Blacklock's Reporter

The Commons agriculture committee yesterday warned the national carbon tax may put growers at a competitive disadvantage, though farm fuel is already exempt from forecast hikes of 12¢ a litre for gasoline and 14¢ for diesel. The Department of Agriculture in Access To Information memos calculated the tax would cost farmers up to $3,705 a year without the exemption: ‘Now all people are going to be asking for a break.’

The federal Department of Justice is suing to overturn a labour arbitrator’s ruling over the closure of a Saskatchewan Crown corporation. An arbitrator on April 27 ordered back pay and damages to former employees of a provincial bus company: “It’s strange.”

Liberal MPs on the Commons industry committee yesterday rejected hearings on cabinet’s decision to nationalize the Trans Mountain pipeline. “It’s not our issue,” said one MP.

Health Canada yesterday said it will not oppose continued use of a neonicotinoid pesticide as a farmers’ seed treatment. Regulators proposed a gradual phase-out of imidacloprid sprays as environmentally risky: “The problem is it doesn’t go far enough.”

The current Copyright Act leaves Canadian creators with the shortest term of protection in the G7, music publishers yesterday told the Commons heritage committee. The industry asked MPs to extend copyright from 50 to 70 years following the death of a creator: “We are behind.”

The Department of Justice in a secret memo says the country faces a shortage of legal marijuana, and expects drug dealers will meet market demand for several years if Parliament passes Bill C-45. “A full transition to the new market will take time,” said a 2017 Memorandum To The Deputy Minister: “Can you confirm there will be sufficient supply on July 1?”

The Conservative chair of the Senate transport committee yesterday said he will seek public hearings on cabinet’s $4.5 billion decision to nationalize the Trans Mountain pipeline. New Democrats have also proposed Commons committee hearings on the deal scheduled to be finalized by August: “Will the feds absorb the extra costs?”

Transport Minister Marc Garneau yesterday said cabinet will detail its delayed electric car plan by year’s end. Analysts including the Department of Industry have cautioned electrics are unlikely to play a significant role in meeting federal emission targets: “There is a lot of work to be done.”

Federal departments and agencies spent more than half a billion dollars on lawyers last year including $72 million in private legal fees to outside counsel, according to records. The spending followed appointment of a cabinet committee to oversee litigation strategy: “I’m just trying to keep the government accountable.”

Criminal lawyers accuse cabinet of skewing crime statistics to justify a new gun bill. Witnesses at the Commons public safety committee said new regulations are unnecessary: “This legislation creates new criminal offences where none were needed.”

New Democrats yesterday proposed full committee hearings on cabinet’s decision to nationalize an interprovincial pipeline. The Commons industry committee must investigate the impact of the Trans Mountain purchase on taxpayers and industry, said one MP: “It’s not much of a plan.”

Free copying has cost 1,000 publishing jobs in the past five years, the Canadian Publishers’ Council yesterday told the Commons industry committee. Publishers of books and newspapers appealed to MPs to tighten the Copyright Act to halt the practice: ‘Our members reduced their workforce five percent each and every year.’

Canada’s music industry has lost billions from unpaid use of songs and outright copyright theft, Music Canada yesterday told the Commons heritage committee. The testimony came as the Department of Industry detailed research indicating 26 percent of Canadian internet users admit to accessing illegal content because “it’s what everyone else does”.

Federal agencies earned 61¢ on the dollar in the sale of used vehicles, equipment and other goods last year, the Auditor General reported yesterday. The investigation concluded most agencies it audited did not bother to determine whether it made sense to auction goods: ‘They might not have made the best decision.’

The most generous charitable donors in Canada are older churchgoers, according to Statistics Canada data submitted to a Senate committee. The proportion of givers overall has remained static for a decade, officials said: ‘The biggest donors are older, but also more likely to participate frequently in religious activities.’