Blacklock's Reporter

The Senate in a Canadian first yesterday passed a DNA privacy bill by unanimous vote. The bill’s Liberal sponsor dismissed insurance lobbyists’ claims that restricting access to genetic tests would see all policyholders pay higher premiums: “I come down on the side of privacy”.

Contentious 2012 amendments to the Fisheries Act will be restored “pretty much to the T”, says the fisheries minister. The changes on habitat protection prompted protest petitions and a successful federal lawsuit: ‘Everyone wants those lost protections restored’.

A private Conservative bill introduced in the Senate would legislate prompt payment for all contractors and trades on public works. It follows appeals from the National Trade Contractors Coalition for a crackdown on delinquent payments: “They need to deal with me”.

Union members fearing permanent job cuts under cabinet concessions to Air Canada yesterday appealed for a hearing on a bill permitting the transfer of maintenance work out of the country. Transport Minister Marc Garneau would not meet with petitioners. Asked why, Garneau replied: “I don’t have to answer your questions.”

There is no evidence grey seals are to blame for a disastrous decline in wild Atlantic salmon stock, says the fisheries department. The public admission, the first of its kind, came as regulators continue to recommend culling thousands of grey seals in the name of conservation: “We don’t have the answer to say what is killing the salmon”.

Cabinet concessions to Air Canada will send maintenance jobs to the U.S. and China, says a Conservative senator. The transport minister under Senate questioning said the former Crown airline deserves to fly without strings attached: ‘It leaves aerospace workers out in the cold’.

Greenhouse gas emissions will inevitably increase nationwide by 2040 as Canadians burn more fuel, says the National Energy Board. Cabinet has pledged to dramatically reduce emissions over the next fourteen years: “There is more oil being both produced and used”.

Limits on collective bargaining in a newly-organized RCMP are needed to protect the public interest, says management. Parliament has four weeks to comply with a Supreme Court order allowing Mounties to unionize: “Why would the union not have a say?”

Hiking income taxes on Canada’s top 1 percenters will raise more than $11 billion in revenues by 2020 and see the wealthy pay the equivalent of more than 50 percent tax in most provinces, says the Department of Finance. The data follow private research that warned of diminishing returns on taxing high-income Canadians: “Someone making more than $220,000 in this great country of Canada will pay a little more”.

CMHC is amassing a database of 1.6 million telephone numbers, including listings tied to specific apartment addresses. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner said it had not vetted the plan: “We have not received a privacy impact assessment”.

MPs will again reject a New Democrat bill banning replacement workers in strikes or lockouts in federally-regulated industries. Sponsors tried and failed 14 times to pass similar legislation in the past twelve years: “Enough is enough”.

Nearly 50,000 Canadians had their personal records breached by federal agencies last year including tax records, passport files and pension applications, data show. Fewer than 1 in 10 breaches were reported to the Privacy Commissioner: “None of the privacy breaches are known to have led to criminal activities”.

Pharmacare is too costly and will not be introduced in this Parliament, says Health Minister Dr. Jane Philpott. Groups including the Canadian Medical Association and National Pensioners Federation have appealed for expanded prescription drug coverage: “I’m not in the business of off-loading expenses”.

Reform of Canada’s oil and gas regulator will determine whether the National Energy Board should be rebuilt from scratch, says Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr. The remarks coincided with new academic research that concluded the regulatory system is flawed: “If you had to create a Canadian regulator from scratch, what would it look like?”