The finance department misrepresented claimed “savings” when it ended production of the penny, newly-obtained Access To Information records show. Files indicate the department withheld details of millions in costs associated with eliminating the one-cent coin in 2012: “There have been some changes to the planned savings”.
Canada Post has lost a lengthy legal battle over the four-hour closure of a post office in an Atlantic fishing village. The Supreme Court of Newfoundland & Labrador ruled the Crown corporation had no right to close the hamlet’s post office on Saturdays: “We’ll fight”.
MPs are pressing Air Canada to divulge confidential records on customer complaints. The Commons official languages committee asked that airline executives disclose the value of out-of-court settlements with passengers who accused Air Canada of breaching the Official Languages Act: “There is a social contract”.
Senators in defiance of a cabinet request have rewritten an RCMP union bill. The Senate national security committee yesterday unanimously approved wholesale changes to broaden collective bargaining powers of a police union: “This has always been the sticking point”.
There is no evidence immigrant communities in Canada are hotbeds of homegrown terrorism, says a confidential Department of Public Safety report. The research obtained through Access To Information identified wariness over Islamophobia: “Political rhetoric concerning Muslims during the 2015 federal election campaign was also highlighted”.
The number of small businesses nationwide has increased 12 percent in the past decade, according to new industry department data. MPs yesterday struck an all-party small business caucus to promote the sector that numbers more than a million enterprises: “In the last recession the breaks and the bailouts went to Canada’s largest corporations”.
The Canada Revenue Agency has a legal right to pocket interest owed on pre-payment of disputed tax assessments, says a federal judge. The ruling came on appeal by an Alberta businessman who lost more than $160,000 worth of interest kept by the tax department: “This is a normal right of the taxpayer”.
Regulators must eliminate “mind-boggling” barriers to interprovincial trade, says the Senate banking committee. The panel yesterday proposed a 2017 deadline to boost trade between provinces, including one recommendation that drew protest from the Canadian Labour Congress: ‘These barriers are ludicrous’.
An appeals court has approved a first-ever trial on whether government-regulated casinos owe a duty of care in cases of gambling addiction. A judge likened casino corporations to barkeepers who “enjoy large profit margins” from customers who drink and drive: ‘More may be expected when an individual is out of control’.
The finance department won’t commit to regulating bank fees more than a year after promising to abolish charges for mailing monthly statements. The previous Conservative cabinet in 2015 had vowed to abolish paper statement fees but never amended the Bank Act: “We are paying close attention”.
RCMP management has a right to run the police force without negotiating every aspect of operations with unionized members, says Commissioner Bob Paulson. “What is so sinister about having someone in charge of something?” Paulson said; “I just don’t get it.”
A hunter who landed in a constitutional quagmire after shooting a polar bear has won acquittal in court. Government attorneys disputed whether the bear fell under federal or provincial jurisdiction when it ran onto sea ice off the Labrador coast: “Only in Canada”.
Clients give the National Research Council mixed reviews four years after the agency was pitched as a “concierge” for industry. A customer survey obtained through Access To Information cited complaints the Council is slow, costly and poorly managed: “Speed it up”.
Pay equity legislation for federally-regulated firms with as few as 15 employees would be a burden to small business, says an industry group. A Commons special committee has urged the law be enacted by 2018: “We’ll get another level of bureaucracy”.
Removing a Criminal Code ban on single sports betting would reap millions for provinces, cabinet has been told. Two provinces pleaded for repeal of the ban, according to newly-released Access To Information records. MPs are scheduled to debate repeal this Thursday: “It represents millions of dollars annually that could be used to bolster our provincial economies”.
