Auditor General Michael Ferguson is imploring MPs to heed his recommendation that regulators curb non-medical use of antibiotics. The Public Health Agency must provide leadership, the auditor told MPs: “There is currently no national strategy in place”.
Federal regulators are doing “solid” work on pesticides despite complaints chemicals have been licensed for years without risk assessments. The praise from the Commons health committee followed the first statutory review of regulators in seven years: “Is this the way to run a railroad?”
The government is dismissing a Commons bill that would cut the size of cabinet by one-third as an austerity measure. Canada has one of the largest federal cabinets in the democratic world at 39 members, including two ministers responsible for finance and two more for multiculturalism: “More focus, less process”.
RCMP management is attempting to stonewall a historic union drive despite a Supreme Court ruling, says a group attempting to organize the Mounties. Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney declined to comment: “They should be fair”.
A Commons committee has passed a bill proposing new enforcement on illegal fishing amid complaints that regulators have no estimate of the size of the black market. MPs on the fisheries committee endorsed the bill that sets $500,000 fines for importing or processing unlicensed fish: ‘We can’t know what we don’t observe’.
One of the country’s largest Catholic school boards is opposing a bill to designate November 11 a legal holiday. The Commons veterans affairs committee was told schoolchildren belong in class on Remembrance Day: “I don’t know what we’re trying to achieve here”.
Arctic development can’t be mandated around “conference tables in Ottawa”, says an analysis by the Conference Board of Canada. The report follows a ruling by the Northwest Territories Supreme Court that Parliament may have breached constitutional rights with a 2014 bill on development permits: “Think twice”.
A federal labour board has been ordered by the courts to reconsider a claim of mental distress by a public employee driven to tears by her dysfunctional workplace. Court heard conditions were so bad the woman barricaded herself in the office: ‘There was stress beyond all thought’.
Canada’s chief statistician is endorsing a Conservative bill repealing the threat of jail for people who submit false information in government surveys. Wayne Smith said the sanction was rarely sought, and only in “very unusual” circumstances: ‘It’s unreasonably harsh’.
Food giant McCain Ltd. is suing federal inspectors to prevent disclosure of trade secrets, attorneys say. The company seeks to block disclosure of confidential inspection reports from McCain’s flagship potato factory in New Brunswick: ‘They are the primary inspection tool’.
Management at the Canada Border Services Agency has still not streamlined its billion-dollar computer systems for monitoring cross-border traffic, says a federal review. The Auditor General said the agency has failed to complete an overall plan that avoids costly duplication: “It’s typical”.
The Canadian-led Arctic Council failed to play a leadership role on climate change, says research co-written by a former chair of the Canadian Polar Commission. Analysts said the international panel mandated to promote Arctic issues has fallen short in promoting cooperation on global warming and other issues: “The Arctic Council can’t accomplish what people expect”.
Parliament is not being told the value of tax giveaways including a 15% credit for mining companies, says the Auditor General. The office in a report said the Mineral Exploration Tax Credit, estimated to cost from $40 million to $100 million annually, is not evaluated by the finance department: “We’ll gladly do it”.
The Commons today is expected to pass a motion expanding federally-regulated security screening to regional airports across the country. Local authorities blame the lack of screening for loss of air routes: “Why did all this have to happen? That’s the part I don’t get”.
Health Canada has failed in its mandate to curb the non-medical use of antibiotics, says Auditor General Michal Ferguson. The auditor in a report noted regulators first proposed a national strategy on antimicrobial resistance in 1997: “It will likely be many years before there is one”.
