The federal Wireless Code for telecom consumers trumps all billing practices including corporate contracts, broadcast regulators have ruled. The CRTC order followed a request for an exemption from Rogers Inc.: “The Wireless Code has to apply across the board”.
Parliament must enact a sugar tax on soda pop if Canada is to lower obesity rates, say three of the nation’s largest health advocacy groups. Executives also urged a Senate panel to outlaw fast food advertising targeting children: “Canada needs to address sugary drinks”.
Canada’s usury law, unchanged in nearly 40 years, must be updated to counter “whack-a-mole” practices of predatory lenders, the Senate banking committee has been told. Senators are reviewing a bill to lower criminal interest rates to 21%: “Are people in debt because of payday loans, or are people going to payday loans because they are in debt?”
A bill introduced in the Commons would enforce a ban on a cosmetic additive already declared toxic by MPs. Pinpoint-sized polyethylene microbeads found in Great Lakes fish are under Environment Canada review: “It is not like a big oil spill that comes to your attention”.
Most social housing operators should be “financially viable” without ongoing subsidies, says the federal mortgage insurer. CMHC said in a report to the Commons it saw little need for continued aid for housing with expiring agreements: ‘Use your equity’.
A convicted drunk driver who complained his Charter rights were breached has lost a bid to take his case to the Supreme Court. Justices declined to hear the appeal from an Edmonton man asked to take four separate roadside tests, without a lawyer, till he blew positive for impairment: “This case tried to move the law a little”.
A Senate committee has speedily passed a bill mandating disclosure of confidential union data without a special exemption sought by hockey stars. The NHL Players’ Association earlier warned Bill C-377 would hijack multi-million-dollar licensing agreements for hockey cards, jerseys and other paraphernalia: “I’d like to move on with this”.
Environment Canada says there is no legal reason it cannot monitor and regulate hundreds of chemicals used by shale gas drillers nationwide. John Moffet, a senior regulator, told MPs he found no jurisdictional issue that would block federal supervision of fracking: “The short answer is no”.
Cuts to dairy and egg quotas would be a national tragedy that would see farmers sunk by the “gorilla” of subsidized U.S. imports, a Senate panel has been told. The caution follows cabinet’s approval in principle to a transatlantic trade deal granting European cheesemakers more access to the Canadian market: “We all know that when Americans decide they are going to do something, they really do it”.
An exasperated judge has cited lawyers and clients for time-wasting motions and applications in a routine insurance case. Attorneys were criticized for running up “unnecessary legal and accounting fees” in arguing over a $13,000 claim against TD Home & Auto Insurance Co.: ‘It’s one shovelful at a time’.
Canada Revenue Agency is spending more auditing charities than it is on tracking terrorist financing, says an assistant commissioner. The audit blitz follows a 2012 campaign targeting charities suspected of using preferential tax treatment to finance political activities: “We monitor media coverage”.
Parliament must veto any cabinet legislation that exempts aquaculture firms from full compliance with the Fisheries Act, says a British Columbia group. The Pacific Coast Wild Salmon Society petitioned every MP and senator with research accusing fish farmers of “shoddy management” and unsound practices: ‘They are changing the laws to fit the industry’.
Wealthier Canadians are depositing more than $5 billion a year in untaxed savings accounts under a Department of Finance program, records show. More than 1.1 million Canadians earning more than $100,000 a year take advantage of cabinet’s Tax-Free Savings Accounts scheme: “If you tax something less, government has to tax something more”.
A regulators’ ban on Canadian ads in the most-watched sporting event on TV will cost millions, says Bell Media Inc. The company filed a Federal Court of Appeal application to overturn an order by the CRTC: “The ads themselves are part of the program”.
A Texas poker pro who fled the U.S. to evade internet laws has lost a bid for Canadian residency. The Department of Citizenship doubted the gambler would make a “significant contribution” to the national economy: ‘He appears to have lucrative earnings’.
