Cabinet plans new cybersecurity measures this spring following the shutdown of two federal websites over fears of hacking. An Access To Information memo details government worries over future cyberattacks: ‘It could impact the safety and security of Canadians.’
The Navy is dismantling two decommissioned vessels but says it’s still willing to offer surplus ships as artificial reefs for scuba divers. The 2015 scuttling of a toxic vessel in fish habitat in British Columbia triggered an environmental lawsuit: “If the Navy can fob a ship off on a local dive club and sink it, that saves a ton of money.”
The Department of Finance has expressed alarm over “rapidly increasing housing vulnerabilities” and pledged further action in 2017. The confidential memos were obtained through Access To Information: “Taxpayers have exposure to losses.”
A realtor who claimed a home was 12 percent bigger than the actual property size was sloppy but not nefarious, a Calgary judge has ruled. Alberta Provincial Court Justice Donald Higa noted homebuyers should be aware property listings may not be accurate: “You are taught how to measure a home.”
Wholesome team building and ergonomic chairs are key to reducing employees’ sick days, says the federal agency with the lowest absentee rate in the Government of Canada. The Military Police Complaints Commission also credited staff picnics with boosting attendance at work.
“The Commission prides itself on promotion of informal team building activities such as staff-initiated fitness classes, picnics, potlucks and other activities,” said spokesperson Michael Tansey. Many activities occurred off work, he said.
Employees at the Commission average 6.1 sick days a year, the lowest rate in the public service according to Access To Information records. The Copyright Board had the second-lowest absentee rate, 7.6 days a year per employee.
“Physical wellness is also important,” said Tansey. “This was a key consideration during recent renovations.” The Commission encourages employees to use “sit-stand stations wherever possible”, and avoids unnecessary staff meetings.
“The Commission also launched an Elephant In The Room anti-stigma campaign by placing blue elephants in various common areas to send the message that the Commission is a safe place to talk about mental illness,” he said; “It provides staff with important strategies to support a psychologically safe and healthy workplace.”
One obscure agency, the Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat, reported the highest number of employee sick days – 18.4 a year per person, on average. The Secretariat did not comment.
Second-highest sick rates were reported by the Canada Border Services Agency, 15.3 days a year. “Most employees operate on a shift work schedule,” said spokesperson Nicholas Dorion. “Shift work environments typically have higher sick leave usage than those with a steady work schedule.”
Dorion noted federal employees are entitled to 15 cumulative sick days a year to cover short-term illness. Leave at other departments and agencies averaged 14 a year at Veterans Affairs Canada; 13 at the departments of employment, national defence and fisheries; and 12.5 at Library and Archives Canada.
Statistics Canada in a 2013 report Understanding Public-Private Sector Differences In Work Absences said while government workers took 6 more sick days a year on average compared to the private sector, data were skewed by demographics. Civil servants tend to be older, and are more typically women who “take on more family responsibilities”, the report said.
By Jason Unrau 
Cabinet is considering a pay raise for RCMP members for the first time in three years. The initiative follows Senate passage of a bill setting terms for a Mounties’ union: ‘We are seeing people leave the force.’
Canadians must economize on home heating or pay the price, says an Access To Information memo from Environment Canada. The memo detailed a “rationale for carbon pricing” for Environment Minister Catherine McKenna: “Encourage behavioural change.”
Cabinet will budget millions for a national harbour clean-up of derelict boats. A single wreck abandoned on the St. Lawrence River will cost taxpayers $34 million, said the Department of Fisheries: “Taxpayers are on the hook for a huge amount of money.”
Canada Post is being challenged over job cuts. The Canadian Union of Postal Workers in a Federal Court application said managers used faulty data to justify regional cuts, a position upheld by a labour arbitrator: “They are ruining the service.”
Farm fertilizer accounts for a higher rate of greenhouse gas emissions than originally estimated, says new University of Manitoba research. Release of nitrous oxide with spring thaws adds another 22 to 30 million tonnes of emissions each year, said researchers: “It is significant.”
A federal agency is comparing fossil fuel industries to tobacco manufacturers. The government think tank Policy Horizons Canada warned regulators could be sued if they do not enforce a climate change plan: “It’s all part of the ongoing scare tactics.”
The Department of Justice says federal employees may copy thousands of password-protected works without payment or permission in the name of research. Lawyers made the claim in response to Blacklock’s lawsuit against Health Canada for unauthorized copying of online content to more than 1,000 employees.
“There was no profit involved in the sharing of these articles,” wrote government attorneys in a statement of defence filed in Federal Court. “The articles were shared for a non-commercial research and review purpose. They were used fairly because the distribution of Blacklock’s material was limited to articles that specifically addressed the defendant’s work.”
Blacklock’s filed the copyright claim after discovering health department staff from 2013 through 2016 used its website to buy electronic passwords for $148 or $157, ignored a warning against distribution, then copied works numerous times without seeking permission or a licensing agreement. Health Canada’s lawyers described distribution as “limited”.
The statement of defence noted a single Blacklock’s subscription was intended for “media monitoring purposes”. Health Canada and its Public Health Agency at the time paid more than $289,000 a year for media monitoring including:
The department also charged millions in licensing fees on its own intellectual property sold to third parties. Licensing fees collected by Health Canada and the Public Health Agency totaled $6.7 million in the period from 2006 to 2016, according to an Inquiry Of Ministry tabled in the Commons. The department also vigorously enforced its own copyright, sending “a total of eight notices to third parties in respect of alleged infringements pertaining to copyright for non-commercial purposes,” said Inquiry.
Access To Information records obtained by Blacklock’s indicate Health Canada copied 119 news stories and made them available to 1,192 people. Department lawyers claimed distribution was 122 articles shared with 500 staff.
Legislators will conduct a statutory review of the Copyright Act this November, the first study of its kind since 2012. “Decisions of the Federal Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada continuously add to the legal and policy issues,” cabinet wrote in a 2017-18 Departmental Plan on copyright.
A Public Policy Forum review of media released January 26 urged that Parliament protect all publishers from wholesale copying of electronic content. “We recommend this review tighten the usage of copyrighted news material in favour of creators without unduly stifling the social power of sharing on the internet,” said the study The Shattered Mirror: News, Democracy & Trust In The Digital Age. “News producers have a right to benefit from their work for a reasonable period while pursuing the business strategy of their choice.”
“Whole works can be duplicated instantly,” said Digital Age; “In many cases, the issue arises when aggregators, bloggers or others use material without permission.”
The media study was subsidized with a $130,000 grant from the Department of Canadian Heritage.
By Staff
A bill to rewrite Canada’s usury law for the first time since 1978 has been reintroduced in the Senate. Parliament has failed to protect consumers from criminal interest rates, said a borrowers’ advocate: ‘Rates range from 443% in Manitoba to 651% in Prince Edward Island.”
The Commons will not support a private bill mandating labels on genetically-modified organisms. The Department of Agriculture in Access To Information documents has warned it could sue any province that tries to pass such a law: “It is simply a response to public opinion surveys.”
A United Nations report critical of federal environmental policies is an embarrassing wake-up call for cabinet, say advocates. Parks Canada was faulted for failing to protect the nation’s largest national park from illegal logging, hydroelectric dams and mining: “We have come up very short.”
