A bid to press one of the Canada’s largest environmental class action lawsuits has failed at the Supreme Court. Justices declined to hear an appeal from homeowners in Cape Breton who complained of industrial fallout from a century of steel-making: “It’s a travesty”.
Canada Border Services Agency has quietly resumed installation of audio-visual recorders at airports and land crossings after a public outcry prompted suspension of the surveillance program three years ago. The agency confirmed it has lifted a ban on installing recorders. In a confidential memo, management said the surveillance equipment was needed to spy on employees suspected of criminality: “This is shocking”.
Changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program will see thousands of migrants lose their work permits beginning April 1. The impact has prompted Unifor to launch an information hotline for foreign hires, the first of its kind: “There is a big deadline coming up”.
The Supreme Court will hear arguments today in two key cases challenging the reach of the Bankruptcy And Insolvency Act. Delinquent drivers in two provinces are attempting to overturn rules that denied them a license for non-payment of penalties even after being discharged from bankruptcy: “It affects a large number of people”.
Maritime lobster fishermen say they are making progress, slowly, in adopting reforms to save the industry from a devastating price collapse. P.E.I. harvesters said they proposed to move closer in 2015 to creating a marketing board financed by a levy on fishermen: “We don’t have this opportunity very often”.
Cabinet’s mammoth omnibus budget bills will ultimately be tested in the Supreme Court, says a B.C. attorney who successfully challenged Parliament’s methods in amending the Fisheries Act. The upcoming 2015 budget bill is the first since a judge ruled cabinet ignored a legal requirement to meaningfully consult on changes to federal law: “Canadians should be outraged”.
The Government of Canada in a blistering judgment has been cited for breaching the Canadian Human Rights Act. A federal adjudicator ruled Employment Canada hounded a disabled employee out of his job after 20 years’ service: “The story ended sadly”.
Federal research on oil spill scenarios off the British Columbia coast raises questions over cabinet’s 2014 approval of the Northern Gateway project, says an advocate of a tanker ban. The fisheries department is contracting $50,000 worth of “oceanographic monitoring” of the Douglas Channel near Kitimat, B.C., future site of an Enbridge Inc. tanker terminal: ‘They gave the green light’.
Federal spending cuts mushroomed from $3.8 billion to $14.6 billion in the first half of the fiscal year, says the Parliamentary Budget Office. The fiscal watchdog reported direct program spending fell 2.3% compared to the same period last year: ‘There is a problem’.
The Supreme Court will rule Friday on whether to lift a 95-year union ban in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The judgment follows adoption of new RCMP Regulations that forbid police from criticizing management: “Now is the time to bring them into the 21st century”.
There is virtually no chance of a toxic spill at sea in the Canadian Arctic, though any fuel leak would devastate pristine wilderness areas, says a confidential Transport Canada report. The 2014 assessment rated the odds of a fuel spill at once every 778 years: “A spill of refined cargo products is predicted to occur close to every 3000 years”.
The St. Lawrence Seaway saw a 7% rebound in year-over-year traffic this season, its best year since the 2008 recession, by official estimate. The Seaway Management Corporation said actual traffic of 39.6 million tonnes was just short of its target: “The Seaway proved its value”.
Canada should reclaim John A. Macdonald’s Ottawa home as a bicentennial memorial to the Founding Father, says a Conservative cabinet member. Earnscliffe, a 19th century manor where Macdonald died in 1891, is currently the residence of the U.K. ambassador to Canada: “Wouldn’t it be great?”
Toronto’s Pearson International is the most irritating airport in the country, according to complaints logged by Canada Border Services Agency. Documents cite hundreds of grievances a year, ranging from inadequate signage to “infrastructure”. Winnipeg and Halifax had among the fewest complaints: ‘Toronto is always going to have the most’.
Defaults on government-guaranteed loans to small business average $75 million a year, records show. Industry Canada said it has no plans to lower loan limits raised five years ago: “The decision to grant a loan rests entirely with the lender”.
