Transport Canada does not track spot safety inspections in civil aviation amid conflicting claims of cuts to random checks. A senior official said unannounced inspections have taken place since 2005 though the number could not be divulged to MPs: “Can we ask to get this?”
Cabinet faces resistance from up to a quarter of Canadians over plans to abolish payment by paper cheque. Polling data by the Department of Public Works found most Canadians remain unaware of the plan, and a vocal minority oppose it: “They are less trusting of the government”.
The Commons health committee has approved a bill expanding controls on unsafe medicines amid tense questioning of pharmaceutical executives. MP Terence Young challenged the industry over patient injuries and deaths, including his own daughter’s: “Explain the thinking”.
Utilities are endorsing a Commons bill to curb theft of copper from “critical” infrastructure. Executives blame weak penalties for a rash of thefts as the price of copper increased more than 200%: “Something has to be done”.
A Commons finance committee report on youth unemployment is steering clear of the impact of migrant labour. However the committee’s Conservative chair says restaurant employers in some regions have no choice but to hire under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program: “It’s just very hard to find those who are going to make a sandwich for $12 an hour”.
Canada Revenue Agency has lost a court judgment over penalties on a Calgary oil executive who failed to report thousands of dollars in income. Tax Court ruled the agency went too far in levying penalties that ran to 220% of the tax that was owed: “It is a harsh provision”.
The National Gallery of Canada has been cited for bad faith in a copyright dispute. The Supreme Court determined management acted improperly when it sought out a legal opinion that it did not have to bargain around mandatory minimum fees for using existing artworks: “It turned out to be a fairly straightforward case”.
Food processors and farm groups say they are being inundated with consultation documents from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency – six in a month. Industry cautioned the campaign smacked of a speed-up to overhaul regulations prior to a 2015 election: “It’s like a blizzard”.
Parliament must double funding for the CBC if the Crown agency is to be “effective”, says a former president. Tony Manera testified at Senate hearings that annual funding for the network should increase from the equivalent of $29 per capita to $50: ‘Their ad revenue has gone down faster than government funding’.
A federal board had no expertise in helicopter transport prior to a fatal air accident that killed 17 people, a Senate panel has been told. The testimony came at Senate environment committee hearings on legislation affecting Atlantic petroleum regulation: “It wasn’t deeply immersed in the day-to-day regulation”.
Airlines are disputing “shocking” claims that Transport Canada has falsified safety inspection data.
Inspectors and other Transport Canada staff earlier reported they “seldom if ever” conduct unannounced inspections.
Authorities had told Parliament nearly 14,000 air safety inspections have taken place over the past decade: “It’s critical that we get to the veracity of that particular number”.
MPs propose to simplify reporting of deaths to federal agencies following a critical auditors’ report that complained of numbing bureaucracy for grieving families. MP Frank Valeriote sponsored the bill that mirrors a U.K. program Tell Us Once: “What a shame that this couldn’t be made easier”.
Unhappy freight customers have every right to contest dubious railway “service” charges under a Supreme Court ruling, analysts say. The judgment came in the case of CN Rail that changed its fuel surcharges only days after signing a coal shipper to a two-year contract at a disadvantaged rate: “This will have significant impact”.
Cabinet must provide Statistics Canada with new funding and direction to upgrade crucial labour market information for employers, students and job-seekers, says a think-tank report: ‘Tell them a thousand times and they catch on right away’.
Grain millers and four major farm groups are reviving appeals for contentious government approval of genetically modified wheat in Canada. The issue has divided growers for years amid fears of crop contamination and foreign boycotts: “Trials are underway”.
