First-time homebuyers face new hurdles under a federal proposal to further restrict credit. Realtors and mortgage brokers blamed 2016 credit curbs for millions in lost business: “These rules will have an impact.”
Members of the Commons health committee are being recalled a week early to launch hearings on a legal cannabis bill. A cabinet deadline for passage of the bill will see hearings open before Parliament returns from summer recess: “No votes, no interruptions, nothing.”
The Department of Public Safety is budgeting millions for traffic safety ads in anticipation of legalized marijuana. An initial $1.9 million will be spent in the first year of a four-year campaign against drug-impaired driving, records show: “Driving while impaired by drugs is a major contributor to fatal road crashes.”
A federal air security agency has compiled 405 pages of language complaints in the past six years, show Access To Information records. A bill mandating expanded French services in air transportation has languished in the Senate for a year: “It is ignorant attitudes like that which do not help our country’s language battles.”
A federal cybersecurity agency says internet tricksters and “hacktivists motivated by ideological issues” could harass any Canadian political campaign for as little as $25. Disruption of actual voting is unlikely, said the Communications Security Establishment: “There is some potential vulnerability there.”
The nation’s largest cable companies have lost an appeal of an 85 percent rate hike on telephone pole charges. An industry group said the fee spike undermines federal efforts to expand internet services: “It is going to have an impact.”
Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould’s department is refusing comment on its role in a social media campaign to discredit Federal Court litigants. Government lawyers had personal contact with an Ottawa blogger, Howard Knopf, who then published commentaries ridiculing copyright plaintiffs. The incidents follow admissions that government staff edited Blacklock’s Wikipedia page.
Blacklock’s has filed Copyright Act claims against 15 federal departments and agencies for knowingly sharing subscription passwords and copying thousands of works without payment or permission. Records show attorneys in Wilson-Raybould’s department discussed the cases with Knopf, who subsequently published a series of blog entries accusing Blacklock’s of unethical business practices.
“Is Blacklock’s a copyright troll?” Knopf wrote in one post, illustrated with a crude cartoon of a monster. “Speaking of alleged copyright trolls – ”.
Another blog entry was illustrated with a graphic image of what appeared to be a pile of coal or excrement. “If anyone becomes aware of any other Blacklock’s litigation or threatening letters please feel free to let me know and pass along details, anonymously if you wish,” wrote Knopf; “Blacklock’s appears to have become one of the most ‘frequent flyers’, as it were, in Canadian copyright litigation.”
The blogger mentioned Blacklock’s 91 times in an 18-month period. Department of Justice records identified 273 pages of internal records citing Knopf. The department censored 172 pages of the Knopf file, claiming “personal information” or “solicitor-client privilege” under the Access To Information Act.
“Documents protected by solicitor-client privilege may have mentioned Mr. Knopf,” said Ian McLeod, spokesperson for Justice Canada. “It does not necessarily mean the excised correspondence was from, or to, him.”
McLeod refused comment when asked whether federal lawyers had ghostwritten or vetted the blog posts, or whether the Attorney General’s office sanctioned contacts with the blogger. Knopf did not comment though he attended legal hearings and met privately with Justice Canada lawyers in courthouse consultation sessions on Blacklock’s litigation.
“The department does not engage in or orchestrate publicity campaigns to discredit litigants, whether in Federal Court or elsewhere,” said McLeod.
“Nothing Was Planted With Me”
Federal departments typically refuse comment on pending litigation as inappropriate. An Ontario Ministry of Justice policy states official comment on lawsuits should be avoided “where court proceedings are ongoing, and through all stages of appeal until the matter is completed.” The guide Canadian Legal Practice states: “It is good practice for a lawyer to avoid comment on the merits of any specific case until after it is finally determined and becomes a matter of public record.”
Knopf in other entries wrote that “Blacklock’s is so busy suing”; “Canadian taxpayers are no doubt going to pay a lot to monitor and participate, even passively, in this ‘litany of litigation’,” he wrote.
Knopf was earlier named as a source by the Globe & Mail in a 2015 article that accused Blacklock’s of “trolling in the courts.” James Bradshaw, Globe reporter who wrote the story, declined comment on his dealings with Knopf. “Nothing was planted with me,” said Bradshaw.
Knopf is former director of the Canadian Intellectual Property Institute at the University of Ottawa, and counsel with Macera & Jarzyna LLP of Ottawa.
The Department of Justice initially refused to release any records referring to Knopf without his personal consent, a breach of the Access To Information Act. The Office of the Information Commissioner today concluded its investigation with a finding that Justice Canada staff were mistaken in attempting to conceal all files.
Federal staff in 2016 admitted to using a Courts Administration Service computer to edit Blacklock’s Wikipedia page. The Service refused to name employees responsible for the breach of federal policy, or disclose findings of an internal investigation into the Wikipedia edits.
By Staff 
The Royal Canadian Mint has paid millions to pull pennies out of circulation under a 2013 program. Cabinet’s decision to halt penny production as an austerity measure has now cost more than it saved, according to records: “Scrap metals were recovered from the coins”.
A federal agency will spend more than half-a-million dollars to survey Grade 9 students on financial literacy. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada earlier blamed parents for failing to teach children about compound interest and credit terms: “There’s a certain irony here.”
A Crown agency blames the economy for higher tolls on some of the nation’s busiest cross-border bridges. Fees must offset revenue lost from traffic declines of as much as 20 percent, said the Federal Bridge Corporation Ltd: “Major challenges are being faced.”
Air passenger complaints to federal regulators have tripled since cabinet promised to introduce a travelers’ rights bill. Complaints to the Canadian Transportation Agency skyrocketed even as the tribunal ruled it would no longer accept general complaints from consumers’ advocates: “Canadians will know what their rights are.”
The Information Commissioner has filed a lawsuit to end a nine-year search for Access To Information records held by a federal agency. The dispute over disclosure – the longest to date – targets the St. John’s Port Authority.
“I’d like to see an investigation into the whole works,” said Charles Anonsen, owner of Adventure Tours Inc. of St. John’s. “This has been a long battle, and a very expensive battle, but I’ve pursued it.”
The Commissioner in a Federal Court application filed on Anonsen’s behalf asks that the Authority be compelled to release 33 pages of records sought since 2008. Correspondence between the Commissioner and the Authority continued from 2009 to last May 12, according to the Court documents.
Sean Hanrahan, CEO of the Port Authority, in a May 12 email cited in Court records complained of “delay, discourtesy and general incompetence on the part of the Office of the Information Commissioner over nearly a decade.” The Commissioner’s office declined comment.
Anonsen’s Adventure Tours operated tour boats from St. John’s harbour from 1978. The Authority in 2006 denied the company a license, prompting five years of litigation.
“I started my business years ago and now I’m not allowed to operate,” said Anonsen. “They changed the rules to get rid of me, then the Port went ahead and gave a market I developed over 35 years to a new guy who just pulled into the harbour.”
Anonsen in an October 1, 2008 Access To Information request wrote the Authority seeking “information from all meetings of the board of directors, management and staff of the St. John’s Port Authority regarding me, Charles Anonsen, and Adventure Tours Inc. This would include emails, minutes of meetings, letters, recordings, audio and video, and legal opinions. Further, I am requesting copies of commercial leases and contacts with other Port users and operators to examine the lease history of the St. John’s Port authority.”
The Authority replied within six months “disclosing some records” but withheld 132 pages of files, according to Court documents. Other files were released piecemeal with some 33 crucial pages of records still withheld.
Anonsen said he sought details of Authority minutes in which directors voted to deny his license. “It’s unfair,” he said. “They say I can’t operate because I spoke out against them.”
Delays of two to three years in releasing federal records are now commonplace. Agencies would gain new powers to conceal records under legislation introduced in the Commons on June 19.
Bill C-58 An Act To Amend The Access Information Act proposes two new grounds to refuse requests, as “vexatious” or involving “such a large number of records” it would be too onerous for staff.
By Jason Unrau
In-house research by a federal tribunal concludes service to the public is slow and mediocre. The Social Security Tribunal commissioned the survey after MPs urged reforms: “None of them are very satisfied.”
Health Canada says it will complete by year’s end its special reviews of three common pesticides. The department’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency has already proposed to phase out one pesticide, imidacloprid, as an environmental risk: “We must protect biodiversity.”
Blacklock’s reporters and contributors pause to wish you a happy Canada 150th. We’re back on July 4 — The Editor.
