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”.
Parks Canada has raised fee revenues by up to 42 percent since 2006 amid agency complaints of declining attendance at parks and national historic sites. Documents show the department collects tens of millions of dollars a year in admission and camping fees: “Parks are national treasures that are becoming less and less accessible”.
Canada Post is accusing of running the clock on a pay equity dispute dating back 23 years. The Crown corporation earlier waged a separate 28-year battle on pay claims by women clerks that was finally settled by the Supreme Court: “The length of this case offends the public conscience”.
A proposal to submit all government advertising to a third-party auditor has been blocked by the Commons’ Conservative majority. Federal advertising has cost taxpayers more than $750 million since 2006, by official estimate: ‘That buys a lot of insulin pumps for kids with diabetes’.
A former Canada Revenue Agency auditor has been cited in Tax Court for incorrectly claiming tens of thousands of dollars in business losses. The purported losses followed a failed attempt to launch an in-flight magazine for airline passengers: ‘He did not feel the need for due diligence’.
Canadian shipowners are pledging $1.5 million in new research in a bid to comply with U.S. environmental rules feared to restrict trade. The U.S. earlier ordered that Great Lakes shippers plying Atlantic waters must install costly equipment to treat ballast water before calling on American ports: “We’re under scrutiny”.
