Canada’s Information Commissioner says government offices take so long to release public records, she may begin targeting scofflaws with special audits in 2019. Federal agencies typically take months, even years to disclose records under the Access To Information Act: “I receive 2,400 complaints per year.”
Atheists have filed a Federal Court challenge of Canada Revenue Agency guidelines on charitable status for religious groups. A group of atheists who meet weekly deserve equal status, said the Church of Atheism of Central Canada: “Why can’t we?”
Cabinet yesterday banned asbestos in consumer goods effective January 15, 2019. The mineral fibres have been listed as toxic by Health Canada since 1975: “We can’t undo the sins of the past, but we can take steps to prevent cancer in the future.”
Cabinet should refund any carbon tax revenues collected from residents of provinces defying the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, says a report by the C.D. Howe Institute. The research noted the tax was intended to curb pollution, not make money: “I don’t know if they are struggling with this or not.”
Home insurers yesterday said policyholders must report legal marijuana on the premises, and face higher premiums or loss of coverage. Cancellation of insurance could affect mortgages, brokers said: “Because marijuana is now legal, that does change things.”
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers yesterday served notice of rotating strikes effective Monday. Cabinet did not comment. The action would see brief, temporary shutdowns in select cities. Canada Post has responded in the past with costly national lockouts: “The intent is to highlight issues by taking action one town at a time.”
The chair of the Senate banking committee yesterday invited a registered business lobbyist to join in releasing a report advocating corporate tax cuts. “It’s unusual,” acknowledged Senator Douglas Black (Independent-Alta.), committee chair: “We think it’s so important for the country.”
Factory managers yesterday told the Commons trade committee metal tariffs have cost Canadian jobs and may result in plant closures. “When you lose it, you lose it,” said one manufacturer: “We have basically lost 25 percent of our business.”
The Treasury Board yesterday warned federal employees must not consume marijuana at work. One department, Public Works, earlier fired two employees for smoking cannabis on their break: “Don’t get too excited.”
Full costs of cabinet’s decision to nationalize a British Columbia pipeline are confidential and will not be disclosed, officials yesterday told the Senate national finance committee. The refusal came moments after the Privy Council Office boasted of its “payback” analysis on public spending: “I can’t say more.”
A federal lawsuit is targeting a major bank’s ban on marijuana home-grows for mortgage holders. Scotiabank in 2010 pulled one homeowner’s loan though medical cannabis was grown under a federal license: “It may have been a factor.”
The Royal Canadian Mint yesterday blamed bad digital imagery and not faulty historical research for depicting a foreign helmet on an Armistice coin. “That image is definitely not a Canadian helmet,” said one militaria expert.
Canadian playwrights have seen royalties drop 86 percent since 2011 under changes to the Copyright Act, a professional association yesterday told the Commons industry committee. “It boggles the mind,” a witness said.
The Commons industry committee yesterday by a 5-to-4 vote rejected hearings on copyright terms of a tentative U.S. trade pact. MPs complained cabinet negotiated legal changes at the very moment the committee is conducting a statutory review of the Copyright Act: “That would simply be odd.”
Cabinet yesterday ordered a fresh review of school bus safety. The initiative followed a TV report that Transport Canada concealed crash-test data confirming seatbelts would prevent injury: “This problem needs to be fixed now.”
