Cabinet is effectively rolling back Conservative changes to the National Energy Board Act that limited the scope of public hearings on pipeline projects. Final decisions on two pipeline expansions already under review will be deferred for months: “We will do this right”.
Directors and senior executives of publicly-traded companies face caps on benefits under a Liberal bill introduced in the Senate. The bill also imposes term limits on directors: ‘Let’s get competent directors who recruit competent managers’.
The Canada Revenue Agency cut payouts 23 percent under a tax credit scheme it dubbed an “open bar” for industry. It followed an increase in fines on companies that falsified claims in applying for the Scientific Research & Experimental Development tax credit: “You can’t have an uncapped program”.
Canadians have a 100 percent chance of waiting on the phone when they call a 1-800 federal call centre with pension complaints, record show. It follows a pledge to “transform” communications with taxpayers: “They would disconnect you, and you’d call back later”.
Health Canada has never revoked a single conditional permit for the sale of any pesticide even if manufacturers failed to comply with federal regulations, a new report discloses. “There appeared to be no consequences,” wrote Commissioner of the Environment Julie Gelfand.
Thousands of Canadians are asking Parliament to enshrine gun rights in the Constitution, ban cat fur imports and permit visa-free travel by Ukrainians under a new electronic petition system. It follows a warning to MPs that anything goes with internet signature campaigns: “I’ve never been an enormous fan of e-petitioning”.
The Canadian Tourism Commission is hiring consultants to determine if its internet marketing program actually works. It follows a 19 percent budget cut four years ago, and the $150,000-a year sponsorship of foreign-language Tweets: “Most newspapers still have a travel section”.
Cabinet expects quick reforms of the National Energy Board following a federal audit that cited the regulator as inefficient and inadequate, says the Minister of Natural Resources. A random audit of 49 licensing conditions on pipeline companies found more than half, 25, were not properly monitored: “It’s not well organized and they’re not talking to each other”.
Federal lawyers improperly concealed government documents sought in a Charter of Rights case, a federal judge has ruled. The Department of Employment falsely invoked solicitor-client privilege to withhold a report that wasn’t written by any of its solicitors: “Access to information is a fundamental human right”.
Cabinet faces fresh demands for reform of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program following restrictions imposed in 2014. Advocates for migrant farmworkers said foreigners should be allowed to become permanent residents: “It isn’t going anywhere”.
Federal police are expanding an auto theft sting in the province with the sharpest rise in stolen vehicles. Electronic surveillance will see bait cars equipped with hidden cameras, streaming video and secret audio recordings to catch thieves: ‘The equipment is invisible to the naked eye’.
Farm leaders and chemical manufacturers say they welcome an end to conditional federal licensing of pesticides after years of protest. Regulators said by June 1 they will abolish the practice of licensing chemicals without full, public health and environmental risk assessments: “They were ‘temporary’ but have lasted anywhere from 10 to 20 years”.
America’s pet fetishism could be a recession-proof opportunity for sharp-eyed Canadian processors, says a Department of Agriculture report. The department marveled at Americans’ “tendency to humanize pets” in research released through Access To Information: ‘Owners view themselves as pet parents with surrogate children’.
RCMP recruitment has fallen to less than half what it was in 2009 despite costly ad campaigns, and enrollment of new cadets in their 50s. New data follow in-house research concluding Mounties are underpaid at $85,000 a year: ‘Members find their compensation unattractive’.
New rules sanctioning chemical use by aquaculture companies will kill wild species, commercial fishermen have told regulators. Petitions to the Department of Fisheries obtained through Access To Information warned of far-reaching effects from 2015 amendments to the Fisheries Act: “How will our industry be protected?”
