A bill to cap merchants’ credit card fees earning billions in revenues for Visa and MasterCard Canada has been defeated in the Senate banking committee. The measure had been endorsed by retailers and restaurateurs: “It’s a shame”.
Canada Revenue Agency would be compelled to publish a yearly blacklist of convicted tax evaders under a private bill introduced in the Senate. The agency must account for its record in tracking tax dodgers including Canadians with offshore accounts, the sponsor said: “There’s something wrong with the department”.
The Senate is expected to give final passage to a bill simplifying the reporting of deaths to federal agencies using social insurance numbers. The legislation follows an auditors’ report that complained of needless bureaucracy for grieving families: “Canadians deserve better”.
Federal regulators are declining comment on another outbreak of fish flu in an Atlantic salmon farm. The New Brunswick fisheries department confirmed the case at an undisclosed aquaculture operation in the province: “No one would know what is happening”.
A bill to proclaim Remembrance Day a federal paid holiday has been hijacked by “procedural tricks” and is now unlikely to pass, says its sponsor. The unusual delays come four months after the Commons overwhelmingly endorsed the bill in principle by a vote of 258 to 2: “They’ll effectively kill the bill”.
A regulatory reform bill lauded by cabinet as one of the first of its kind in the world has numerous loopholes and fails to address the Income Tax Act as the biggest generator of paperwork, say senators. Compliance with federal regulations typically costs small business $3,444 a year, by Industry Canada estimate: “We’re not trying to reduce the burden for lawyers here”.
Health Canada’s Food Inspection Agency is defending reassignment of inspectors following Agriculture Union protests over staffing cuts. The agency acknowledged that “shifting priorities” will see inspectors deployed based on emergencies: “Why?”
Foreign investors eyeing Canadian companies will face more lengthy and rigorous scrutiny. Reviews may extend past six months under amendments to National Security Review Of Investment Regulations: ‘It’s a significantly greater burden’.
A bill invoking Cold War memories of the fall of Saigon is prompting protest from Vietnamese-Canadian groups. Advocates urged MPs to soften the measure, originally dubbed the “Black April Day” Act to observe the Communist takeover of South Vietnam: “April 30, 1975 marks a sad day for many”.
New liability rules for railways freighting crude oil will rely on insurers to safeguard Canadians, the Commons has been told. Railways shipping oil would see minimum insurance requirements rise up to five times the current limits: “If an accident does occur, there are sufficient resources”.
A Nova Scotia biotech firm has lost a Supreme Court bid for tax credits under a scheme dubbed an “open bar” for corporations. The Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal for credits cut by cabinet three years ago: “They got kicked out”.
Parliament must make sweeping changes to its Access To Information Act including abolition of arbitrary and costly fees used to discourage Canadians from retrieving public documents, says Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault: ‘It has become a shield against transparency’.
Fifty-five years after his death, a foundation created as a “fitting memorial” to one of Ottawa’s longest-serving cabinet ministers is winding up. The C.D. Howe Memorial Foundation surrendered its charity registration and used the last of the funds for scholarships and bursaries: “Directors distributed the money and had a nice dinner”.
New hiring has slowed considerably since the 2008 recession, says Statistics Canada. The federal agency used new research methods in concluding job creation is running at 1.5 percent, far below the 2.3 percent rate before the recession: “That’s a sign of weakness”.
The Commons’ Conservative majority has blocked a private bill that would ban oil tankers off the British Columbia coast. The measure would have impacted the Enbridge Inc. Northern Gateway project to ship Alberta oil to Asian markets: “Even one incident is one too many”.
