Canadian diplomats billed taxpayers for a petty cash bribe paid amid the chaos of Libya’s 2014 civil war, newly-released records show. The payment was identified as a “claim against the Crown” in Public Accounts: “I recommended that funds from the cash float be used”.
The Senate is taking up a cabinet bill to repeal two Conservative labour measures described as “a frontal attack on Canadian unions”, said a sponsor. MPs have already voted for repeal: “Bill C-525 encourages autocratic management”.
Cabinet will consult industry and the provinces on drafting a first-ever Aquaculture Act, says Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc. Officials gave no deadlines. One Conservative senator earlier warned consultations could be lengthy and delve into Constitutional issues over fisheries: “It is a long process”.
The industry department forecasts a newspaper depression within five years. Staff in a secret memo predicted the industry will shrink by nearly a quarter: ‘Readership is down, circulation has fallen’.
Legalizing marijuana will not reap huge tax revenues, says the Parliamentary Budget Office. An analysis concluded net government income from cannabis is unpredictable: “There are potential revenues, but there are also potential costs”.
A federal bank will not disclose the cost of its NHL sponsorships despite repeated requests. The Business Development Bank of Canada denied spending any money on pro hockey until its CEO bragged about the ads at the Commons finance committee: “BDC does not sponsor the NHL”.
Regulators have been too slow in reviewing recommended reforms including mandatory recorders in rail locomotives, says the Transportation Safety Board. The agency yesterday noted dozens of safety proposals, a total 52, have lapsed for a decade or more: ‘It’s not enough to point out a problem and then wait’.
Canadians pay too much for too little telecom service, say Liberal members of the Commons finance committee. “I was just complaining about my wireless bill,” said one MP.
Cabinet cut by 23 percent the number of migrant workers allowed into the country last year, new data show. The decline followed a 2014 crackdown amid complaints of employers’ use of the Temporary Foreign Worker program: “There has been a steady decrease”.
Provinces are doing a mediocre job on flood preparedness, says a University of Waterloo report. The new data follow a warning from the Department of Natural Resources that historic weather records are insufficient in anticipating climate change disasters: “We have nobody in charge”.
The federal government spent nearly $200,000 on overseas focus groups to pick marketing photos most likely to attract foreign students. Pictures of Toronto’s skyline with the CN Tower were rated “boring”, “soulless” and “unexciting”.
The industry department is contemplating regulation of the “sharing economy” especially in the tourism sector, say Access To Information memos. Companies like Uber taxi and Airbnb accommodation rentals pose unfair competition to firms that are taxed and licensed, officials wrote: “Governments have a stake in the sharing economy as regulators”.
The foreign affairs department paid an ex-lobbyist nearly $10,000 to fly to a Vienna builders’ conference, say Access To Information records. Officials did not explain why diplomats at the Canadian embassy in Austria could not take the assignment: “I charge a fixed price”.
A federal maritime agency is being cited by auditors for ongoing deficits and lack of management controls. The Atlantic Pilotage Authority has been audited twice in nine years: “We are all facing a lot of the same issues”.
Taxing the nation’s wealthiest 1% will not raise the billions forecast by cabinet, the Senate finance committee has been told. Analysts including the Canadian Taxpayers Federation said creation of a new 33 percent top federal income tax bracket will have far-reaching negative effects: “It may look simple on paper”.
