The Federal Court of Appeal has ruled tax collectors must pay interest on disputed funds collected in a reassessment. The Canada Revenue Agency was successfully challenged by an Alberta oilman ordered to settle a $12.75 million account: “The Agency is not a deposit-taking institution.”
Blacklock’s newsroom pauses next week for our annual August holiday. We bid all our friends and subscribers a happy summer break and safe journey on your travels. Blacklock’s returns Monday, August 14 — The Editor.
Only one-third of adults and 23 percent of children got the flu shot last winter despite a costly promotional campaign by the Public Health Agency of Canada, says in-house research. The Agency spent $3.5 million on vaccination awareness. Data show lingering public skepticism that vaccinations are ineffective or unsafe: “Vaccines do NOT cause sudden infant death syndrome.”
The Canada Revenue Agency says an experiment with delinquent taxpayers shows “soft” letters appealing to individuals’ conscience get better results. The Agency’s Collections Directorate tested various collection letters on thousands of taxpayers with small debts: ‘It’s persuading individuals to comply without use of punishment.’
An appeal court judge has dismissed a ruling that a failed law school student cannot act as counsel in a civil trial. The decision was written by the same Prince Edward Island judge who earlier faulted “disturbing” fees charged by licensed lawyers: “When a client asks his lawyer for the time of day he doesn’t need to be told how to build a watch.”
Environment Canada is spending $75,000 on research to find out why car buyers choose certain models. Most drivers prefer larger vehicles that can handle winter, said the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association: “Their purchase decision is generally determined by what they need and can afford.”
French is now a 3rd, 4th or 5th language in a majority of Western provinces, according to new Statistics Canada data. Census research showed for the first time since passage of the 1969 Official Languages Act, more Westerners speak Punjabi, Cantonese or Tagalog than French: “We have to be smart.”
A federal judge has struck down an appeal by one of Canada’s largest auto parts makers to hire temporary foreign workers. The Court ruled the fact few Canadian electricians want to work 12-hour shifts at $29 an hour was not sufficient reason to hire migrants: ‘It is a last resort.’
The University of Regina will ban smoking in private cars on campus under a new policy effective September 1. The ban is the most sweeping of its kind since smoking was first restricted in transportation in Canada in 1975: “We are going to try to be a leader.”
The Canada Border Services Agency seizes fewer than 600 guns a year on average at the U.S. border, according to an Access To Information memo. Prosecutions number fewer than 50 a year: “The number of actual firearms seized has remained relatively consistent.”
The Canada Border Services Agency spends $239 per person, per day detaining illegal immigrants, refugee claimants and travelers wanted on police warrants. The Agency held 6,251 people last year at detention centres and provincial jails: “The cost of detention is not insignificant.”
Statistics Canada data show 34 percent of children under age 6 are obese, overweight or at risk. Rates were over 40 percent in two provinces: “This is directly related to the lifestyles we live.”
Parents of a schoolboy with disabilities have lost a human rights challenge of standardized testing. The Ontario Human Rights Tribunal dismissed a claim that a zero mark on an incomplete test was discriminatory: “This is not an endorsement of standardized testing.”
The Transportation Safety Board says its investigation of a 2016 train wreck was stymied by the lack of cockpit-style recorders in locomotives. MPs will conduct hearings this fall on a cabinet bill mandating video and voice recorders aboard all trains: “Were all signals correctly identified?”
The Department of Justice in an Access To Information memo is complaining of cost pressures though the crime rate has declined for more than a decade. Staff also noted they have no national data on rates of recidivism: “Chronic repeat offenders are responsible.”
