An obscure policy change on all-Canadian standards for food containers may cost thousands of processing jobs, warns an industry group. Regulators promised to “consult” on the change, previously announced without notice, that would enable processors to adopt American standards in packaging canned fruits, vegetables, honey and other products.
One of Canada’s most venerable clubs for air force veterans has taken its last run. A club dedicated to airmen who enlisted before the outbreak of World War II is surrendering its federal charter. Veterans Affairs Minister Steven Blaney called the closure “unfortunate,” but expressed the nation’s gratitude: “They will never be forgotten.”
A show ‘n tell bill that requires all unions to disclose financial data will cost a fortune to administer, says a member of the House finance committee. MPs resume hearings today on the bill to publish details of all unions’ finances on a government website.
Federal approval of new genetically-modified crops are reviving debate over science and safety. The uproar follows Health Canada’s approval of crop varieties modified to tolerate a herbicide banned in Scandinavia amid concerns of elevated risks of cancer and other illness.
The author, an Israeli-born biologist, examines current events in the Blacklock’s tradition.
Canada’s book publishers are appealing for a national policy to rescue an industry hit with cuts and closures. The lobby effort comes as Douglas & McIntyre, the largest Canadian-owned publisher, received an extension of its bankruptcy protection.
A British Columbia tax ruling reaffirms the definition of “employees” includes taxi drivers, noting cabbies who operate company cars have “little control” over their work. “Whose business is this?” asked a federal judge in the case of six Kelowna cabbies who worked 10-hour shifts for a 40 percent split of fare receipts.
Three government scientists have patented a new glue so strong it can withstand the hottest temperatures ever recorded on the earth’s surface.
Commemorating an “ugly milestone,” a taxpayers’ advocate invited Canadians to watch the national debt clock pass the $599,999,999,999 mark. “We’ve erased all the progress made in 11 years of balanced budgets, pushing our debt to a fresh, all-time high.”
Federal inspectors have shut down another Alberta meatpacker only hours after Parliament enacted new legislation promising “stronger” enforcement of food safety. Royal Assent for the food safety bill came amid the closure of an Edmonton plant over a Listeria scare, a bacterium that Health Canada warns may “in serious cases” lead to brain infection and death.
Blacklock’s Reporter has received accreditation in the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery.
The company earlier served legal notice after gallery managers ruled Blacklock’s feature editor Holly Doan would not be accredited unless the online publisher named its partners and contributors, and submitted to questioning on contractual arrangements with writers.
The gallery membership was issued today.
Blacklock’s board voted a motion of gratitude.
“The name of Blacklock now rejoins the Ottawa Press Gallery roll for the first time since Tom Blacklock’s passing in 1934,” the board said in a statement.
“Thank you.” 
By Staff
More cash registers are falling silent this fall despite deep discounting by retailers and historic low interest rates. New federal figure show that, with the exception of two provinces, retail sales year-over-year grew by a dismal 0.4 percent.
A bill before Parliament that would compensate air travelers up to $1,000 for cancelled flights and other nuisances may have little practical benefit for consumers, analysts tell Blacklock’s.
The nation’s patent system is so slow it has become an “incentive” to leave Canada, an industry group has told MPs. The testimony came amid House committee hearings that have heard expert witnesses describe federal intellectual property management as costly, inefficient and dysfunctional.
A federal ban on a carcinogenic chemical additive in infants’ foam products comes decades after concerns were first raised by researchers. Random testing by Health Canada found the chemical in 7 of 40 children’s items, from pillows to toys.
