Former employment minister Pierre Poilievre is declining comment after being cited for breaching federal law. The Commissioner of Elections said the MP for Carleton, Ont. sought to gain advantage for the Conservative Party at public expense. “We will not be giving interviews at this time,” said a spokesperson for the MP.
This rest area
by the nature trail
could use some clean-up.
Spotting what people left behind,
my mind reconstructs the narrative.
Here’s an apple core.
I imagine someone
biting into the fruit.
Over there, an empty can of Coke.
I can see someone
enjoying the drink.
Under the oak tree, a condom wrapping.
(Editor’s note: poet Shai Ben-Shalom is an Israeli-born biologist who examines current events in the Blacklock’s tradition each and every Sunday)
More than a third of Canadians, 39 percent, fear they will be personally affected by climate change disaster within their lifetime. The research was commissioned by Health Canada: “Do you think it is likely that a disaster caused by extreme weather will occur?”
The Federal Court of Appeal yesterday faulted the National Energy Board as “confused” and wrong in law when it failed to order hearings on a pipeline application. The Board was successfully challenged by a British Columbia contractor: “It’s the obligation of citizens to hold their feet to the fire.”
The Federal Court of Appeal has ordered a human rights investigation on whether a bank properly pulled a mortgage from a marijuana user. The judgment is the latest on far-reaching impacts of legal cannabis on property law, zoning and insurance: “The Bank does not allow marijuana in their communities.”
Federal research shows nearly half of young Canadians surveyed, 47 percent, used electronic cigarettes at least occasionally. The number of tobacco users nationwide is 18 percent. A first-ever bill to regulate vaping is pending in the Commons: “It is cool or trendy.”
The Federal Court says it destroyed audio tapes of hearings in apparent breach of Federal Court Rules. The digital recordings were of courthouse conferences on Blacklock’s claims against Crown agencies for breach of the Copyright Act. Administrators earlier admitted an unidentified person used a courthouse computer to edit Blacklock’s Wikipedia page.
“It would be inappropriate for the Attorney General to comment in the matter as it is before the courts and the Attorney General is a party,” said David Taylor, director of communications for Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould.
Andrew Baumberg, counsel for the Federal Court, earlier said officials kept 100 percent of records. “The general principle is one of retention in perpetuity,” said Baumberg. “The rules provide some exceptions.”
Blacklock’s requested audio recordings of case management teleconferences from January 23, March 6 and May 12 in which lawyers for the Attorney General sought to defer trials on ongoing copyright infringements, and Case Management Judge Mireille Tabib quit the proceedings.
The Court Registry initially said records were not immediately available due to absentee staff and “poor quality” of the audio, then acknowledged tapes had vanished.
“For digital audio recordings made by the Registry, the current practice is to keep all recordings,” said Baumberg. The Court counsel cited Federal Court Rules section 21, “The administrator shall keep all records necessary for documenting the proceedings of the Court.”
The Court Registry declined an interview. Baumberg yesterday confirmed records were deleted. Baumberg said at least one audio tape was “overwritten”.
Also Made Wikipedia Edits
Lawyer Stuart Rennie of Port Coquitlam, B.C., a specialist in records management, said Canadian authorities are typically cautious in preserving records. “In general, Canadians are very reluctant to destroy records,” said Rennie, a member of the Association of Records Managers and Administrators.
“In my experience, there is even reluctance to destroy ‘transitory’ records – an email to arrange a meeting, for instance,” said Rennie. “Each court has its own practices. I do know it is common practice for retention schedules to be kept.”
The Courts Administration Service earlier launched an internal investigation after an unknown person used a courthouse computer to edit Blacklock’s Wikipedia page in 2016. An unidentified staffer made the entry last December 21, within minutes of a Court ruling that ordered Blacklock’s to pay $65,000 in costs in a copyright lawsuit against the Department of Finance.
Daniel Gosselin, chief of the Administration Service, said staff were forbidden from using Court computers or government internet servers to edit Wikipedia pages. “CAS takes the impartiality of the Courts very seriously,” Gosselin earlier wrote.
“Please note the Courts Administration Service has not authorized any of its employees to edit the Blacklock’s Reporter Wikipedia page,” wrote Gosselin; “This is an internal matter and, accordingly, will be dealt with internally.”
By Staff
The Department of Finance spent $59,331 on focus group interviews that asked Canadians, “What keeps you up at night?” Respondents said they worried about losing their job, and Donald Trump: “Finance Canada wanted to get a clear and current sense of the evolution of the public mood.”
The Department of Natural Resources is investing in a gaming program complete with prizes to “engage Canadians” on fuel conservation as they face a national carbon tax. One MP described the project as a money-wasting scheme: “A potential game would need to be fun.”
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce yesterday in a report urged Parliament to spend more on roads and other basic infrastructure. Researchers cited data that Canada’s three largest cities suffer gridlock that has sent average commute times up to an hour-and-a-half: ‘They are really strangling themselves.’
A federal judge has faulted Transport Canada for revoking a longtime employee’s security clearance on innuendo and a flawed RCMP report. The Federal Court ruled the department went too far in punishing a nine-year employee with a spotless record: ‘To put it bluntly, we don’t know why.’
A Senate committee chair says the public expects Health Canada to honour its promise to restrict junk food advertising to children. A department Access To Information memo indicates staff proposed to defer regulations for fear of industry lawsuits: “What is Health Canada’s position?”
An Alberta company has filed a federal lawsuit against the Government of Canada and three provinces for mass expropriation of copyright data. Geophysical Service Inc. identified Crown agencies that gave away millions’ worth of company work, or sold it for as little as $759: “It is unbelievable.”
Restaurateurs are condemning the federal Competition Bureau for an unsolicited proposal to boost food trucks. The industry says it was neither consulted nor advised of the agency’s report: ‘I find this a little hard to swallow.’
The Federal Court of Appeal in a far-reaching judgment has ruled workplace health and safety enforcement may apply off an employer’s property. The rare split decision followed an appeal by mail carriers: “The fact there was a dissent does raise the ante.”
