Federal regulators are issuing a national questionnaire to seek Canadians’ views on internet service. The initiative follows a sharp rise in complaints over billing and service: ‘It’s increasing year over year’.
Canada Border Services Agency has okayed a mammoth privatization of border crossings after citing “pervasive” maintenance costs. As many as 71 land crossings will be refit and leased to private investors. Contractors were warned not to speak to media: “The supported program of works spans all regions of Canada”.
The Supreme Court today hears an appeal that tests the scope of workers’ compensation. The lawsuit involves co-workers at a British Columbia lab who reported a suspiciously high incidence of cancer though no “causal” link to the jobsite was proven: ‘Evidence is available even if the science isn’t clear’.
Environment Canada is revising oil spill clean-up directives for industry for the first time in 16 years. It follows new research prompted by Enbridge Inc.’s Northern Gateway project: “Science continues to evolve”.
The St. Lawrence Seaway is raising tolls for a third year despite a sharp decline in traffic. Managers proposed a 2 percent increase in 2016, following combined 5.5 percent increases in two previous years: “The Seaway is the bellwether of the economy”.
The Royal Canadian Mint will not divulge costs after failing to find a U.S. buyer for electronic currency software it once lauded as “the future of money”. The so-called MintChip program was cited for a ten-fold increase in research budgets totaling $34 million: “A great name, mint cookie”.
The National Energy Board spent nearly $300,000 on a “national engagement tour” that didn’t include any public meetings. The initiative followed 2012 amendments to the National Energy Board Act limiting public testimony at licensing hearings: “We need to be far more attentive”.
The Department of Social Development admits little progress in a red-tape reduction measure passed by Parliament last year. The reform was calculated to save $47 million a year by simplifying the reporting of a taxpayer’s death to numerous federal agencies: “Its implementation will take place incrementally”.
Federal regulators are reviewing the state of local TV news following dire financial reports pointing to station closures. The CRTC said its “open to any other proposal” after cancelling $100 million-a year grants to smaller stations: “It’s not working”.
A “promising” federal anti-crime program for Canadian youth did not in fact reduce crime, new data show. The Department of Public Safety admitted “mixed findings” in a venture that saw delinquents taken camping and zip-lining at a cost of more than $7,000 for each participant: ‘It’s an unconfirmed crime prevention model’.
In a sign of a slowing economy, a federal agency proposes a new user fee on marine shippers to cover a growing deficit. The Pacific Pilotage Authority said its shortfall is due in part to a downturn in coal and forestry: “We burnt up almost all our surplus”.
A federal manager who claimed post-traumatic stress disorder from working in the Department of Human Resources has lost a claim for $100,000 in damages. The Federal Court of Appeal upheld a lower ruling that the woman’s tears were “short of proof” of mental suffering: “She became very stressed”.
Indigenous rights do not include driving without insurance or auto registration, a Court has ruled. The judgment came in a lawsuit by a member of Ontario’s Mohawks of Grand River fined $6,170 for motoring outside the Highway Traffic Act: ‘It is a fool’s errand’.
The Supreme Court tomorrow hears a landmark challenge on fracking. An Alberta rancher claimed Encana Corp. poisoned her well with toxic groundwater chemicals, then refused to answer complaints unless she stopped talking to reporters: “It is incredibly problematic”.
The defence department is assigning up to 40 employees to monitor social media in a bid to “identify trends” deemed a threat to national security. The program follows expansion of Facebook creeping by domestic media monitors in the Department of Public Works: “Insidious”.
