Blacklock's Reporter

The Senate has passed into law a bill raising Canada Pension Plan premiums and benefits. Senators yesterday approved the bill by a vote of 52 to 30 on a critic’s warning it will damage small business: ‘One percent means the difference of whether they stay open or close their doors.’

Magazine ad revenues in Canada have fallen 33 percent in two years, says new Statistics Canada data. Total declines in circulation came despite millions in taxpayers’ grants to publishers. The new figures follow an Access To Information report questioning the future of print publishing: “Can the print magazine survive?”

A bill to rewrite O Canada with gender-neutral lyrics faces a final, divisive vote in Parliament in 2017. The Senate social affairs committee yesterday approved the bill for Third Reading following conflicting testimony: “It has to do with the soul of the country.”

Cabinet should provide research and development aid to assist former asbestos mining communities in Québec, the Senate has been told. Cabinet yesterday said it will enact a national asbestos ban by 2018: “We are relieved.”

Cabinet will conduct a “competitiveness review” of its national carbon tax, says Environment Minister Catherine McKenna. The Minister yesterday faced questioning from skeptical senators seeking details on the impact of a $50 per tonne tax on emissions: “You’re only starting the process.”

Health Canada is giving the $88 billion-a year food industry five years to revise “confusing” food labels. Regulations would urge Canadians to cut daily sugar consumption by 30 percent: “This is purely a strategy on the part of industry to try and influence a delay as long as possible.”

The incidence of drug-impaired driving increased 4 percent nationwide last year though rates of drunk driving continue to decline, says new Statistics Canada data. The research points to looming trouble over cabinet’s plan to legalize marijuana, said a senior senator: “Can you imagine the increase in health care costs?”

The Senate sponsor of a bill against animal cruelty is protesting “abhorrent” new federal regulations involving testing on lab rabbits. Health Canada in a rare notice detailed the best methods of testing chemicals on rabbits’ eyes and skin: “It makes me really sad.”

The Parliamentary Budget Office should complete independent research on the actual cost of a national pharmacare program, say MPs. Private estimates vary by billions: “We could go back and forth forever.”

Canada Post should expand services and merge its pension plan into a government-wide program to save management the $100 million-a month cost of special solvency payments, says a Commons report. MPs faulted the Crown corporation for years of cutbacks: “We think more could be done.”

The foreign ministry five times in the past seven months has had YouTube videos deleted for offensive content. The department declined comment. Google Inc. said the videos were terrorist-related: “We will not be sharing further details.”

Air travelers inconvenienced by flight changes have no claim to special compensation, the Canadian Transportation Agency has ruled. The decision makes the case for a federal passenger bill of rights, said an MP: “You can book a flight but the airlines don’t really have any obligation to provide it.”

Cabinet is repealing a 2011 regulation limiting migrants to four-year work permits. Officials yesterday cautioned employers will face new requirements to seek Canadian talent in filling low-wage positions: “It’s Canadians first.”

Cabinet needs more money for policing and further research on workplace safety if it legalizes marijuana, says a federal panel. Officials yesterday said a 2017 deadline for new legislation is firm: “How are they going to determine what is a reasonable amount to consume?”