A federal commissioner says Agriculture Canada’s new royalty system for plant breeders will not punish growers with higher costs or onerous restrictions. Critics charge Bill C-18 will impose unprecedented patent costs on growers: “There’s lots of choice out there”.
A federal probe of dramatic hikes in propane prices has ended with a finding of no proof of collusion or price-fixing. The Competition Bureau concluded there was no evidence of unfair trade practices as prices rose as high as 71.5¢ a litre: “You can imagine my shock”.
Parks Canada counted phantom schoolchildren in misrepresenting the success of a $1.6 million promotion, documents show. The agency claimed tens of thousands of teenagers as participants in a program though Statistics Canada reported the students don’t even exist: “That’s ridiculous”.
Made In China – and Bangladesh and Mexico – is the label on apparel purchased by most federal departments and agencies, records show. Of all Crown buyers free to contract uniforms, shirts and jackets offshore only three bought a majority of Canadian-made clothing: “The lowest cost wins the bid”.
Friends and employees of the CBC are appealing to taxpayers to “show their support” for the Crown broadcaster following its loss of hockey revenues. However cabinet reasserted it will not make up the network’s $150 million-a year shortfall: “They can operate within their existing budget”.
Nearly as many Canadians were killed while trespassing on railway property last year as the number who perished in the Lac-Mégantic disaster, data show. Railway officials and regulators counted 44 deaths of trespassers on tracks nationwide, with another 90 fatalities in collisions at level crossings: “These tragedies can be prevented”.
Actual costs of a new stealth jet fighter would sink the entire military budget, says a think-tank analysis. Critics put the cost of F-35 jets at between $90 billion and $126 billion over the forty-year lifespan of the fleet: “There would be no money left for anything else”.
The Bank of Canada is shelving its “dead money” criticism of corporations it once accused of hoarding cash amid the lowest tax rates of the postwar era. Governor Stephen Poloz told MPs he found no fault with firms sitting on more than a half-trillion dollars in accumulated revenues: “Companies and their boards have been going through a lot”.
The Canadian Grain Commission deferred millions in capital costs that must now be charged against user fees, says an internal report. The commission delayed “rust-out” maintenance till after deciding to hike user fees to cover budget shortfalls: “We all know we’re paying too much”.
Cabinet is cutting the number of foreign PhD and graduate students permitted into Canada by half to 500 a year, but boosting the number of foreign-born tradespeople from 3,000 to 5,000. Preferred immigrants include electricians, plumbers and steamfitters: “How do they know?”
Canadians’ fatness reflects higher living standards and should be protected from the “anti-obesity lobby”, says a Calgary think tank. The Fraser Institute accuses health experts of skewing health data to raise unnecessary alarm: “We should expect to be a little heavier”.
The Department of Agriculture is budgeting $45,000 a day for a booth at a Paris trade show. Authorities refused an interview on spending that includes 1,600 glasses of wine and beer served by “hostesses” in a relaxing lounge: “Where is the merit of it?”
A union-sponsored conference has pressed Canada Post to revive consumer banking services once rated a “win-win” by management. Canadian bank profits average 20.5% annually and as high as 33% for internet-based institutions: ‘This is very valuable’.
MPs seek hearings on the now-suspended Temporary Foreign Worker Program in the food trade amid industry fears regulators over-reacted to abuses at one restaurant chain. The outcry follows new research the plan has contributed to higher unemployment for students and other low-skill job-seekers: “It should be strongly regulated”.
The internet “currency” bitcoin may soon transform money-laundering and banknote smuggling, warns the Canada Border Services Agency. In a confidential report managers expressed alarm over bitcoin’s attraction for black marketeers: “It may be favoured by organized crime as it masks activity”.
