Wrecked and abandoned vessels have become a significant environmental risk, says the Canadian Coast Guard. Parliament for the second time in two years has seen introduction of a bill to federalize derelict ships and boats: “We start to incur costs”.
The Prime Minister
wants to sell the world
Canadian resourcefulness.
His way of showing others
we have something
they don’t.
Now he discusses with his cabinet
– and the provinces –
how best to ship this unique commodity:
down south through Keystone XL,
westward through the Northern Gateway,
or to the Atlantic Provinces through the Energy East
pipeline.
(Editor’s note: poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, examines current events in the Blacklock’s tradition each and every Sunday)
Parliament should enact a first-ever passenger bill of rights for air travellers, says a cabinet-commissioned report. Advisors also urged that airlines be compelled to disclose confidential data on flight delays, lost luggage, denial of boarding and other service complaints: “Let’s get on with it”.
Cabinet should privatize federally-regulated airports and ease foreign ownership rules on airlines, says a Transport Canada review. The two-year study also proposed the government phase out millions in airport rents: “Why am I paying so much for my airline ticket? Why can’t I get more competition?”
Federally-regulated employers would be fined $10,000 a day for hiring replacement workers in a strike or lockout under a New Democrat bill introduced in the Commons. The bill’s sponsor, a former postal worker, said the current law is unfair: “Prove the tone in Ottawa has really changed”.
VIA Rail should strip passenger subsidies outside its core business in Ontario and Québec, effectively doubling fares on its iconic Canadian transcontinental service, says a federal report. The proposal followed an admission from the CEO that trains now run later than ever: “This is just not attractive to passengers”.
A bill mandating first-ever national standards on disposal of mercury-laden light bulbs has been introduced in the Commons. The measure comes three years after Canada pledged to reduce mercury emissions: “We probably should have had a plan”.
Farmers will lose the last remnants of federally-regulated freight rates, and railways and shippers will pay more to transport chemicals and other hazardous goods under sweeping amendments to rail regulations proposed by a federal report. “We’re looking at it,” said Transport Minister Marc Garneau.
Dairy Farmers of Canada are being criticized at the Senate for marketing sugar-added chocolate milk as a drink of champions. The head of a Senate examination of childhood obesity described milk producers’ health claims as astounding: ‘It would take an ordinary person 90 minutes to work off that many calories’.
A bill introduced in the Commons would ban open net pen fish farms off the British Columbia coast. One B.C. advocate earlier described the pens as “feedlots” that endanger marine ecosystems: “There needs to be clear leadership”.
A cabinet pledge to legalize marijuana must be accompanied with new laws on cannabis-impaired drivers, Liberal senators have been told. Police executives yesterday said driving under the influence of the drug is a public safety issue: “It exists”.
One of Canada’s largest media unions is pressing for broader copyright protection for its 22,000 members. Parliament in 2017 will review the entire Copyright Act. One confidential federal memo noted industry-wide lobbying is already underway: ‘We need to get ahead of the curve’.
The Bank of Canada has won a five-year court battle challenging its practices under a 1934 law. A federal judge struck down a lawsuit to force the Bank to issue interest-free municipal loans, though the provision remains on the books: ‘They make a claim of conspiracy’.
Canadians consume hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of snack foods and sugary beverages, according to figures detailed in a trademark dispute. The disclosures precede a long-awaited Senate report on obesity and processed foods: ‘Industry’s self-regulation is insufficient’.
Health Canada practices in licensing pesticides have put human health at risk, says the Commissioner for the Environment. Julie Gelfand yesterday said regulators have been too slow in assessing the safety of farm chemicals already approved for sale: “There is risk to human health”.
