Federal agencies in the past year have charged taxpayers nearly a quarter-million dollars in penalties for failing to pay their phone and cable bills on time. Late fees at the CBC cost nearly $12,000. The government’s IT department billed more than ten times as much.
The finance department in a secret memo warns Canadians will see less take-home pay and fewer jobs with a planned 20 percent increase in Canada Pension Plan premiums. The “negative impacts” will last for years, the memo said: ‘It will reduce workers’ take-home pay and increase employers’ wage bills’.
Senators are questioning a cabinet bill that allows automakers to negotiate out-of-court settlements for selling defective vehicles. The Department of Transport could not name a single criminal prosecution of any automaker in Canada, including cases linked to deaths and injuries: “There has to be a fail-safe here for the protection of consumers”.
Cabinet within weeks will outline new proposals on employers’ use of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, says Labour Minister MaryAnn Mihychuk. Migrant hirings fell 23 percent last year following curbs on permits: “It’s very close”.
Natural Resources Canada will spend $200,000 on a fire preparedness program for communities and homeowners. It follows a department warning of more catastrophic wildfires in future years: “They will be more expensive to manage”.
Legislation to create a first-ever RCMP union has “disappeared” in Parliament, say Senators. The bill has yet to be reintroduced since the Senate amended terms last June 21 to widen police bargaining powers: “I wonder what happened”.
A derelict freighter in the St. Lawrence River has cost taxpayers more than $4 million, new data show. Disclosure of ongoing costs of the abandoned vessel follows MPs’ approval of a motion to federalize clean-up of hundreds of derelict boats nationwide: ‘It’s getting worse and worse’.
Parliament should restore habitat protections under the Fisheries Act, environmental and fisheries groups have told MPs. Witnesses at the Commons fisheries committee complained of political influence that prompted 2012 amendments to the law: “There is essentially no federal protection for fish habitat or water in Canada”.
A federal agency will spend $3.78 million to encrypt government-issue mobile devices. Cabinet has not addressed concerns that private messages transmitted by 98,000 government BlackBerry devices are exempt from public scrutiny: “The secrecy loopholes are huge”.
Cabinet is endorsing a Conservative proposal for the first federal investigation of pornography since 1985. MPs from all parties yesterday expressed support for a Commons committee probe of explicit internet content: “This is an issue close to the hearts of many Canadians”.
Parks Canada has not reviewed the effectiveness of federal fines on scofflaws in years, records show. The Agency handed out fewer than 3,000 tickets in the past decade for a range of offences from illegal fishing to operating off-road vehicles in national parks: “Offences are way too common”.
Callers to a Canada Revenue Agency hotline for reporting of tax cheats face long waits on hold, 9 minutes or more. The Agency launched the 1-800 line for informants in 2014: “It will be sort of hit and miss”.
Environment Canada did not purchase a single electric vehicle last year despite a cabinet commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions, records show. The 2016 budget set aside $62.5 million in funding for electric recharging stations and other initiatives: ‘We support the deployment of electric vehicles’.
Family income for seniors has grown at double the pace of younger families since 1976, says Statistics Canada. The new research followed data that Canadians over 65 typically have more wealth and less debt than younger people.
“The wealthiest cohort in Canada are seniors – empirically, statistically and factually,” said Prof. Ian Lee, an economist with Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business. “This is not a theory or opinion. This is hard data.”
StatsCan in a report Seniors’ Income From 1976 To 2014 concluded median income for senior households over the period grew 67 percent, from $32,700 to $54,500 a year. Median income for younger families grew 31 percent over the four decades, from $62,500 to $82,100.
“The income of families whose major income earner was 65 years or older rose steadily from 1976 to 2014,” said Seniors’ Income. “However, this was not the case for the income of younger families.”
Prof. Lee said the figures raise questions over cabinet’s proposal for a 20 percent increase in mandatory Canada Pension Plan premiums to fund an increase in seniors’ benefits. “This idea that we have a serious pension crisis in Canada is nonsense,” said Lee.
Data show about 2 percent of senior families live below the poverty line. The rate is higher for single Canadians over 65.
“It’s obscene that the Government of Canada gives me a pension and Old Age Security cheque,” said Lee. “I make too much money. What I argue is folding Old Age Security into the Guaranteed Income Supplement, make qualifications means-tested, and give it to those who need it.”
Cabinet has said an expanded Canada Pension Plan is necessary. “From a poverty reduction perspective, this enhancement is good news,” Employment Minister Jean-Yves Duclos earlier told the Commons human resources committee; “If the enhancement were fully in place right now, the number of Canadian families at risk of not saving enough for retirement would be reduced.”
StatsCan in an earlier report Survey Of Financial Security 2012 noted while Canadians over 65 typically have less cash income, they have higher net worth with mortgage-free homes – $246,000 on average, compared to net worth of $23,000 for younger singles. Pensioners’ debts average 4 percent of equity, compared to 26 percent for single parents at work, and 24 percent for couples with children.
Some 59 percent of Canadian seniors own their own homes, by Department of Finance estimate. Younger Canadians by comparison carry $28.3 billion in student loan debt; $33.2 billion in consumer credit debt; and $1 trillion in mortgage debt, Financial Security said.
By Jason Unrau 
Veterans Affairs Canada budgeted $3.5 million to promote Remembrance Week observances, according to Access To Information records. Data did not indicate whether the ads worked. A total 69 percent of Canadians surveyed said they skipped last year’s November 11 events despite the ad blitz: “What do you remember about this advertising?”
