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’.
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission is too close to industry and should be replaced, say community critics. The Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility yesterday proposed tighter federal regulation of nuclear power producers: ‘If industry wants something, it’s fine’.
Cabinet must reverse a 2014 policy and regulate chemicals and additives used by shale gas drillers, says the Council of Canadians. The Department of the Environment last year exempted fracking toxins from its national inventory of industrial chemicals: “What is the long-term impact?”
The Supreme Court will hear arguments this autumn in a challenge of federal rail reforms by Canadian Pacific Rail Co. Judges agreed to consider a CPR appeal of regulations allowing greater competition in Western transportation: “I think they’re in for the fight of their life with these railroads”.
Cabinet hints it will appeal a court ruling that it allowed the private transfer of diseased fish into ocean pens in breach of federal regulations. “We are currently reviewing the decision,” said Fisheries Minister Gail Shea.
Cabinet has no true estimate of the country’s so-called infrastructure deficit but suspects it’s on a “positive trend”, says Infrastructure Canada. Municipalities nationwide have calculated the deficit at $120 billion worth of unfunded repairs to roads, bridges, utilities and other public works: “This is not an unimportant question”.
Canadians fear the “good times” are over, telling government researchers the economy appears stalled with fewer high-paying jobs available. The findings follow in-house polling and focus group interviews by the Privy Council Office: “The word most often chosen to describe the Canadian economy was ‘uneven'”.
The hard-luck cod fishery shows improvement but remains in a “critical zone”, say federal scientists. The research follows a small expansion of the 2015 fishery off Newfoundland & Labrador: “We don’t want to make the same mistake”.
A bill mandating disclosure of confidential labour data will cost Canada’s largest private sector union more than $3 million a year, says Unifor. Bill C-377 requires that all union locals submit annual reports on spending, including activities of contractors, union accountants and attorneys: “Unions are being singled out”.
The nation’s top amateur athletes earn just above the minimum wage and carry thousands in personal debt, says a federal Sport Canada study. The research was commissioned by the Department of Canadian Heritage that pays out grants to skilled amateurs: “Loans from family, and credit cards, are at the top of the list”.
A federal employee has won the right to overtime pay while sleeping on the job with management’s permission. The ruling by a federal labour board came in an unusual complaint from a Halifax dockyard worker: “Can a sleeping employee ever be considered to be at work?”
