Taxpayers’ advocates are relying less on media, and more on Access To Information records, for facts and figures on government misspending. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation yesterday detailed its annual Government Waste Awards on Parliament Hill: “We’re going to call you out if you’re wasting money.”
A bill to designate November 11 a federal legal holiday is again in jeopardy in the Commons. Conservative MPs and the Royal Canadian Legion yesterday said the measure was merely symbolic and detracts from poignant remembrance of war dead: “When can this quit?”
Employee tattoos are okay in federally-regulated airports so long as they are tasteful, says an Access To Information memo. The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority lifted a ban on visible tattoos following appeals from officers: “Maintain a professional and conservative image while in uniform.”
A federal anti-terror watchdog will not identify a single tax prosecution that resulted from nearly 24 million financial reports it processed last year. The new data follow criticism of the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre as costly and ineffectual: “It’s not good news.”
The Department of Indigenous Affairs last year spent more than $100,000 on art for its Québec head office, say Access To Information records. Spending included $32,600 for three inkjet photographic prints: ‘It represents our collective identity.’
The Canada Border Services Agency last year intercepted millions’ worth of narcotics from Mexico, say newly-released records. Cabinet last year lifted a requirement that Mexican nationals apply for a visa when traveling to Canada: “It’s a red flag all the way.”
The Bank of Canada approved $7 million in suspicious payments from dormant accounts it was supposed to safeguard for depositors, says a forensic audit. The full scope of payments isn’t known since the Bank destroyed records. Managers face questioning by the Commons finance committee: “Where did that money go?”
Cabinet has quietly passed regulations approving the sale of radiation-treated meat. The Canadian Cattleman’s Association since 1998 has lobbied for amendments to Food And Drug Regulations to sell hamburger irradiated to kill bacteria and parasites: “They are treating the symptoms instead of the cause.”
Robot cars threaten the viability of mass urban transit systems, says a Government of Canada think tank. The futuristic report appeared unrealistic, said a transport analyst: “If a city is stupid, it will allow this.”
Cabinet will enact new measures on road safety with any legislation to legalize marijuana, says Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould. The Minister would not commit to passing a Senate bill on roadside testing of cannabis-impaired drivers: “We’re looking at it.”
The Canada Revenue Agency should move to prosecution in cases of offshore tax avoidance, says an advocacy group Canadians for Tax Fairness. The tax department faces another federal lawsuit challenging the reach of its audit powers: “The government is in a weak position.”
The Bank of Canada lost at least $800,000 after paying funds through dormant safekeeping accounts held in the names of dead depositors, say Access To Information records. Millions more in payments were “high risk”, auditors said. One charity received $1.6 million to which it had no legal claim: “We do not want the Bank to appear to be a dysfunctional bureaucracy.”
The CBC was quietly slated for privatization by members of the previous Conservative cabinet, says an MP. The Crown broadcaster has requested a 35 percent increase in subsidies in next month’s federal budget to offset loss of NHL licensing rights: “Prime Minister Harper had certain feelings on this.”
Most Canadian women surveyed, 77 percent, have never even thought of joining the military and consider the work unappealing and dangerous, says in-house Department of National Defence research. The military admits it will not meet its target to nearly double the proportion of women in the army, navy and air force: ‘There is discomfort with a profession that involves the potential of killing people, especially innocent people.’
A Crown shipping authority must raise user fees up to 7 percent by April 1 or run out of cash. The Pacific Pilotage Authority of Vancouver blamed recurring deficits on a slow economy: “We’d never let ourselves go bankrupt.”
