Parliament should anticipate long, difficult negotiations with the U.S. over a 19.9 percent tariff on Canadian softwood lumber, witnesses yesterday told the Commons trade committee. Exports were worth $7.62 billion last year, by U.S. estimate: “Canadians are nervous.”
The Canada Revenue Agency says it will complete a long-promised report on uncollected personal income tax by year’s end, past a deadline fixed by cabinet. Authorities yesterday told the Commons finance committee the calculation was difficult: “There have been lots of jurisdictions that do this.”
Enforcement of Canada’s proposed regulations on cannabis-impaired drivers will be complex and costly, warns a U.S. state agency. Cabinet will copy a 2014 Colorado law forbidding drivers from consuming more than 5 billionths of a gram of the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana: “I’d tell law enforcement to start looking at your budgets.”
The Senate will consider a motion for a comprehensive review of charitable tax credits and the “impact of the voluntary sector” nationwide. Fewer than 1 in 4 taxpayers give to charities, by official estimate: “We want to make this a significant study.”
Cabinet has rejected a scientific panel recommendation that it protect iconic Atlantic Bluefin tuna as an endangered species. Canada has supported increased commercial fishing of tuna in the past two years despite a historic decline in population: “The social value of a species is never really considered.”
Senators have passed legislation mandating a federal call-before-you-dig system. A final vote on the bill came as Senate office buildings were evacuated due to a natural gas leak: “I can’t believe we don’t already have this.”
Military recruitment remains short more than 4,000 members despite multi-million dollar advertising campaigns, says a senior officer. Commanders yesterday told the Commons public accounts committee that targets are not being met.
“Our number right now is 56,232 who can go on a mission today at a moment’s notice,” said Lieutenant-General Charles Lamarre, commander of the Military Personnel Command. “So, being 4,000 short – that’s a big target for us to make up.”
Of 44,000 people who applied to join the military last year, a total 4,542 were signed up. Actual recruitment levels must average between 5,000 and 6,000 a year, by official estimate.
The Auditor General in a 2016 analysis concluded the military will not meet its target for a standing force of 68,000 soldiers, sailors and air crew by 2019. Lt.-Gen. Lamarre blamed shortfalls in part on closure of recruiting centres due to budget cuts.
“That resulted in a loss of 180 positions, many of which involved in processing files,” said Lamarre; “By the middle of June we’ll have 20 new file managers and will be receiving another 20 by the end of the fiscal year.”
John Forster, Deputy Defence Minister, said the military faced the same labour shortages as other employers. “In some occupations where we are struggling to recruit, it’s the same all over Canada,” said Forster; “We’re competing with the private sector for pilots and doctors. We’re facing the same challenges as the private sector.”
Forster said women now comprise 15 percent of the Canadian Armed Forces. The military three years ago set a 25 percent target for women recruits. Women were not accepted in all branches of the military until 2000, when female submariners were first recruited.
Research commissioned by the Department of National Defence has concluded the military is unattractive to women and minorities despite a yearly advertising budget of more than $1.7 million. Most women surveyed, 77 percent, said they had have never thought of joining the military and considered the work unappealing and dangerous, according to 2016 polling data by Earnscliffe Strategy Group.
The military in earlier 2014 research found minority groups also considered enlistment a “last resort”; “Most did mention the obligation and a sense of being ‘trapped’ in the military with a lack of personal freedom to leave when they desired,” said a study Visible Minorities Recruitment & The Canadian Armed Forces by Ipsos Reid.
By Jason Unrau 
Federal cannabis regulations would see Canadians face a minimum $1,000 fine for driving after smoking a single joint. The proposal echoes a Colorado law that advises motorists no cannabis consumption is safe: “Technicians would be able to take blood samples from a driver without a doctor’s oversight.”
A fourth province, Saskatchewan, is protesting Parliament’s passage of an anti-genetic discrimination bill, the first legislation of its kind. Cabinet will refer the bill to the Supreme Court for an opinion on whether it is constitutional: “We continue to have concerns.”
Canada Post earned a $55 million pre-tax profit last year despite threatening to lock out employees in a summer contract dispute. It was the third consecutive year of profitable post office operations: “There is no crisis here.”
Cabinet says it has no plans to ban imports of shark fins. A narrower Department of Fisheries order to prohibit the finning of sharks caught in ocean trawlers’ longline nets will be fully enforced by March 2018, said a senior Liberal MP: “We’re not close.”
The Parliamentary Budget Office predicts home prices will level off though costs continue to rise in most cities. Analysts yesterday told the Commons finance committee they believed housing has peaked: “This leveling off will reduce the risk of the bubble bursting.”
Cost of a national carbon tax will depend on where Canadians live, says the Department of the Environment. Authorities yesterday declined to release data on the dollar-per-household impact of the tax to be mandated on provinces starting in 2018: “What will this mean for me directly?”
A new National Holocaust Monument in downtown Ottawa will have the tightest security of any memorial in Canada, say Access To Information memos. The National Capital Commission fears it will be targeted by hate groups: “Potential for a violent confrontation is a reality.”
Cabinet attempts to boost softwood lumber exports to Asia will not compensate for punishing U.S. tariffs, say analysts. One MP yesterday described Asian promotions as a scramble in the face of 19.9 percent cross-border duties: “We don’t want to be in the same position five, ten years from now.”
