A Senate committee is to investigate the health of the nation’s bees amid concerns “highly toxic” insecticides are killing colonies. The Canadian Honey Council told senators that “some beekeepers may lose their operations as a result of factors that are out of their control”.
MPs have quietly agreed to shrink the size of Commons committees, though the measure will not result in any savings. The change was endorsed in private and then approved by Parliament without a word of debate: “It’s less work for more MPs.”
The National Parole Board has won a court’s OK to release documents to media. A federal judge dismissed a claim for $50,000 in damages from a Kingston Penitentiary inmate who said he was “terrified” after his criminal record was published on the internet: ‘It’s a matter of public record.’
Parliament is stumbling onto “unstable ground” with a bill to rename a museum, the Senate has been told. In a pointed debate, lawmakers prepared for a final vote to rename the Canadian Museum of Civilization: “History is not an exact science.”
Canada’s telecom regulator says it’s concerned by program cuts in 7 cities that prompted protests at Rogers Ltd. However the CRTC dismissed a petition by Unifor, representing media workers, that the cuts violated terms of license: “We succeeded in shining a light on the problem.”
The Supreme Court is to decide whether a Parks Canada employee is entitled to benefits for job stress that a provincial panel dismissed as all in a day’s work. The case involves a Banff Park warden who argues he was unfairly denied a claim under Alberta law: “It is an important case.”
Public Safety Canada is at a loss to account for its contradictory cost claims on a gun control measure.
The department yesterday had no reply to charges it misrepresented a proposal to indelibly stamp all firearms under a United Nations protocol.
Public Safety said compliance was virtually free for industry, “from zero to $25”.
However one MP and a manufacturers’ association said actual costs were so prohibitive it’s the reason regulations have been under review for a decade: “These people do not know what they are talking about.”
A marijuana paraphernalia dealer has been hit with a $55,000 judgment in Federal Court in a case over counter-culture trademarks. Justice Michael Manson, a former patent agent, sided with the U.S. publisher of High Times magazine in a dispute over rights to the words “high” and “times”: ‘Is a casual consumer somewhat in a hurry likely to be confused’?
Railways’ use of company recorders in locomotives would be a violation of train crews’ privacy, says a union representing industry workers. Canadian Pacific, CN and VIA Rail are examining cab recorders. The Transport Safety Board proposed government-mandated recorders following a fatal 2012 derailment.
Anticipated reforms in food regulation must keep pace with a “fast-moving target”, says a consumers’ coalition. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is attempting to update its systems by 2015 in the wake of the XL Foods scandal: “It’s a tough row to hoe.”
Brand-name pharmaceutical firms are disputing a claim that free trade with Europe will cost Canadian consumers $1 billion a year. An industry group Rx&D in a letter to Blacklock’s contradicted testimony by a rival association before the Commons trade committee: “Unfounded speculations…add little value to a meaningful policy discussion.”
Anti-spam regulations that took years to draft are prompting business protest of limits to”commercial speech”. The rules to take effect next summer would curb unsolicited electronic marketing, but with numerous exemptions: “This isn’t going to be an easy thing.”
Regulations introduced by Conservative Prime Minister R.B. Bennett that guaranteed “fair wages” on federal works for generations will be repealed at month’s end.
Employees of 3,470 companies are affected, by government estimate. The labour department said supply-and-demand must now determine pay scales.
Repeal of the Act was advocated by lobbyists with Merit Canada, an association of non-union contractors that met 70 times with MPs, senators and senior staff in the 18 months before the law was reviewed: “They are pitting workers against workers.”
Canadians will pay an estimated $1 billion more per year for pharmaceuticals under a free trade pact with Europe, says an industry group. Generic drug makers told MPs that extending patent protection under the treaty will be expensive: “We are disappointed.”
The Supreme Court is to rule whether Walmart had a right to close a Québec store after employees joined the United Food and Commercial Workers union. The retailer shut its outlet at Jonquière, Que. eight months after UFCW Local 503 was certified as a bargaining agent: “The business doesn’t exist anymore.”
