Canadians’ household water consumption has declined even as overall usage grew nationwide, according to new data. It follows government polling that found the public more concerned about water conservation than climate change: ‘The state of fresh water in Canada is an issue’.
A Saskatchewan liquor dealer has lost a Supreme Court bid to challenge a local bylaw on bootlegging. Justices declined to hear the case. Parliament since 1878 has left liquor regulation to municipalities and provinces: “It has become a lot harder to fight city hall”.
A disaster hits, and
Canada is quick to respond.
Equipped with our latest technology
– capable of purifying 50,000 litres of water per day –
the DART is deployed to the ends of the Earth.
Meanwhile,
Health Canada lists 93 First Nations communities
under Drinking Water Advisories.
(Editor’s note: poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, examines current events in the Blacklock’s tradition each and every Sunday)
Oil giant Husky is suing a federal regulator to halt disclosure of information rated already publicly available. The lawsuit follows a Court ruling that government agencies may conceal information even if it’s on Google: “I am not prepared to go that far”.
Cabinet has given no sign of required new legislation permitting RCMP members to unionize. Parliament faces a January 16, 2016 deadline to repeal the union ban by order of the Supreme Court: ‘This is typical’.
Changes to the Fisheries Act to benefit aquaculture firms followed a sharp decline in fish farm revenues, new data show. Industry-wide sales fell by nearly a quarter in 2014 as operators sought federal help: “They have a right to lobby”.
The final bankruptcy of Canadian-launched SkyGreece Airlines leaves passengers owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in claims. A passenger advocate said federal regulators were too slow in protecting consumers: ‘They are a lapdog for industry’.
Natural Resources Canada is researching a massive bioenergy project to save millions on diesel fuel for Aboriginal communities so remote they’re off the power grid. The department cautioned there are challenges: “I think it is feasible”.
Provinces are being urged to reconsider first-ever licensing of aquaculture production using imported salmon. A Department of Fisheries panel earlier cautioned imports of Norwegian stock could threaten wild salmon in Atlantic Canada: “Once that local population is gone, you don’t get it back”.
A federal judge citing “lack of sensitivity” has upheld a penniless Nigerian mother’s request to apply to remain in Canada on humanitarian grounds. Citizenship officers should not be “vilified” for enforcing the letter of the law, an analyst said: “The real world is messy”.
Regulators should seek Canadians’ views on trade pacts affecting the dairy industry, says a producers’ group. Cabinet is reviewing a Conservative promise, never put in legislation, to offer $4.3 billion in compensation to dairy farmers under a Trans-Pacific Partnership treaty: ‘It makes sense’.
The Department of Justice faces questions over a proposal that future Supreme Court appointees be fully bilingual. Parliament twice in six years rejected the language test for high court judges: “That’s going to dramatically reduce the talent pool”.
Telecom regulators are suing businesses in two provinces over unpaid fines for breaching the National Do Not Call List. Scofflaws failed to pay thousands in penalties for making unsolicited telemarketing calls, according to Federal Court documents filed by the CRTC: “There should be a mandated review and evidence to support the effectiveness of the Do Not Call List”.
Breastfeeding is a lifestyle choice not a workplace right, says the Federal Court of Appeal. Judges dismissed claims of discrimination by an Industry Canada employee who sought permission to nurse her infant son on government time: “One must be at work to get paid”.
Cash-strapped federal museum corporations have skipped millions in tax payments, documents show. One institution, the former Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Que., left the federal government with an outstanding tax bill of nearly $14 million: “They will not be able to pay”.
