Cabinet has no plans “at this time” to further raise Old Age Security eligibility after increasing the age from 65 to 67. Officials at Employment & Social Development Canada said they assumed the pension scheme is financially sound, though one told a Senate committee: “I couldn’t even hazard a guess.”
Fears of an earthquake on Parliament Hill have prompted Public Works Canada to hire “seismic experts” to assess one of Canada’s oldest heritage buildings, the East Block. Authorities said a top-to-bottom study of the 1867 structure is needed. The block is home to John A. Macdonald’s original office: ‘It’s a fine example of Gothic Revival architecture’.
Canadians will pay more for insurance if the Senate passes legislation restricting use of genetic tests, insurers warn. Industry executives said a bill to outlaw DNA “discrimination” will see all premiums rise: ‘The will go up dramatically’.
Bankruptcy rates are climbing in Atlantic Canada amid caution of a “day of reckoning” on consumer debt. Consumer and business insolvencies increased in the region, including a New Brunswick consumer bankruptcy rate now at its highest level since 2005: “I can get anything I want and pay for it later”.
Transport Canada will leave a safety reform on truck designs to the provinces, says an MP. Advocates have proposed legislation to mandate truck side guards credited with saving lives: ‘We could have less heartbreak’.
The health and lifestyles of Canada’s 182,000 truck drivers are being studied by Transport Canada amid industry complaints of a national driver shortage. The department is commissioning a scientific panel to investigate truckers’ “wellness” noting common ailments and workplace hazards: ‘Their workplace is the road’.
The Bank of Montreal has won a federal human rights case after claiming it promotes a disproportionately high number of black employees. The statistics were submitted as bank attorneys dismissed allegations of discrimination by an African-Canadian staffer: ‘Black employees were promoted in a higher proportion’.
Maritime fishermen worry federal regulators will lift a fifteen-year moratorium on new mussel aquaculture. The dispute follows a cabinet proposal to enact first-ever regulations sanctioning the use of chemicals in fish habitat: “We’re asking for a specific study”.
The Senate is upgrading security after citing a range of threats including plastic explosives, fireworks and “powdered sugar”. Senate administration said it will install seven new X-ray baggage scanners. Speaker Noël Kinsella did not comment: ‘It maintains a safe environment’.
Canada’s 450,000 woodlot owners are appealing for preferential tax treatment due to devastation from pine beetles and the emerald ash borer. Owners seek the same regulations given dryland farmers for tax deferral in bad years: “Suddenly you have to sell all your assets”.
Cabinet has signalled it will defeat a private bill to curb “urban heat islands” blamed for micro-temperature gains in large cities. MP Eve Adams, parliamentary secretary for health, described the bill as unnecessary: ‘There are companies in Canada that have figured this out’.
Canadians will observe a first-ever national exercise day next June 6 under a private Conservative bill drawing all-party support in the Commons. MPs praised the initiative by Senator Nancy Green Raine, 1968 gold medal-winning Olympic skier: ‘Inactivity is killing us’.
Federal civil servants live longer than other Canadians – up to a full year longer, says a federal report: ‘It’s white-collar versus blue-collar’.
Yukon critics are cautioning the Senate over another federal initiative that grants local authorities new management of environmental risk assessments. A government bill reassigns responsibility for reviews of oil, gas and mining projects from the federal cabinet to Whitehorse: “We often get it wrong”.
A federal board has charged the equivalent of $38 a page to release public records. The Canada-Newfoundland & Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board billed $4,452 to release 118 pages of public documents to a Calgary businessman: “It’s a mug’s game”.
