Hate crime provisions of the Criminal Code should be used against animal rights activists that target farmers, the Commons agriculture committee said yesterday. MPs proposed amendments to prohibit “any form of intimidation or cyberbullying targeted at any group of Canadians based on their occupation or place of residence.”
School boards should consider whether trustees can consume marijuana at public meetings, says a privacy commissioner. The warning follows a Saskatchewan case in which a trustee admitted to eating cannabis at board sessions: “He was responsible to his electors.”
Parliament should consider mandating earthquake coverage on homeowners, say insurance brokers. Data show 19 in 20 property owners in one of Canada’s largest seismic zones do not have coverage: “It’s clear there is a potential risk.”
A cabinet bill mandating lifetime background checks on gun buyers last evening was passed into law by a 55 to 33 Senate vote. Gun clubs and criminal defence lawyers opposed the bill as unnecessary: “It has nothing to do with gangs.”
The Commons finance committee yesterday approved terms of a media bailout amid protests the program is weighted with pro-government bias. “We have absolutely no faith whatsoever this will be non-partisan,” said Conservative MP Tom Kmiec (Calgary Shepard).
The Department of Industry in an Access To Information memo calls legalization of cannabis edibles an opportunity for small business. Edibles are to be legalized this October 17 under la bill passed by Parliament last year: “Opportunities exist.”
Mortgage brokers predict few applications for a new federal home equity loan program. A similar plan in British Columbia folded after less than a tenth of expected buyers applied for provincial aid: “That lasted about fifteen months.”
Eighty-eight percent of minor hockey players, and even more parents and teachers, mistakenly believe helmets prevent concussions, says Public Health Agency of Canada research. Federal regulators have fined helmet manufacturers over misleading claims that helmets can prevent brain injury: “Some pervasive myths continue to persist.”
Shark fin imports remain a multi-million dollar trade despite repeated attempts to ban the practice, the Commons fisheries committee was told yesterday. Parliament is expected to prohibit imports next month: “It is a brutal, wasteful practice.”
A Senator suspended for six months for posting offensive mail on her website has deleted the page. Senator Lynn Beyak (Non-Affiliated-Ont.) earlier described her punishment as Orwellian: “If we do not enjoy freedom of expression, we no longer enjoy the protection of the rule of law.”
A former deputy federal Green Party leader in an apocalyptic novel forecasts the bankruptcy of municipalities by 2021 and rise of a xenophobic “True North Party” in Parliament in 2022. Release of the novel by David Chernushenko follows a claim by the Party leadership that climate change threatens civilization: “Climate change, climate chaos.”
Railways may use new voice and video recorders to see if locomotive crews are sleeping, drinking or reading on the job, says Transport Canada. Regulations exempting rail employees from federal privacy law take effect in 2022: “The camera is in their face.”
A federal panel is demanding the Canada Revenue Agency explain a 53 percent spike in its rejection of claims for certain disability tax credits. “There are many people being left behind,” said the vice-chair of the Disability Advisory Committee: “There are substantial numbers being refused.”
Federal regulators have again delayed introduction of compensation rules under an air passenger rights code promised last December. Airlines require more time, said the Canadian Transportation Agency: “I wouldn’t trust them with a cup of water.”
More than 8 in 10 Canadians claim to wear a poppy on Remembrance Day, though data show the Royal Canadian Legion doesn’t distribute that many poppies. The claim in a Department of Veterans Affairs poll follows Elections Canada data that people also “over-remember” voting: “This is not at all uncommon.”
