New rules on mortgages insurance “add transparency” to the industry, says one of the nation’s leading private insurers. Federal regulations require that insurers have years of experience and millions of dollars in equity: “Not a bad idea.”
Apparent “turmoil” has erupted at the National Research Council following notices of job cuts and restructuring, documents disclose. The number of PhD research assistants at federal labs has dropped 28 percent since cabinet announced research should be geared as a “1-800” service for industry.
With fewer shopping days left than Christmas retailers, Transport Canada is promising a reform bill to hold railways to service standards will be introduced within days. A well-placed Blacklock’s source says the measure will be a “watered-down, bare bones bill” that will fail to meet commercial shippers’ demands for financial compensation against railways that fail to meet service standards.
A manufacturers’ group is expressing “unease” over an obscure Senate bill that ends 171 years of practice in notifying Canadians of changes in regulations: “How can you be transparent?”
An Alberta beverage firm has filed an application with the Department of Industry to trademark a new pastime: Coffee Night In Canada. “We all have our thoughts on the lock-out,” the applicant told Blacklock’s.
Another senior Conservative MP is linking union wage costs to renewal of federal subsidies on public works. “Where is the money going?” asked Pierre Poilievre, parliamentary secretary for infrastructure, who told a Commons committee the cost of union wages for municipal employees is growing at an excessive rate.
Legislators face a “huge issue” with underfunded construction of long-term care facilities, says the Canadian Medical Association. The group cited insurance industry data indicating the nation faces a trillion-dollar building program to care for an aging population.
Federal prisons have hired so many new staff that in three regions of the country, prison employees outnumber inmates. “This may be a canary in a coalmine,” says a Liberal MP who requested the data; “This suggests it is becoming harder to govern our penitentiaries.”
The popularity of gluten-free eating is prompting a new grain lobby to counter “fad diets” that are giving bread a bad name, according to organizers. Farmers, millers and bakers complain only 10 percent of Canadians eat their daily requirement of whole grains as recommended by the Department of Health.
Police nationwide are now banned from using manually-recorded breathalyzer machines after regulators cited possible “human error.” Federal records show the instruments were used by at least two police forces as recently as this past July. The Supreme Court has noted unreliable readings due to equipment malfunction or police error “is not merely speculative, but is very real.”
Atlantic fishing groups say one of the “best conservation methods” in the industry is in peril with a little-noticed change in federal regulations intended to save taxpayers more than $500,000 a year. “You’re in a Wild West show,” said one industry advocate.
The Canadian military has deployed more forces to the Hawaiian Islands than the terrorist-ridden capital of Pakistan, documents show. Unexpectedly detailed records released by the Department of National Defence show Canada’s military contingent in Islamabad is also outnumbered by forces assigned to Wichita Falls, Texas and Dayton, Ohio.
An obscure policy change on all-Canadian standards for food containers may cost thousands of processing jobs, warns an industry group. Regulators promised to “consult” on the change, previously announced without notice, that would enable processors to adopt American standards in packaging canned fruits, vegetables, honey and other products.
One of Canada’s most venerable clubs for air force veterans has taken its last run. A club dedicated to airmen who enlisted before the outbreak of World War II is surrendering its federal charter. Veterans Affairs Minister Steven Blaney called the closure “unfortunate,” but expressed the nation’s gratitude: “They will never be forgotten.”
A show ‘n tell bill that requires all unions to disclose financial data will cost a fortune to administer, says a member of the House finance committee. MPs resume hearings today on the bill to publish details of all unions’ finances on a government website.
