Blacklock's Reporter

A federal food safety ombudsman hasn’t filed an annual report in two years. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said the office is still functioning, but simply stopped public reporting of its work: “It continues to provide administrative redress.”

A judge has thrown out a bid by the Canada Revenue Agency to search hydro customers’ accounts for evidence of tax avoidance. The Federal Court called it an obvious fishing expedition that breached the “right of everyone to be left alone by the state”.

Canadian diplomats contracted a U.S. video production company to save NAFTA talks with a YouTube video. The Canadian Embassy in Washington paid the equivalent of more than $600 per second to produce a short video promoting the 1994 trade pact as a job creator, according to records: “Good storytelling is becoming harder to find.”

A national radio panel has approved the use of a vulgar term for women. The Canada Broadcast Standards Council noted public acceptance of street language has evolved over the years: “Is this word no longer a censored word?”

Federal agencies have saved about $3,000 under a 2015 program to abolish penny-ante benefit cheques. The cabinet order followed a public outcry over the mailing of a 1¢ cheque to a war widow: “It was an insensitive bureaucratic screw-up.”

Transport Canada yesterday rejected any further research on school bus safety belts. The dismissal followed the accidental death of an Alberta schoolgirl, and a recommendation by U.S. safety investigators that all new buses be equipped with three-point shoulder and lap belts: “We just want all the facts laid out.”

The Department of Finance yesterday said it will not use cash transfers to penalize provinces that refuse to collect the carbon tax. Protests from Saskatchewan were prompted by earlier department memos that described carbon taxes as “an issue” in transfer payments: “If provinces do not collect carbon taxes, will they be penalized under the equalization scheme? No.”

Excise taxes on tobacco declined 6 percent last year though the number of smokers in Canada remained static at 5.3 million casual and daily users. It was the second annual decline in three years. The Customs & Immigration Union said data point to a growing black market: “The government should pay attention.”

The Department of Fisheries yesterday introduced regulations limiting public access to marine mammals like whales and dolphins without a federal permit. New rules exempt Atlantic seal hunters. The initiative follows complaints of harassment of whales by tour boaters and jet skiers: “Their presence is causing chaos”.

The Department of Social Development has subsidized bocce courts, ukulele lessons and Chinese opera under a seniors’ aid program, accounts show. Funding for the New Horizons For Seniors program will total $49.3 million this year, a 45 percent increase from 2014: “Politicians do this because seniors vote.”

The Federal Court of Appeal in a win for Canadian steelmakers has rejected a challenge of anti-dumping duties by Asian exporters. The Court said Chinese-made steel pipe transshipped through other countries could not evade duties: ‘It’s important to look behind the transactions.’

MPs cannot accept sponsored summer barbecues from lobbyists, the federal ethics commissioner has ruled. The directive followed one MP’s request to have Enbridge Inc. help with costs of a grill fest: “This opinion is not limited to Enbridge.”

A territorial tribunal has awarded $5,000 in damages to individuals forced to take food vouchers instead of welfare cheques. The ruling comes as federal regulators consider reforms to a $98.7 million-a year Arctic grocers’ subsidy: “The policy was based on generalization and stereotypes rather than facts.”

The CBC has under-reported TV losses by 20 percent, according to new federal filings. Financial data contradict 2016 testimony of the Crown broadcaster’s chief editor at the Commons heritage committee: “It is reporting significant losses for its conventional television services.”