Cabinet amendments to labour law will “virtually eliminate” the right to strike for 325,000 federal employees, says a national union. The Public Service Alliance of Canada told a Senate committee that changes to labour law are probably unconstitutional: ‘They effectively wipe out years of work’.
A long-promised rail reform bill intended to aid farmers may harm other shippers and industries, says a port official. An executive with B.C.’s Prince Rupert Port Authority said grain shipping quotas mandated by cabinet could simply delay deliveries of other goods: “We are concerned”.
Health Minister Rona Ambrose says she is troubled by Canada’s “normalization” of marijuana use, though her department is the first to privatize cannabis production for medical patients. Ambrose said too many Canadians think marijuana is harmless: ‘It concerns me greatly’.
A federal agency spent more than $100,000 to question jobless Canadians on how they pay their bills. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada hired researchers to interview unemployed people on topics like “making ends meet” and “keeping track of money”.
Authorities should investigate links between groundwater depletion and probabilities of earthquakes, says a Canadian researcher. Evidence suggests human activity including irrigation farming and oil drilling may stress rock formations: “The earth responds by flexing back”.
Parliament for a fifth time in 10 years will consider adding a new statutory holiday to the federal calendar. A private bill to proclaim November 11 a day off with pay was introduced by New Democrat MP Dan Harris in honour of Afghan War veterans, he said: “Of course there will be individuals who will treat it as a day off like any other”.
Finance Minister Joe Oliver faces questions after a confused appearance in the Commons that MPs described as “stupefying” and incompetent. In a late evening House session to review Department of Finance estimates, Oliver appeared to confuse “employment” and “unemployment”; could not recall if he’d read a specific report; and was cited three times by the Deputy Speaker for providing lengthy, rambling answers: “Everything was written down on recipe cards”.
Cabinet will permit expansion of truck routes through a national park to a Yukon zinc mine owned by Chinese investors. The legislation was quietly introduced as the Prime Minister announced with fanfare a new National Conservation Plan to promote nature: ‘They introduce these bills in the Senate to move them faster’.
MPs have rejected a bill to promote “buy local” food policies in federal contracting. The Commons killed the New Democrat measure by a 146 to 123 vote amid concerns that regulators could not easily enact the measure: “They would obviously have had difficulty in defining ‘local'”.
An unhappy hydro customer has lost his Supreme Court bid to argue for the right to receive utility bills by courier and not Canada Post. Justices declined to hear the case noting the definition of “mail” was clear: “When individuals read statutes they can often run into trouble”.
The Commons has rejected a proposal to hike the CBC budget amid disastrous revenue losses from its dropping of NHL rights. MPs rejected a New Democrat proposal to reinstate the last of federally-mandated cuts to the network’s budget: “I cannot see any purpose for English TV”.
Heavy Great Lakes ice has slowed shipping through the St. Lawrence Seaway to less than half normal cargo volumes to date. Shippers said ice conditions, the worst since 1979, put the freighting season weeks behind schedule: “It’s been a painful start”.
A Canada Border Services memo urging that guards save time and money by halting random searches for narcotics in shipping containers is an accurate outline of “priorities”, says an official. Authorities for the first time confirmed the memo published by Blacklock’s March 27 and suggested it remains policy: “If you’re one of our trading partners you really have to question where the security is”.
Transport Canada acknowledges for the first time no advance public notice is required of new safety regulations under changes to federal law. The admission came after exhaustive questioning in the Commons transport committee: “We should be very, very clear and honest about what’s going on”.
Cabinet should create a new federal office to ensure Canadian multinationals conduct themselves ethically, say advocates. The United Steelworkers, Canadian Catholics and others pressed for appointment of a mining and energy ombudsman. The appeal came a month after MPs vetoed an anti-corruption bill affecting multinationals: “Corporations have a duty”.
