Federal policy on paid sick leave for 493,000 employees is under court scrutiny. One worker’s lawsuit follows Access To Information data showing a wide range on sick leave take-up by federal employees, from an average 6 to 15 days a year depending on the job.
More than 1.5 million birds and livestock die in transport each year, says the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Inspectors described the rate as intolerable, and proposed regulations for better care of farm animals shipped to processing plants: “Do I personally think regulations in Canada are adequate? No.”
Rewriting the national anthem with gender-neutral lyrics invites other edits of references to God and our native land, says a Conservative senator. A bill to revise the anthem faces ongoing opposition in the Senate from Conservative, Liberal and Independent legislators: ‘It is the first step to blanching it with political correctness.’
Poor service at Canada Revenue Agency is so commonplace that fielding complaints from constituents is nearly a full-time job, says an MP. Members of the Commons public accounts committee criticized the tax department following a damning audit: “We must point the finger.”
Only a national pharmacare program will save Canadians from ruinous costs of prescription drugs, the Commons health committee has been told. Health Minister Dr. Jane Philpott has pledged to “bend the curve” on prices, but detailed no program to date.
Environment Canada forecasts more forest fires in the West, and toxic lake scum in the East due to climate change. The department noted actual impacts “are largely uncertain”.
It’s election time in U.S.A.
The candidate
who sees women as sex objects
cannot win.
In America of 2016
these views are intolerable,
except maybe
in MTV music videos,
cartoon superheroes,
the ads of your next
Caribbean vacation, Calvin Klein jeans, or
Axe deodorant,
and when keeping up with the
Kardashians.
Are the results out yet?
(Editor’s note: poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, examines current events in the Blacklock’s tradition each and every Sunday)
The number of charitable donors in Canada continues to fall despite a new multi-million dollar federal tax credit, data show. The count of donors declined by more than 250,000 people since 2012, according to tax records: ‘It was intended to encourage people to give.’
MPs yesterday amended a genetics privacy bill, slowing passage of what would be the first federal legislation against DNA discrimination. The Commons justice committee unanimously approved a technical amendment to the bill: “It is going back to the Senate either way.”
A federal proposal to legalize marijuana is worrisome, says an official with the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police. Cabinet is due to release a report on new regulations by month’s end: “There are still consequences.”
Workers may be denied employment insurance benefits if fired for marijuana use, a federal judge has ruled. Cabinet is expected to set legal limits on cannabis in 2017 legislation to decriminalize the drug: “The Act does not define ‘misconduct’.”
Federal Court is being asked to rule on whether accommodating shift workers with young children is a human right. A single mother working as a cargo agent at Air Canada alleges she was fired for declining shift work to care for her 5-year old son: ‘They messed with the wrong person.’
Police need more tools to counter drug-impaired driving, the Senate legal affairs committee has been told. Senators yesterday reviewed a bill sanctioning roadside tests as cabinet took receipt of a Task Force report on legalization of marijuana: “This is going to be a mess.”
MPs by a vote of 209 to 87 last night passed a bill to raise Canada Pension Plan premiums and benefits. The finance department has acknowledged Canadians will see less take-home pay effective in 2019: ‘I know some are concerned about what it would mean to their paycheque.’
Statistics Canada will survey 50,000 families in the most intimate study yet on children’s health and lifestyles from eating habits to sex, home schooling and TV time. A pilot survey of children 12 years and younger is underway now, the agency said: “We need to understand this.”
