A popular federal program that offered homeowner grants for energy refits was cancelled though it cost millions less than budgeted, newly-released documents show. The Natural Resources Canada program offered up to $5,000 in subsidies to replace water heaters, upgrade windows and other energy-saving projects: “Homeowners will be angry”.
Environment Canada is considering first-ever regulation on an obscure source of lead contamination – wheel weights. The finger-sized weights used by auto repair shops to balance tires pose a poison hazard, the department warned: “There is no safe level of lead”.
New federal regulations on dumping of waste at sea suggest reduced oversight, says an MP. The finalized Environment Canada rules tighten the public notice period on dumping permits from 30 to 7 days: “I worry about anything that reduces regulatory oversight”.
A Crown agency created to invest in public works increased spending on staff salaries and consultants even as it paid out a fraction of its cash holdings to finance urgently-needed infrastructure. New financial reports show spending on staff and consultants at PPP Canada jumped 13% in the first quarter of the year compared to the same period last year: ‘It’s high-quality advice’.
Employment Canada is on track for projected millions in savings with elimination of Social Insurance Number cards this year, record show. The department reported the end of production of the iconic white cards will save $1.5 million annually: ‘It was never intended to be an identity card’.
Canadians will suffer chronic provincial deficits over the next 20 years without painful service cuts or tax increases, says a Conference Board of Canada forecast. Analysts predicted rising health care costs alone will keep most legislatures in the red amid cascading interest charges: “If anything we are quite optimistic”.
The RCMP are reviewing polygraph tests required of candidates who apply to join the force, saying standard methods are needed to ensure the “program is defensible”. All recruits are questioned on driving history, drug use and computer habits: “It’s major”.
Most armed forces members would sooner buy their own home if they could afford it, complaining government-rented townhouses are drafty, pest-infested and poorly maintained, according to a Department of National Defence report: “Staff have a poor attitude”.
Introduction of Canada’s first mandatory emergency broadcast system comes ten years after it was recommended by a Senate committee, and decades after its adoption in Alberta following a tornado that killed 27 people: ‘When lives are threatened a message needs to be sent’.
An Industry Canada proposal to abolish consumer fees for paper invoices comes six years after a similar Liberal proposal. The department earlier cribbed a 2012 New Democrat bill restricting installation of wireless towers: “I’m happy they’ve listened”.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency won’t comment to Blacklock’s after launching a lawsuit for total damages of $500. The corporation is taking a Saskatchewan man to Federal Court over the unpaid fine, representing a fraction of legal costs: “It stinks”.
Tonnes of methane-producing municipal waste are being inventoried nationwide by Environment Canada. Authorities called it the first audit of its kind in nearly a decade: “It doesn’t go away”.
Finance Canada is drawing ridicule with its long-awaited proposal to abolish “discrimination” in cross-border retail pricing. Cabinet has yet to detail the legislation announced by the late Finance Minister Jim Flaherty last February 11: “I’m completely baffled”.
Legislation to sell Canada’s only government-owned coal export terminal will be enacted within a month. Cabinet served notice that on September 30 it will put into effect legislation to privatize Ridley Terminals Inc. of Prince Rupert, B.C. more than two years after announcing it was for sale: “Keep it Canadian-owned”.
Computer error and lack of oversight were to blame for an error in Statistics Canada’s reporting of summer jobless figures, officials say. The federal agency miscounted tens of thousands of jobs in its last monthly employment report: “Such an error stays a very long time in the corporate memory”.
