A cabinet bill exempting railway employees from federal privacy law marks a dark precedent in Canadian workplace surveillance, union executives yesterday told the Senate transport committee. A Teamsters director called Bill C-49 “a blank cheque to bureaucrats to determine what is right and what is wrong”.
Cabinet yesterday served notice it wants the Senate to begin voting on a marijuana bill within two weeks under threat of a debate cut-off. The government will not tolerate “delay for the sake of delay”, an official said: “You are moving this forward very quickly.”
The Senate last night passed into law a bill proclaiming Remembrance Day a legal federal holiday. A similar New Democrat bill lapsed in 2015 on concerns it would lead to another statutory holiday in all provinces: “There have been some concerns.”
Canada Post faces new demands on pay equity after being faulted by a federal judge for disparity in benefits. The Canadian Union of Postal Workers yesterday said it will seek arbitration over pay differences between urban and rural mail carriers: “Settle this.”
A federal labour board has upheld the firing of a Canada Revenue staffer who invoked her Agency connections in trying to save $10,000 in a real estate deal. The Public Sector Labour Relations & Employment Board called it a clear case of intimidation: ‘Agency powers over each taxpayer are enormous.’
The Bank of Canada estimates one third of small and medium-sized businesses boycott credit cards due to high transaction fees. Merchants’ fees, typically 1 to 3 percent, are not federally regulated: “It adds up fast.”
Labour Minister Patricia Hajdu says a new federal workplace harassment bill should curb teasing, yelling, touching, off-colour jokes and inappropriate Twitter comments. “It is, more broadly speaking, laying the foundation for cultural change,” Hajdu yesterday told the Commons human resources committee: “It can be people who use a certain style of joking that makes others very uncomfortable.”
The Commons public accounts committee yesterday described dysfunction at the Canada Revenue Agency as shocking, disappointing and alarming. MPs ordered tax managers to report within 120 days on improvements to Agency call centres: ‘It did a poor job.’
MPs tomorrow will give Second Reading to a Senate bill banning junk food advertising to children. Cabinet is proposing amendments to narrow any restrictions on marketing: “It is difficult to know exactly what we are agreeing to.”
A tobacco manufacturer yesterday protested a proposed plain packaging law would prohibit marketing of smoke-free nicotine products. A bill passed by the Senate in 2017 would enact an Australian-style law requiring that cigarettes be sold in a plain brown package with graphic health warnings: “It’s not going to have the impact you think it will.”
A federal judge has ruled the Canada Border Services Agency unfairly revoked a traveler’s Nexus card for a trivial breach of the Customs Act. The plaintiff accused Customs officers of racial profiling: “We are treated like some kind of culprits.”
The military is launching a cannabis prevention campaign in anticipation of legalized marijuana. One-fifth of soldiers, sailors and air crew are cannabis users, a rate the Department of National Defence fears will increase if Parliament passes a marijuana bill: “It’s not a good sign.”
Flooding is a greater threat to home values than rising interest rates, the Senate energy committee has been told. The chair of a federal Expert Panel on Climate Change Adaptation said homeowners face high costs from lack of preparedness: “Every day we don’t adapt is a day we don’t have.”
The Department of Finance says reforms will be made at a federal agency responsible for tracking money laundering. Courts have repeatedly cited the Financial Transactions & Reports Analysis Centre for hectoring small businesses over minor breaches of the law: “It made no sense.”
Health Canada proposes to cut consumers’ sugar and salt consumption by a third. The targeted reductions still exceed World Health Organization guidelines to combat obesity, hypertension and chronic diseases: “It’s a start.”
