Blacklock's Reporter

The Senate energy committee yesterday warned Canadian drivers face extraordinary difficulty in meeting cabinet’s climate change targets. It “is going to be a huge challenge”, senators wrote: ‘If all the cars, trucks, planes, trains and ships were to disappear, we would still fall far short.’

A Department of Public Safety report says the public has been misled over the size of Canada’s illegal marijuana market. Researchers said police grossly inflate the value of drug seizures, and that regulators have no data on how much or how little cannabis Canadians actually use: “What is the issue that’s trying to be solved?”

Parks Canada could become only the third agency ever to lose UNESCO heritage status for failing to care for cultural property, says a United Nations official. Cabinet has yet to answer a UN report critical of development at Alberta’s Wood Buffalo National Park: “A World Heritage Site could lose its status. It has happened.”

The Senate social affairs committee has approved a ban on kids’ advertising over the protests of restaurateurs and food makers. The Conservative bill would restrict marketing of junk food to Canadians under 17: “We will need to spell out what unhealthy means.”

Internal polling by the Department of Natural Resources shows Canadians have more trust in environmental groups than the federal oil and gas regulator, the National Energy Board. The data follow an advisory panel report citing complaints the Board is secretive and industry-friendly: ‘Addressing public confidence is critical.’

MPs yesterday passed a bill to proclaim November 11 a legal federal holiday despite protests from the Royal Canadian Legion. Advocates said it is purely symbolic: “When can this quit?”

The Senate yesterday passed a bill to proclaim Charlottetown the birthplace of Confederation. Third Reading came amid historic quarrels over the founding of the nation: “Charlottetown is not the actual birthplace.”

The Senate has passed into law a bill to discourage unsafe disposal of millions of compact fluorescent bulbs with toxic mercury. Some 1,150 kilograms of mercury are landfilled each year, by official estimate: “Municipalities deal with the garbage.”

A federal judge has ruled against a British Columbia helicopter pilot responsible for a YouTube stunt. Transport Canada complained the staged video depicting a chopper skidding past a pond hockey game breached Canadian Aviation Regulations: “Hockey players could have been hit.”

Public Safety Canada will have to “rethink” a disaster aid program for provinces, says a senior official. Annual costs have risen more than 30-fold due to higher claims for flood damage: “It was created in 1972; our life has changed since 1972.”

The fisheries department says it has no scientific evidence Atlantic seals threaten dwindling groundfish stocks. The statement contradicting seal hunt advocates came in cabinet correspondence to the Commons fisheries committee: “I don’t buy that for a minute.”

Senators have effectively buried a Liberal bill to rewrite O Canada. The Senate sponsor of the proposal for gender-neutral lyrics last evening acknowledged the bill will not pass by Canada Day, if ever: “It has failed each time, and it failed for a reason.”

Environment Canada says it is not “currently” considering the world’s first carbon tariff. One MP said introduction of a 2018 national carbon tax without curbs on foreign polluters will hurt industry: “That wouldn’t reduce global emissions, but it would eliminate Canadian jobs.”

The Parliamentary Budget Office yesterday predicted Canadians’ household debt will reach unprecedented levels next year, at 180 percent of disposable income. The forecast followed an appeal from the International Monetary Fund to cap the amount individual Canadians can borrow: ‘Vulnerability of the average Canadian household would rise beyond historical experience.’