A national plan on social housing should include a program to see renters buy their own homes, says a Conservative senator. Cabinet has promised to consult Canadians on development of a housing strategy: ‘It’s a constant treadmill we’re subsidizing’.
MPs should introduce an incremental pharmacare program with subsidies for Canadians who earn the least and spend the most on prescriptions, says the Canadian Medical Association. Cabinet has already vetoed any national program as too costly: “We must do better”.
A Conservative bill to grant school boards 100 percent GST rebates is accurately costed at under $200 million a year, says the Parliamentary Budget Office. The Commons finance committee requested the research: “I know firsthand what this money would mean to our schools”.
Health department monitoring of chemicals in cosmetics is “pretty much reactive” and should be tightened, says Environment Commissioner Julie Gelfand. The Commissioner urged regulators to caution consumers that manufacturers’ ingredients are not federally tested prior to sale: “Health Canada did not regularly test”.
Ottawa City Council
legalizes Uber and other ride-sharing
companies.
To ease the burden on conventional taxis,
the City eliminates the standard for cab size
and
increases maximum vehicle age to 10 years.
It’s logical.
Customers have abandoned taxis
seeking a friendlier, more reliable, and higher quality
service;
surely they will flock back
if only the cars were smaller,
older.
(Editor’s note: poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, examines current events in the Blacklock’s tradition each and every Sunday)
Cabinet faces its first Senate challenge to a major bill after lawmakers vowed to amend legislation allowing RCMP to unionize. Even the Senate sponsor of Bill C-7 described the measure as flawed: ‘It continues the paramilitary mindset of the RCMP’.
Regulators should “protect passengers” from random airport improvement fees, says the author of a statutory review of the Canada Transportation Act. Airport authorities collect millions in fees without scrutiny, said former industry minister David Emerson: “Fees have been growing with mad abandon”.
Health Canada is hiring contractors to again study the vaping market more than a year after a Commons committee voted for quick regulation of e-cigarettes. The department said research would not be examined till 2017: “We need to move on this as rapidly as possible”.
Most government employees surveyed say they fear reprisals if they disclose wrongdoing, and are “skeptical” of reforms nearly a decade after Parliament enacted a protection law. One whistleblower called the protection regime pathetic: “You’re in the wrong jurisdiction”.
The Minister of Revenue says cabinet must “humanize” the tax department, but would not commit to returning billions owed eligible pensioners who forgot to apply for benefits. Unclaimed benefits are worth $1.02 billion a year, by official estimate: “We are talking about some of the poorest, most disadvantaged people”.
The Commons last night voted 170 to 136 to pass legislation that shields Air Canada from liability over illegal job cuts. A lone Liberal MP opposed the cabinet bill: “Our first responsibility is to our constituents”.
Authorities cannot account for a dramatic decline in tobacco tax revenues collected by the Canada Border Services Agency. Tax collections fell by nearly $200 million last year due almost entirely to a 13 percent drop in one Québec port. Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said he was unaware of the figures, obtained through Access To Information: “That has to raise some red flags”.
The St. Lawrence Seaway must be widened if it’s to remain competitive, says the author of a Transport Canada statutory review. The 1959-era Seaway operates shipping locks about half the size of those in a refit Panama Canal: “The Seaway needs to be significantly upgraded”.
A federal airport security agency rated so inefficient it should be disbanded is appealing for a second chance to improve service. The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority is blamed for long airport waits and expensive fees for travelers: ‘There is near-universal condemnation’.
Canadians’ economic well-being has stagnated since the 2008 recession, says research by an Ottawa-based think tank. The Centre for the Study of Living Standards said most households are no better off than they were eight years ago: “We haven’t seen any improvement in living standards”.
