Marijuana searches will lead to longer border lineups, trucking executives and a border city mayor yesterday told the Senate national security committee. Cannabis remains contraband at Canada-U.S. crossings even if Parliament passes a legalization bill: ‘We’ve heard through the grapevine there are concerns out there.’
Liberal MPs on the Commons human resources committee yesterday rejected union proposals to strictly define harassment in an anti-harassment bill. Labour Minister Patricia Hajdu in a letter to MPs said details should be left to regulators: “Do not say you’ll fix it in regulations.”
The higher home prices go, the faster consumers expect them to rise, according to Bank of Canada research. The Bank based its findings on a survey of 1,000 households that asked, “What would you say is the percent chance that, over the next 12 months, the average home price nationwide will increase or decrease?”
Cabinet’s proposal to legalize marijuana will set back anti-smoking efforts, health advocates yesterday told the Senate social affairs committee. Health Canada has targeted a reduction of 3 million tobacco users nationwide even as it co-sponsored legislation to legalize cannabis: “We’re absolutely concerned about an increase in marijuana consumption.”
A computer error in a cross-border Customs database has prompted a federal lawsuit. A British Columbia trucking company says it was unfairly fined thousands of dollars over an electronic glitch at the Canada Border Services Agency: “Nobody wants to listen to our side of the story.”
The Public Prosecution Service will not disclose the number of Canadians arrested for marijuana possession since cabinet introduced its bill to legalize cannabis. More than 15,000 were arrested in the 18 months prior to the bill’s tabling: “What is really going on?”
More than 420,000 low income Canadians have skipped millions in benefits by failing to file a yearly tax return, says an Access To Information memo from the Canada Revenue Agency. Earlier federal research concluded many poor Canadians find dealing with the Agency to be stressful and unpleasant: “Others are fearful they will get in trouble.”
Air Canada has lost a bid to block disclosure of safety inspections that found the airline in breach of Canadian Aviation Regulations. The Federal Court ruled that, while disclosure “could cause the public to be concerned”, it was no reason to conceal records: “Airlines have had negative disclosures in the past.”
The Department of Finance estimates it takes immigrants about 13 years to work their way up to the Canadian average on employment income. “New immigrants have a more difficult time,” said the memo to Finance Minister Bill Morneau.
A federal judge has issued a $5 million award in a copyright case. The default judgment cited an internet TV operator for ignoring years’ worth of warnings to stop the broadcast of bootlegged programming: “There is no reasonable explanation.”
Like Einstein before him
Newton before him
Galileo before him
Copernicus before him
da Vinci before him
Aristotle before him
he couldn’t find the answer to:
“Does this make me look fat?”
(Editor’s note: poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, examines current events in the Blacklock’s tradition each and every Sunday)
VIA Rail faces an inquiry by the Canadian Human Rights Commission into alleged discriminatory hiring practices against women, according to Court documents. The railway in its last Annual Report described itself as a “leader in diversity”.
Lobbyists have pressed cabinet not to write fruit juice out of the Canada Food Guide, according to Access To Information records. The industry fears lost sales in the $1.6 billion-a year trade after a 2016 Senate committee report on obesity described 100% fruit juice as “little more than a soft drink without the bubbles.”
Cabinet should disclose any data it has on the financial impact of its national carbon tax, says the former chair of the Senate energy committee. Access To Information files indicate regulators as early as 2016 calculated costs and impacts on jobs, but would not release the information: “Our economy is going to hell if we continue to do this.”
A typical federal employee will now spend as many years in retirement as they do in the workforce, says a pension report. Chief Actuary Jean-Claude Ménard said longer life spans are putting “upward pressure” on public service pensions: “For recent retirees, average working life is less or equal to average retirement life.”
