Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault yesterday said federal departments are already using a cabinet bill to deny legitimate public requests for records. Parliament has not passed the legislation: “This is the tip of the iceberg.”
The Department of Public Works will not detail a promised deadline to revive a Depression-era Fair Wages Policy repealed by Parliament five years ago. The law, introduced by then-Conservative Prime Minister Richard Bennett in 1935, was repealed following lobbying by non-union contractors: “I don’t have details.”
Federal lawyers have lost another Court challenge of Canada Student Loan repayments under bankruptcy law. A St. John’s Court waived a $54,930 debt for a student who’d made payments of $279: “There is no point.”
Transport Canada is only now electronically compiling tens of thousands of environmental reports filed by marine shippers. The department nine years ago was faulted for failing to enforce regulations on ballast water from ocean vessels: “This backlog is a concern because it provides information for scientists.”
The Department of Agriculture in a draft report says researchers should examine insects as part of the nation’s diet. One Canadian cricket rancher said powdered insects are gaining popularity as industrial feed and supermarket additives: ‘It tastes like food.’
Employment Canada yesterday reported a 50 percent non-compliance rate in worksite inspections of employers who hire migrant workers. Staff told the Commons public accounts committee that breaches of regulations were commonplace, though all inspections were pre-arranged: “This does not look good on you or the department.”
A federal labour board has cited the Canada Border Services Agency for age discrimination. The Agency was ordered to pay $25,000 for its “humiliating” treatment of a longtime employee: “It was based on a stereotyped view unsupported by the facts.”
The Commons health committee will conduct hearings on national drinking water guidelines. Environmental groups have repeatedly faulted regulators for failing to monitor tap water for dozens of pollutants: “You might start to focus on some pesticides and pharmaceuticals that we see in source water.”
Shippers say a cabinet bill to limit Pacific coast oil tanker traffic may breach a United Nations treaty. The cabinet bill restricts tankers carrying more than 12,500 tonnes of crude oil from anchoring or unloading on the northern British Columbia coast: “This legislation sets a precedent.”
Two Senate bills have survived a cabinet challenge. Commons Speaker Geoff Regan yesterday ruled the bills – including one opposed by the Department of Public Safety – should proceed to debate and votes: “These bills may continue.”
A Nova Scotia court has rejected a traveler’s claim for $25,000 against Air Canada for alleged theft of jewelry in luggage. The release of the judgment came as MPs opened final debate on a bill mandating the nation’s first statutory passenger bill of rights: ‘This is really something I wish had been done about ten years ago.’
About 1 in 5 federal employees say they have been victims of harassment at work, according to a Treasury Board survey. Forty percent of public servants questioned said they found their jobs emotionally draining: “The results are troubling.”
Staff with two federal agencies yesterday complained to the Commons access committee of onerous public requests for documents. A cabinet bill would grant departments new powers to dismiss applications for records: “There should be some limit on that.”
Cabinet yesterday introduced legislation to force owners of all large ships to submit proof of insurance. The bill follows repeated attempts to clean Canada’s harbours of some 600 derelict vessels: “This has to stop.”
Regulators are proposing to expand an ethanol mandate that’s seen producers receive subsidies of up to 10¢ a litre. Independent economists have rated the program a costly failure in meeting climate change targets: ‘The cost has been very high.’
