A federal pledge to enact a “world class tanker safety system” is largely confirmation of practices already underway save for the appointment of an expert committee, say analysts. Cabinet named three members to a Tanker Safety Expert Panel to monitor the sector.
A foundation created in memory of a House speaker and First War combat veteran has wound down. Organizers cited declining interest in the work of the foundation, created in 1980 to honour the contributions of a parliamentarian who spent 50 years in public life.
The Department of Public Safety spent nearly $8 million on an ad campaign that most Canadians never noticed, or were unlikely to heed before Google, according to officials’ own survey. The campaign was supposed to promote emergency preparedness: “It’s a joke.”
Regulators warn a fixture of suburbia, the attached garage, may pose an “uncertain” public risk of illness from benzene poisoning. The Department of Health proposed first-ever federal guidelines on benzene, linked to leukemia.
Canada’s 2012 Olympic rowing teams cost taxpayers $1,202,900 in grants, according to newly-released federal accounts. It was the largest block of grants to any Olympic athletes under a federal program to subsidize “excellence in sport,” according to the department that runs the program.
Canada’s Olympic triathlon team, ranked one of the worst in the world, received $132,000 in grants before competing in the London Summer Games, according to new federal accounts. And horse riders with the equestrian squad received $213,600 in taxpayers’ funding before finishing 13th out of 13 in team jumping.
The finance department spent nearly $14 million on media advertisements promoting its last budget, according to new accounts. Authorities would not divulge ad spending for this week’s 2013 federal budget, to be tabled Thursday at 4 pm Eastern time.
Growing deficits in national funding for Legal Aid suggest deserving clients may be denied counsel, say analysts. New federal figures show that Canada-wide, expenditures reached $780 million last year while funding totaled $776 million.
New legislation to regulate service contracts on the nation’s largest transportation system represents an “odd” inability by industry to work out its own problems, says a Conservative MP. “How did we ever get to this point?”
The manager of a Yuk Yuk’s comedy club franchise has won a federal appeal over unpaid taxes after proving Canada Revenue failed to account for its math. A Tax Court judge threw out a $72,357 claim after concluding the Department of Revenue “failed to provide sufficient information.”
In a surprise move, managers of the St. Lawrence Seaway system hiked tolls 3 percent only days before the scheduled March 22 opening of the new shipping season. The increase follows a five-year freeze on charges for ships transiting through locks.
Regulators have given six months’ notice that all telephone service providers, including wireless companies, implement 911 service with locating technology. It may mean a “distinct surcharge” for wireless users, according to a federal report.
Canada faces a critical shortage of truck drivers that could impact whole segments of the economy, warn industry leaders. Trucking executives forecast a shortage of 25,000 drivers within seven years: “Immigration may solve the problem.”
An Alberta-based research company has applied to Industry Canada to trademark a computer system to “democratize” municipal politics: “If a city wants to know what people think about, say, a downtown arena, we can find out in a day.”
Canadian exports to the United States peaked as a share of the American market in 1996 and have been declining in importance ever since, according to a Washington study. The U.S. Congressional Research Service concluded Canada is ‘threatened’ by challenges including low investment in research.
