The Canada Revenue Agency since 2011 has cut by 10 percent the number of staff assigned to tracking serious tax evasion, records show. The Agency says it now targets only the “most egregious” tax dodgers: “The cuts make no sense.”
A Commons motion asks that MPs strike a committee to revive postal banks disbanded in 1968. Cabinet has rejected the proposal to date, instead suggesting Canada Post consider cutting mail delivery to save costs: “Why on earth would we abandon something that’s very clearly needed?”
Health Canada spent $60,000 on a marijuana warning label mandated for use on legal cannabis products. The symbol looks strikingly similar to the Team Canada hockey logos at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, one legislator yesterday told the Senate legal and constitutional affairs committee: “The leaf looks like the maple leaf.”
Hiring of investigators to probe harassment complaints within the federal public service has cost more than $3 million since 2016, according to newly-released data. A single department spent nearly a million on investigations: “The problem is deep.”
Federal agencies last year committed thousands of privacy breaches exposing personal information of nearly a quarter-million Canadians, say records. The worst offender, VIA Rail, broadcast the names, addresses and email accounts of more than 128,000 passengers: “The government is still very cavalier about this.”
Federal research confirms paramedics have the most stressful job in the country. Employees are four times more likely to suffer workplace injuries and four times likelier to suffer symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder than other workers, said Defence Research and Development Canada: “I am stunned at these numbers.”
Cabinet says it will restore “balance” to federal advertising after MPs protested cuts to spending at Canadian newspapers. Members of the Commons government operations committee said overspending on U.S.-owned Google, Facebook and YouTube ads made no sense: “It’s taking revenue out of struggling Canadian media outlets.”
The Federation of Law Societies yesterday rejected claims the profession is susceptible to unregulated cash dealings involving suspicious customers. The Supreme Court in 2015 ruled federal agencies could not compel lawyers to breach solicitor-client privilege by reporting cash dealings: “They are looking for things that don’t look right.”
The Canadian Transportation Agency is already conducting closed-door talks with airlines on a passenger bill of rights, a consumer advocate yesterday told the Senate transport committee. Senators were cautioned the Agency should not be trusted to balance traveler protection with airline obligations: “I wouldn’t trust them with a cup of water.”
A French-language rights advocate has won a $1,250 Federal Court cost award in a lawsuit over an airport help desk. The Halifax International Airport Authority apologized that most volunteer helpers cannot understand French: “This gentleman sounds very litigious.”
A hot-tempered federal manager has been cited for high-decibel breaches of the Values & Ethics Code For The Public Sector. Brigitte de Blois, a director at the Correctional Service, yesterday declined comment on complaints she slammed doors, pounded desks and berated employees as morons: “Shut your mouth, we aren’t allowed to laugh around here.”
Parks Canada proposes new regulations to protect war graves at sea. More than 150 wrecks are in Canadian waters, authorities told the Commons transport committee: “For our sailors there are no pristine, manicured cemeteries.”
You can’t transport a handgun without a federal permit under a cabinet bill introduced yesterday in the Commons. Canadians own about 839,000 handguns, by RCMP estimate. Parliament has regulated handguns for 84 years: “That’s just common sense.”
The Canada Border Services Agency will question all travelers on marijuana if Parliament passes a legalization bill, a manager yesterday told the Senate national security committee. Senators were also told Canadians who admit to previous drug use should expect a lifetime ban from the United States: “It’s all very well to pass a bill, but we have to be able to tell Canadians exactly what the consequences are.”
Railway executives yesterday apologized to the Commons agriculture committee for poor service, but cautioned federal penalties are unnecessary. MPs summoned managers to explain shortfalls in winter deliveries: ‘This time railroaders have probably learned a lesson.’
