A mysterious spill of contaminated water near a national park is prompting contradictory statements by federal agencies. The Department of Fisheries reported an Encana Ltd. offshore gas rig near Sable Island, N.S. spilled 250,000 litres of oily water. Environment Canada confirmed the spill. Encana and a Nova Scotia regulator flatly denied the incident: “This spill took place”.
MPs are refusing to estimate the extent of the nation’s infrastructure “deficit”. The Commons transport committee reported the cost of needed repairs to roads, bridges and utilities is subjective and incalculable: “There is little agreement”.
RCMP would see appointment of an independent ombudsman and third-party oversight panel under a Liberal bill introduced in the Senate. The measure comes ahead of a 2016 deadline to unionize the national police force by order of the Supreme Court: “We need somebody”.
Canada proposes first-ever standards on basic training for ground search and rescue teams. The national standard follows three years of review by operators: “With a GPS in hand Canadians may be more willing to trek into increasingly remote areas”.
Senate Liberals are launching a last-ditch filibuster on Bill C-377 to delay for days or weeks a final vote on the measure compelling disclosure of confidential union data. Lawmakers yesterday slowed Senate proceedings on a procedural vote, and began reading into the record letters and emails from constituents opposed to the bill: “We could be here till August”.
The Senate has passed into law a bill on marine conservation of the North Shore of Lake Superior, world’s largest freshwater lake. The bill allows existing permit holders to draw water from Superior, including one pulp mill, a golf course and three Ontario municipalities: “I won’t hold it up any further”.
Federal agencies spent a fortune on a three-month Twitter and Facebook ad blitz without any assurance the marketing actually works, says an MP who requested the data. Social media ads cost taxpayers $1.58 million in the period from February to April, newly-released accounts show: “That’s my money”.
Canadian cities face extreme weather events that threaten local water and sewer systems, warns a municipalities’ report. The cost of needed refits and repairs is estimated at $80 billion: “This is particularly problematic”.
No DNA privacy bill will pass this Parliament as a genetics protection Act remains stalled in the Senate. The bill would outlaw insurance companies’ use of DNA testing on policyholders: “The Senator is still working on her notes”.
The Senate last evening rejected further witness testimony on a bill compelling unions to publicly disclose confidential data. The Senate’s Conservative majority dismissed the opposition motion without comment by a vote of 40 to 23: “This will really be something”.
A federal survey of pension planners cost the equivalent of more than $150 per brief phone call, according to accounts. The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions paid researchers $41,189 to call 272 executives asking if they were satisfied with the service: “Overall, how effective do you think the Office is?”
Cabinet has approved a 2016 Census questionnaire that will again ask how many same-sex couples have wed a decade after gay marriage was legalized. The last national survey found gay couples accounted for 0.8 percent of families nationwide: “What is the relationship?”
Environmental Canada has been lax in monitoring chemical dumping in the Great Lakes under an agreement signed three years ago, say advocates. Eleven million Canadians draw their drinking water from the lakes: “The federal government is just not paying attention”.
A protection agreement with Chinese investors will have far-reaching impact and should not be repeated with other foreign speculators, says a legal scholar. The Canada-China Foreign Investment Promotion & Protection Agreement binds cabinet to a 31-year pact: “It’s a very expansive notion of property rights of foreigners”.
The Conservative chair of the Senate banking committee is defending an exhaustive 15-month study of bitcoin at the expense of other bills to modernize usury laws and lower merchants’ credit card fees. The committee’s bitcoin report was fed to an industry group and Bitcoin Magazine before it was given to reporters or the public: “Another big thanks needs to be given to Irving Gerstein’s former assistant”.
