Transport Canada mistakenly repealed a safety regulation affecting millions of vehicles sold in Canada. Officials admit they “inadvertently” dropped a requirement that all new light vehicles be equipped with what one auto executive called “the single most effective safety technology since the seatbelt.”
Parliament will kill a proposal to offer Canadians $2,000 tax credits for touring the country on the 150th anniversary of Confederation. Conservative and New Democrat MPs signaled they will vote against the private bill offering tax credits for vacation expenses.
A federal panel must cull hundreds of applicants and candidates in shortlisting names for coveted ceremonial vice-regal appointments, says the head of a new advisory panel: “They’d better have a sense of what the job is.”
A Manitoba man has lost a tax court appeal after a federal judge dismissed his “improbable” claim his tax returns were lost in the mail. “Some evidence, any evidence,” was the court’s lament. Yet testimony showed 10 percent of mail at one tax office is “typically misplaced” from time to time.
Regulators have served notice on six telecom companies to comply with a federal complaints process or face disconnection by next Wednesday: “It’s not really something that’s common.”
An acclaimed RCMP officer is suing the force for unfair treatment over a secret investigation of his private life. The case comes amid parliamentary debate on a bill to grant the Mounties more power to suspend, demote and fire members without right of appeal.
Communications staff for the Senate leadership met confidentially with a lobbyist on labour legislation before the Upper House, records show. Non-union contractors with Merit Canada last year held 97 meetings with MPs, senators, cabinet members and staff – including 15 meetings with advisors in the Prime Minister’s Office.
Proposed new $7 billion Arctic offshore patrol ships are fit neither for the Arctic, nor offshore patrols, according to a study by think-tank researchers. Construction of the vessels is now five years behind schedule: “They will be the laughingstock…”
In a policy called “odd,” the Department of Finance proposes to have two agencies, both funded by banks, investigate public complaints against — banks. The system will be supervised by the Financial Consumer Agency, which receives 85% of its funding from bankers.
Amid budget cuts, Parks Canada is licensing more private tours of national sites by commercial operators. Tour companies may now charge their own entrance fees for guided visits to a pair of federal attractions in the Yukon: “We are pleased to be working with businesses.”
2012 was a dismal year for the trade balance, final data show. Industry groups contacted by Blacklock’s described it as the poorest performance since the recession of 1991, and cited worrying trends: “Our exports have been pretty flat over the last decade.”
Federal regulators are declaring a “milestone” victory over the Asian long-horned beetle. The Department of Agriculture confirmed some 30,000 trees had to be destroyed in Toronto and Vaughn, Ont. to stem the spread of the insect that thrived on maples.
Federal regulators are re-examining the status of a whale population in British Columbia shipping lanes. The humpbacks of the North Pacific, previously categorized as strengthening in numbers, are now being reassessed by a national panel amid increased traffic by oil tankers: “This is nerve-wracking.”
The minister of agriculture vows again cabinet will consider “all options” in a threatened trade war with the United States over meat labeling. The U.S. has till May 23 to comply with a free trade arbitrator’s ruling: “They are not going to give up easily.”
A Canadian truck manufacturer, inspired by a private bill in the Commons, is offering clients an accessory credited with preventing accidents: “The private sector is not waiting for the government to act.”
