiling this data”.