A federal judge has upheld an Environment Canada order that halted development of a subdivision to save a rare frog. The ruling ends three years of litigation over the threatened species: “Unfortunately for the plaintiff, they failed.”
A federal Bank Act enforcer says it’s not mandated to punish banks for breaching consumer rights. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada draws 90 percent of its budget from banks, trust companies and other financial institutions: “I think we could be stricter.”
Finance Minister Bill Morneau says a national carbon tax is constitutional and opposed only by ideologues. The remarks came as cabinet introduced a second motion to have the Commons endorse its climate change targets: “I have so little time for the criticisms.”
A tax auditor who waged a long legal battle against her union, the Canada Revenue Agency and courts is a vexatious litigant, a federal labour board has ruled. The dispute over a union’s right to obtain employees’ home contact information dated from 1992: “The complainant is not prepared to leave this matter alone.”
Canada Revenue Agency is seeking a court order to compel disclosure of companies’ use of prepaid credit cards. The Federal Court application follows earlier tax dragnets against eBay and PayPay customers: “It’s a lovely mess.”
Tax Court has struck down a five-figure penalty for late payment after citing ambiguities between English and French-language versions of the Income Tax Act. The Court itself raised the issue in a routine appeal: “The French version is rather different.”
The tourism department is searching for a world-class, distinctive all-Canadian meal. Nothing immediately comes to mind, staff wrote: “No one national cuisine is closely identified with Canada.”
Railways anticipate a sevenfold increase in fuel fees under a national carbon tax, says a rail lobbyist. Executives told the Senate agriculture committee that railways should pay less tax than trucking companies since they are more efficient: “But you guys can’t find out where the cars are.”
The Canada Border Services Agency reports it seized less than a million dollars’ worth of counterfeit goods last year. The Department of Public Safety estimates the trade in bootlegged trademarks is worth $30 billion annually: “I hope the government takes a very serious look at these numbers.”
Senators are questioning the value of a Commons bill to voluntarily discourage landfilling of compact fluorescent mercury lightbulbs. MPs passed the bill last January 31 after deleting a requirement that Environment Canada mandate a toxic disposal program on provinces: “Do we need to give a nudge every time?”
The Department of National Defence spent nearly $100,000 surveying 2,000 renters on whether they like military housing. Only 28 percent said they were very satisfied living on base: ‘The objective is to measure customer satisfaction.’
It was 1992
when the UN designated March 22 as
World Water Day.
Recognising those who face
water scarcity.
Things got worse since.
From California to the Middle East to South Asia,
groundwater reservoirs are depleting.
Droughts. Over-pumping.
Two billion live in river basins
where use exceeds recharge.
Streams dry up.
Lakes slowly die.
Swaths of countryside
reduced to desert.
Millions move to shanty towns
for loss of farmland.
Those who can,
desalinate sea water.
Meanwhile in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and B.C.,
communities stack sandbags, calling in the
military.
(Editor’s note: poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, examines current events in the Blacklock’s tradition each and every Sunday)
A Senate bill would close a “canyon-sized loophole” in federal law that permits foreign meddling in elections, says its sponsor. Senator Linda Frum (Conservative-Ont.) said the Canada Elections Act is so weak, even hostile foreign governments can influence campaigns: “This part gets tricky.”
The Senate yesterday passed a bill to enact Australian-style regulations on plain packaging of tobacco products. Manufacturers have threatened to challenge the bill as a breach of the Trademarks Act: “Controversies exist.”
A member of a federal advisory panel on electric cars says a government target to boost sales will be difficult. Cabinet has budgeted a total $182.5 million to promote plug-in recharging stations, though electrics account for less than 1 percent of auto sales: “It would be very, very challenging.”
