The Treasury Board is being ordered to pay unprecedented damages for “openly flouting” its own labour laws. A federal panel ordered the Board to compensate a group of Nova Scotia navy yard employees for recklessly violating legislation: “What do you expect — it’s the government.”
Katimavik, the former multi-million dollar youth service group once chaired by Liberal leader Justin Trudeau, is surrendering its federal charter. The youth service group is now reduced to two paid employees, and quit its charter under a law reserved for companies stripped of assets: “We’ll be back”.
Rising utility rates have prompted a Canadian manufacturer to patent a $2000 home water recycling system that inventors claim may reduce consumption 30%. It follows Environment Canada reports that homeowners here use more fresh water, and pay less for it, than most other countries: “We see trends”.
Complaints over complexity of the tax system are prompting accountants to appeal for the first review of tax policy in nearly fifty years. The Certified General Accountants Association urged that Finance Canada begin to simplify its system used by 25 million tax filers: “We haven’t even started.”
Federally-sponsored research says Canada has the planet’s sweetest water supply due to municipalities’ failure to remove micro-pollutants. Artificial sweeteners from processed foods, toothpaste and other products are being flushed through water treatment systems: ‘It’s the highest level that has been found in the world so far’.
Cabinet has hiked spending on war monuments by more than 60 percent in the past six years, according to newly-released accounts.
Budgets for statues, cenotaphs, obelisks, memorials and other monuments top $18.5 million. Heritage Minister Shelly Glover did not comment.
Figures don’t include the cost of a new War of 1812 statue to be installed on Parliament Hill: “I think it is almost to the point of being obsessive.”
A “union boss” bill to repeal the decades-old membership card system used to certify bargaining agents is “unbelievable”, says the Canadian Labour Congress. The legislation endorsed by the Department of Labour would make it easier to decertify unions representing more than one million workers nationwide.
The Department of Fisheries says a European ban on seal meat and pelts may signal a wider trend on discriminatory trade practices at Canada’s expense. A senior official called the ban a worrisome precedent: “It’s not just about seals at this point”.
Canada Revenue Agency has won a court fight with GM amid a complaint of “dirty pool” over decades-old tax benefits for managers who drive company cars. The automaker vowed to fight on: “General Motors is not going to give up.”
Telecom regulators are guarding details of a federal probe of roaming charges. The CRTC said it would not disclose which service providers are targeted following complaints of inflated fees: ‘I went to the U.S. and now have a bill for $4000’.
Lengthy delays in federal approval of generic farm pesticides are causing unnecessary expenses, says a growers’ group. Saskatoon-based Farmers of North America blamed a Health Canada agency for taking up to two years to license chemicals that take six months to approve in the U.S.: “It makes no sense.”
Anti-trust investigators citing secret sources have widened a probe of Google Canada Corp. over alleged unfair trade practices. The Competition Bureau questions whether Google uses biased search results that reward advertisers and punish competitors: “Do a Google search for virtually any name and tell me if Wikipedia is at the top of the page.”
The Senate amid cries of “dictatorship” has redefined workplace safety and restricted employees’ right to strike. The amendments inserted in a 309-page omnibus budget bill were signed into law last night as parliamentarians headed home for the holidays: “It’s not productive, it’s not going to work; and it’s probably going to cost them”.
Budget cutbacks have swept Canada’s war on drugs with the Department of National Defence slashing its contribution to a yearly marijuana roundup. The military cut funding 75 percent for an anti-pot campaign conducted jointly with the RCMP: “There is evidence this is not working.”
An oil lobby co-founded by an Alberta senator is accused of ghostwriting amendments to the National Energy Board Act. Cabinet had no comment on claims the wording of new rules limiting license hearings was lifted from an industry submission to Natural Resources Canada: “Nobody else gets action this fast.”
